I love reading threads like this. The varied opinions of other photographers out there never cease to amaze me. It seems that every time one of these threads comes up, Bruce Gilden comes up, and then we have someone chime in that if they tried his type of photography in (name of their city), they wouldn’t last very long.
I want to say that I am a HUGE fan of Bruce’s work and his body of work speaks for itself. And while I have never personally met the man, I will continue to have his back when others are talking **** about him.
The fact that I often like to work up close and personal on the street is one reason that I respect Bruce’s work so much. Unless you walk a mile in getting close to strangers on the street, you will never know.
And the fact is, no one approach is right for every person or every situation, every time.
If others choose not to photograph the homeless or work in close and whatever, I think that's fine. To each their own.
However, to think that because you don't take pictures of the homeless or work up close doing candids or whatever, you are somehow taking the higher road, okay sure.
You’re better than me
🙂. Want to copare prtfolio's
🙂
My favourite is when I read, "I didn’t take the picture because of respect.” ??????????????????
WTF
So does that mean the act of taking every photo is an act of disrespect?
Hmmm.
I want to relate a story that close friend of mine who happens to be exceptional photographer (check out
www.kevenfedirco.com) told me the other day.
He was taking shots of one of his buddies jamming (playing music) in the basement.
Keven told me that at one point, his buddy made a rude comment to him that rubbed my pal the wrong way. Instead of getting pissed off or leaving, he decided to teach his pal a little lesson.
This is when the story gets interesting. Keven said he made a point in that photo session not to make them look good like he had on several other occasions while photographing the band. He purposely took photos of them (and I quote) "not to show them in the best light, but to show them as the middle-aged overweight has-beens that they are.”
And so he brought in a set a prints the next week and his friend got the point.
To me the story really illustrates the power of the photographer over what the final image looks like.
And if you want to make someone look bad, it's not that hard to do.
Or to put it another way, it's not what you shoot but how you do it.
For me, when I am street shooting, I trust my instincts and try and get the best pictures I can. I have no problem walking right up to strangers and taking their picture. And i will/have used long glass on my Nikon's to get the shot as well.
I never understood how using longer glass made a street photo any less .... honest.
In fact as others have pointed out by moving in close there is no doudt that the photographer changes the picture.
And just for the record, I feel no obligation to give anyone my card. I don't even have cards.
And what I do with my picture's is my own business.
If you’re on a public street, like it or not you’re fair game in my books.
About once a week, I am told by someone to delete a photo. Which I never do. If they are pissed off, I try and diffuse the situation and deescalate it as best I can.
As I’ve said before, street shooting isn’t for everyone. It can be dangerous and there are no rules. Where I live, photographers have the right to photograph people in public places
And while other photographers certainly have the right to express their opinions, I see no reason to change my approach or my way of working because of their issues or their moral standards.
And I would like to know how I'm supposed to take pictures of someone without sticking a camera in their face.
As far as personal space, I have been known to stick my Nikkor 8 mm 2.8 fish-eye in people's faces and I see no reason to stop.
The thing about street photography is you either get it or you don't. There is no hiding and if you're not good with people or you have hang-ups or insecurities, you stay on the computer and comment about other people's work instead of going out and street shooting yourself.
Taken yesterday.
28 1.9 ASPH Leica M9
Nikkor 8 mm 2.8 AIS on Nikon D3
