Street Shooters: Polling Your Style

[rover]

Where does politely going about my own business fit?

Not deliberately trying to be stealthy, but at the same time not being in your face either?

 

[telenous]

Ray, excellent idea for a poll 🙂

I 'd love to be more of a (c) but I fear I may in fact come across as (a). I don't do (b) often, mainly because of (d).

So, (a) it is for me, although there's a genuine effort to be (c).

The results are surprising, not so much because of the option that leads the poll, but because of the enormous difference it has to everything else. I wonder also whether people vote for the option that best describes what they themselves think they are, what they 'd like to be or what they believe others think of them as street photographers.

 

[Arvay]

I prefer to stay stealthy.
I was "brough up" on my country's habbits where you easily can be bet for your photoactivities especially when you are smiling at your model 🙂

And seriously, I prefer the "accidental" style of street photos look.

 

[thafred]

I 'd love to be more of a (c) but I fear I may in fact come across as (a). I don't do (b) often, mainly because of (d).

hahaha..Alkis, this is totaly what I was thinking when I voted..so I voted for a .

I have an 90mm lens now and will try to make more (b) shots because (c) and (a) is so weak with a tele ...

 

[Ming The Merciless]

I use all of the first 3 and prefer the stealth (why else would I have purchased the Konica Hexar AF black?) . I agree with johne -- Eavis is quite fine especially his color street work.

 

[johne]

IMHO this site is that of a modern master in street photography.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eavis

Note that most are shot with his guessometer! He is a master of light.
John E.L.Robertson

 

[VictorM.]

I vote "All of the above" ! Depends on what's appropriate.

 

[amoz]

I wonder also whether people vote for the option that best describes what they themselves think they are, what they 'd like to be or what they believe others think of them as street photographers.

Exactly! We'd like to be a fly on the wall, and I believe that is why option C is on the lead. Once we're really out on the streets, all good intentions have to be translated into some unobtrusive, but still part-of-the-action, kind of behaviour. Keeping the ability to snap at the right moment of course.

I believe you have to be up close and very attentive, and if you "feel the vibe" you'll be able to anticipate the full scale action.

Thus, I never understood how I could ask for permission to try and catch a fleeting look, gesture, etc.. I mean, I do but not for the street shooting style that I have in mind. Now if you'd talk about Martin Parr for instance, things change 😎 . Great photographer, very authentic images, and still he asks permission prior to every shot he takes.

 

[kbg32]

Ray, I do whatever the moment dictates. Though it is important to be as unobtrusive most times, I always look directly at my subject. Sometimes the most hidden is out there for all the world to see.

 

[minoltist7]

I prefer to stay stealthy.
I was "brough up" on my country's habbits where you easily can be bet for your photoactivities especially when you are smiling at your model 🙂

And seriously, I prefer the "accidental" style of street photos look.

Moscow is scary city 😡 . Once I had accident when some angry guy tried to break my FED for taking picture of his girlfiend ... but I even didn't take any shots, I just was looking through the finder to people walking

As for the style - it depends from cituation and city. Sometimes I take pictures openly, but in some places it's better for your safety to stay in shadows. For example, in Krakow I can take pictures openly, people are happy (or they don't care).

 

[PlantedTao]

I'd be a chicken ninja.... the kind that would be discrete, but with the biggest butterflies in my stomach...

yes, I would go chicken ninja...stealth with butterflies
sometimes more "in your face style", wanting that eye contact and tension in the photo...I believe when I'm in that mode, I have much better photos than the stealth...but I vote unobtrusive as this is how I normally feel.

 

[Aziz]

A mix of A and C for me. I'm always smiling though and won't take the shot if I get a weird vibe from my prey, I mean subjects 😀

 

[RayPA]

Ray, I do whatever the moment dictates. Though it is important to be as unobtrusive most times, I always look directly at my subject. Sometimes the most hidden is out there for all the world to see.

That's an interesting thought. It's also the reason I think capturing the moment without being seen is important. Things change when the camera is seen by the subject (prey 😉 ). However, sometimes the approach of A can happen so quickly that the subject doesn't know what has just happened.



.



.

 

[Lol999]

Always with the stealth, no interaction to spoil the effect.

 

[eavis]

Great discussion topic. (And thanks Johne!). Here's my viewpoint. I am 80% stealth and 20% in your face, and I almost never ask: Can I take your picture. But here's the thing: Some of the most amazing street photography is done when the subject knows about the shooter. Take Bruce Davidson's "Subway" -- he claims that is all done with the awareness of the subjects. Or take Alex Webb's shot of a hand extending from a grave during funeral in Florida -- the assembled funeral-goers had to know he was there shooting.

So here's what I am trying to say: There's huge upside to gaining the permission of your subjects. But here's the hard part: How do you do it?

Davidson did it on the subway by taking a book around of his work, which he showed to potential subjects, who often said yes to being photographed after seeing his work (having said no up till then). I don't have any books of my work (but I guess I could self-publish one and use that).

Or you can hang with your subjects for a long time and gain their trust -- and then you snap as you hang with them. You can tell from Webb's work that he has done that a lot. However, I just don't have the time to do that. I have a job to go to and a
family to hang with, so I don't have hours to spend gaining the trust of potential subjects. Then again, I could just start asking and see what reactions I get.

 

[varjag]

Davidson did it on the subway by taking a book around of his work, which he showed to potential subjects, who often said yes to being photographed after seeing his work (having said no up till then). I don't have any books of my work (but I guess I could self-publish one and use that).

If my memory serves me, Davidson produced the book only when questioned. It is not the same as asking permission before hand. He was also nearly mugged down there several times.

 

[jky]

I've realized that I'm 98% stealth when here in my hometown (Calgary, Canada) compared to when I'm in another city. When in NY, Vancouver, or any other place that's not my own neck of the woods, then I find a can be a little more in your face (have bigger b@!!s to take that pic). I think it's the psychological "I may see this person again" type of thing - it's difficult for me to play tourist in my own backyard.
On a recent trip to NY, I felt so free to take any photo i wanted because there's no need to play tourist - heck, I was one! When in Rome, Paris, or where ever... I can plead ignorance - point, snap, walk away.... have trouble doing that here however.

This is something I'd like to get over... as I find my "out of town" pics to be better and more alive (to my own set of eyes of course) than the ones shot here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

 

[PlantedTao]

interesting

interesting

...
On a recent trip to NY, I felt so free to take any photo i wanted because there's no need to play tourist - heck, I was one! When in Rome, Paris, or where ever... I can plead ignorance - point, snap, walk away.... have trouble doing that here however.

This is something I'd like to get over... as I find my "out of town" pics to be better and more alive (to my own set of eyes of course) than the ones shot here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

I agree...when on vacation I tend to be more bold and the photos just seem to be more alive, especially from the first day, when everything is new and fresh. The vacation seems to be an adventure, therefore I throw some of my shyness away to plunge in and capture the local culture.

I wonder how we can take that feeling and put it into our hometown shots??? Maybe it is time to take that tourist eye and apply it to my own "culture".

 

[RayPA]

I agree...when on vacation I tend to be more bold and the photos just seem to be more alive, especially from the first day, when everything is new and fresh. The vacation seems to be an adventure, therefore I throw some of my shyness away to plunge in and capture the local culture.

I wonder how we can take that feeling and put it into our hometown shots??? Maybe it is time to take that tourist eye and apply it to my own "culture".

maybe if we dressed like tourist, plaid shorts, striped shirts, Birkenstocks with white socks, zinc on the nose, sunglasses, a baseball hat. That's it! My attire for our next RFF San Francisco shoot! Who's with me? 😀

 

[PlantedTao]

maybe if we dressed like tourist, plaid shorts, striped shirts, Birkenstocks with white socks, zinc on the nose, sunglasses, a baseball hat. That's it! My attire for our next RFF San Francisco shoot! Who's with me? 😀

dress like americans?