Street Shooters: Polling Your Style

Street Shooters: Polling Your Style

  • Expressionistic In-Your-Face Gonzo— I'm Taking Your Picture!

    Votes: 43 8.0%

  • Humanistic— May I Press the Shutter?

    Votes: 38 7.1%

  • Unobtrusive and Stealthy— It's the essence of a Moment. You will never know I was here.

    Votes: 410 76.5%

  • I'm way too shy for this stuff.

    Votes: 45 8.4%
  • Total voters
    536
All four of them, living in a big city you need to adapt to situations. Sometimes there is a choice that has to be made, depending on this choice you will either get smacked, smiled to or ignored.
 
My "style" is more coloratura (yeah, even shooting black-and-white)..that is, possibly several of the above at once, a sythesis. For me, there is no one-size-fits-all formula.


- Barrett
 
I don't try to be stealthy, just wander around taking shots - unobtrusive I guess. If noticed I smile and carry on, and if challenged I will step up to the plate for standing up for our rights.

As it stands we are allowed legally to take photos in public places and I won't back down if someone tries to intimidate me, but I certainly couldn't adopt a Winogrand style.

One of the great things about living in a tourist-heavy city like London is that most people assume you are trying to take pictures of the environment instead of them, so will politely try to move out of the frame. By that point the shot is gone anyway so I just smile and carry on. If I'm shooting digital I will actually snap off a frame or two of the picture they have just stepped out of. 🙂 Is that dishonest or practical? Both perhaps.
 
I guess my style is 'stealth', but really I'm just there. I'll be sitting on a park bench or somewhere the best let me capture a shot and just wait while sometimes listening to my iPod (which sometimes creates my shooting mood).

The only time I'm 'in your face' is when I'm with friends or co-workers who know me and my quirky hobby.

I've never had someone yet approach me about taking picture, but I have a whole act planned out for it, I just hand them a card that says I'm a deaf mute and can't understand what their saying unless they know American Sign Language... Is this bad?
 
It depends on what I am shooting.

When I am shooting in a location where people expect to get their pictures taken (like a festival), I am in your face.

When I am shooting a gang member or someone who is likely to take offence, I tend to ask permission before I shoot.

When I shooting in a location where my actions are likely to get me in trouble or cause the subjects to deviate from their normal activities, I use the stealth approach.

However, I voted for “Expressionistic In-Your-Face Gonzo” because if I had to limit myself to one style; that is the one I would choose.
 
IdeaDog said:
There's something creepy about being furtive or stealthy. I do Option A, "Gonzo", and with a smile. I often say "beautiful!" or "thank you!" after the shot. If I'm quick and I catch them unawares, just about everyone smiles immediately after the photo is taken. If they see me before I shoot, they often smile then too (which can change the shot, not necessarily ruin it, and even enhance the shot).

I just spent a few hours doing this on a university campus. I got so many smiles. Students are probably more open-minded and relaxed than the general public or businesspeople would be.
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Don't agree. I dont want smiles. I've never had a problem.
 
Very interesting poll, and indeed discussion. I also missed the walking around openly with the camera, snapping away, option. This often results in either of the four options in the poll. I picked stealth, because most subjects don't notice that I am taking their picture until afterwards. But most always, they notice afterwards and are awarded with a smile.

Some do notice just as I am taking the picture and then it can feel more like the in-your-face variant, even though I don't aim for it. Some times I ask politely, especially if the light is good and the person interesting so that I want to take more frames. Sometimes I am too shy, something I almost always regret.

/Michael
 
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i think this thread should perhaps lead to another of your polls and ask that question, what does a street photographer who shoots unobtrusively do with the image?
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The question raised by dan_denmark is indeed an imporant one. In general, if we like taking this kind of unobrtusive (candid) street photos that capture a moment or a small story, we tend to want to share them, via the RFF forum, flickr, one's own website, or even via an exhibition or publication in a magazine or book. So what are the implications and risks of the current wave of "droit à l'image" and privacy laws if one chooses to do so without authorisation (which may not always be practical to obtain, even if one should want to)?
 
I pretty much try to be unobtrusive - even if you ask permission first this never works for me as it changes the subject's demeanor. So I stand back with a longer lens taking the shot before they realize I have done so. Then I move on trying not to catch their eye. My demeanor pretty much tries to convey - Oh blast I was about to take a photo but you got in the way. Now I must try again. If I get the balance right this can be very disarming - even to having them apologize for their clumsiness. Unless of course they are playing a musical instrument where I feel more free to be in their face - I figure its hard to chase a photographer when you are dragging a cello.

Check out my Flickr street shots here. Its a pretty good guide to my style and approach. Mostly they are concentrating on what they are doing, talking to someone else or not looking in my direction.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80702381@N00/
 
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Good thing ultra-wides (15) and even typical wides (35) is that unless your´re placing your subject in the damn center of the picture and shooting at 1 meter, they barely will realize they´re being "included"
 
Lately I've been going back through my old files, all the way to the early sixties when I was doing a lot of "street shooting" and I think my stuff shot with a Minolta Autocord twin lens reflex beats anything I've done since then with 35mm. I recently resurected a 1959 Autocord and bought a brick of 120 Arista Edu 400 from Freestyle. Now I'm thinking of buying 100 rolls because of the price break. For the past several years I'd been shooting street with a 15mm Heliar on a Bessa L.

As for style, sometimes I'm in your face, sometimes stealthy, but I act at ease and and will often get involved in a friendly chat with my subjects while continuing to shoot a few more frames.

http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com
 
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I am witness to all that I see with my eye or the camera which is 'an extension of my eye.' I have only my conscience and personal moral compass to guide me through life and my photographic activities, whilst I have many character flaws I try to be good, sympathetic and show empathy in all situations. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail but I will always try to get a picture of what I see that has interested me or caught my attention. To do this I use a mixture of the posted options depending on circumstances and my intuition. As Jon Claremont, for whom I had a very high regard, posted here this may at times make me a 'thief,' something which I don't necessarily disagree with....I just hope that I may be considered a Gentleman Thief.

As so many of us shoot mono we all know that it's mostly shades of grey and we make our choices according to our own vision. If we're comfortable in allowing our images to talk for us then perhaps this is the most eloquent way to answer the question. Some will like what you do and some will not but your 'body of work' will speak more honestly than you....then it's just a question of whether your conscience is at ease with the way you go about your business.

IMOhumbleO
 
I use "A" - if I see the subject first then I guess its stealth. I don't favor permission because you are asking someone to pose which isn't quite street photography and I find stealth sneaky and lacking in integrity. In your face allows you to interact with the scene and the subject without inviting them to pose. As the nature of street photography is fluid I guess everyone uses all three regardless of preference - whatever it takes.
 
I answered unobtrusive. There is really nothing stealth or secretive about it, and most of the time people realize I'm there photographing either before the shot or certainly after it. I just try to stay out of their way and not affect the scene too much. I'm happy to take a shot if someone wants to pose, but that's not what I'm looking for.
 
The only reason I like street photography(other than that you occasionally get something nice to look at out of it) is because I get a vague thrill out of taking pictures of strangers without their knowledge.
 
Here in NYC, espeially in midtown, downtown Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn there is no need to be stealthy. Most People just don't care and/or assume you are a tourist. Of course, if you fashion yourself a ninja and want to snap shots of a paricular person you can be sneaky. In any case, generally people are just in a rush and don't pay attention.

I spend most of my time shooting in neighborhoods that are not so nice. Granted, I only photograph people probably 10-15% of the time, But I've found that being sneaky in these types of areas is NOT a good idea. It actually can be dangerous because you will be assumed to be an authority figure, or someone who may be trying to catch someone in the act of some real or imagined illicit activity. Anyway, I've found it's almost always better to be obvious and thus, you are pretty much telegraphing that you are not a threat. What I do is I find an interesting spot and I stand there for a while then begin taking photos once a comfor level is achieved. If I get bad vibes i move on. Using old cameras, like my mamiya c330 or hasselblad also helps as they are more obtrusive. Anyway just my personal experience 🙂
 
I most often "shoot and scoot", pre-focused/ f-stopped for hyperfocal distance w/ a 21 or 25, but read this story the other day in a Seoul newspaper and am thinking twice about this style, "(Thomas) Roszkowski came to Korea two years ago and said he was inspired by The Korea Herald's Photo Challenge. He went to the City Hall ice rink, camera and tripod in tow, in search of a winning image for the "Christmas in Korea" competition. When he noticed an old figure-skating ajoshi (man) dressed as Santa Claus, he thought he had found a winner. He shot from a distance, then moved in closer for the kill.

Moments later, he approached me, still on his skates and still dressed like Santa, and demanded that I delete the photo. I said no, and he pulled a knife out and grabbed my arm. I broke free and ran away, with him chasing me on skates and me screaming.

'As terrified as I was and yelling for help, nobody could understand me, and all they saw was a lanky foreigner running away being chased by an ajoshi Santa on skates,' said Roszkowski.

The lesson the photographer learned is an important one. Even though it's more difficult to approach your subject confidently, in the end, that confidence and openness leads to better photographs - and fewer knife fights. And sometimes it doesn't hurt to ask permission, especially when your subject is an armed Santa."

Bill
 
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