Street Photography and humour

[cjago]

I'm playing with the idea that *great* street photography always has humour in it. Sometimes this is intentional (like Elliott Erwitt) and sometimes not (the HCB photo of the man leaping across the puddle is great partly because we know he is going to get his feet wet).

If anybody can point me in the direction of a body of street work which is in the great category where humour is not an intrinsic part I would be very grateful.

(There is the potential here for getting into a debate about whether something is street or documentary or portraiture and so on. That is not my intention. If the work you suggest is street to you I will take it like that and form my own opinion without throwing it back if I happen to disagree. The only type of work that I suggest we exclude is the area of war photography which could be considered street in some circumstances but might be a special case for the obvious reasons).

Cheers, Colin

www.auspiciousdragon.net

 

[bmattock]

http://www1.yadvashem.org/exhibitions/warsaw_ghetto/home_german_soldier.html

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I cannot see humour there.

 

[unky tone]

http://www.artcoup.com/movie.html

 

[bmattock]

I cannot see humour there.

I agree.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Thank you.

I misread the first post and misunderstood completely.

 

[Frank Granovski]

Good "street photography" should mirror a story, and cleanly. At least this is what I try to do---and that's not easy. 😎

 

[hinius]

Trent Parke

Ed Leveckis

Steve West

Takaaki Okada

To a lighter degree, Gus Powell

 

[cjago]

Thanks

Thanks

to those who posted thoughtful replies. I can see I'm going to spend the evening browsing.....

Colin

 

[RayPA]

I've always found the majority of street photography to be on the serious side, and have found humour to be the rarer (welcoming) element. I think what makes a street shot really good, though, is when it can combine both elements together in a single shot. For example, Winogrand's shot of the couple at the zoo, in front of the wolf cage. Always struck me as somewhat funny. There is a humourous element, with the prowling wolf in the background, but I think an equally serious tone is prevalent, as well.


🙂

 

[bmattock]

I think that being a 'street photographer' is like being a meteorologist. It rains, is is sunny, it gets hot, it gets cold. The meteorologist studies it, predicts it, reports is.

Are there subjects in street photography that have a sense of irony, sarcasm, humor, sadness, tragedy, the entire suite of human emotions? Sure. Just like the weather.

I suppose there are photographers who for one reason or another are drawn towards certain types of photography. Weegee, for example, or Meatyard.

But I've never seen a strong predilection towards humor in your basic garden-variety street photography, or indeed, in the street photography of the 'greats'.

Interesting observation, but I suspect anecdotal.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[JonB]

I might suggest that you look at humor in reflection of your personal taste. When I saw the Cartier-Bronson you reference (is this it?), I don't see humor but rather the anticipation of a disruption of the pristine, uh, mud puddle. Perhaps humor is what elevates images from good to great in your mind?

It is always worth knowing what makes our own mind tick. 🙂

 

[Pherdinand]

on the http://www.in-public.com there are funny and bloody serious street shots as well.

 

[cjago]

Spot on

Spot on

I might suggest that you look at humor in reflection of your personal taste. When I saw the Cartier-Bronson you reference (is this it?), I don't see humor but rather the anticipation of a disruption of the pristine, uh, mud puddle. Perhaps humor is what elevates images from good to great in your mind?

It is always worth knowing what makes our own mind tick. 🙂

JohB: and that is the idea I was testing......thanks for putting it into words. And thanks to the other recent respondents as well.

Colin

 

[Jucas]

most humor as photography is clever... and I would go so far as to say easy...

it sets up a very quick and easily readible comparison, or contradiction...

 

[ch1]

I might suggest that you look at humor in reflection of your personal taste. When I saw the Cartier-Bronson you reference (is this it?), I don't see humor but rather the anticipation of a disruption of the pristine, uh, mud puddle. Perhaps humor is what elevates images from good to great in your mind?

It is always worth knowing what makes our own mind tick. 🙂

Shhh..

Rumor has it that

http://www.henricartierbresson.org/hcb/home_en.htm

was staged!

But don't tell the street shootin' RF'ers, okay?

It's a secret....

 

[Film dino]

http://www1.yadvashem.org/exhibitions/warsaw_ghetto/home_german_soldier.html

Thanks for posting this link. From time to time we need reminding.
David

 

[JonB]

Shhh..

Rumor has it that

http://www.henricartierbresson.org/hcb/home_en.htm

was staged!

But don't tell the street shootin' RF'ers, okay?

It's a secret....

Well, I guess I could start by trying to spell his name correctly. Then, I follow that suave move by RUNNING SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER FROM THE PREMISES. Er, sorry.

Actually, I've always been partial to capturing-people-raw type photos, but the more I look at the images, the more well conceived ploys--whether or not this is one--appeal to me.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I don't know if I want to condition my own street shooting to the notion that SP "should tell a story." In fact, a good moment can be turned into a story if the viewer chooses to do so, but to do it otherwise is falling for false models, or worse yet, imposing rules on something that doesn't have them. Preferences, conventions, cliches... yes, but rules... I disagree.

As for humor... this Colombian street scene always tickles people.