The 10 Rules of Street Photography

[RichC]

http://blakeandrews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-10-rules-of-street-photography.html

Are there "rules"? I think there are no rules whatsoever.

But we're often told street photography doesn't use telephoto lenses, that requiring permission would kill the genre, that photographing Google Streetview on your computer screen is wrong (my thread on this went on for seven pages, with nearly 9000 views, and most posts lambasted the photography).

I think too many photographers are hidebound and look to the past and constrain themselves following conventions!

 

[segedi]

Ha! A well done breakdown for sure.

 

[Rodchenko]

That's quite funny.

 

[LazyHammock]

Excellent, very funny. Unfortunately I did break my New Year's resolution yet again and read beyond the article to the comments section...

 

[jsrockit]

Not what I expected...thankfully.

 

[OurManInTangier]

Excellent, very funny. Unfortunately I did break my New Year's resolution yet again and read beyond the article to the comments section...

😀

The internet comments section of any post, article or website are usually the most comedic, scary at times certainly, but usually incredibly funny....though for all the wrong reasons. I'm just glad I'll never have to speak to one in person, as I imagine that they're mostly silent in real life.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Good and challenging rules to follow.

Just have to find berete and google what Fedora means in English. Is military berete allowed?

Would love to see group under these rules on Flickr to participate and enjoy pictures from others.

 

[gns]

It seems to me, if your going to define something and differentiate it from the rest, then it sort of has rules, right? It must meet some requirement to fit the definition. Street photography? Can I do it in my living room?

I think a couple of the examples in the post backfired. The Matt Stuart photo, for one. It really is kind of a shallow, easy one-liner.

 

[NY_Dan]

No Selfies!

No Digital!

No Parades!

 

[Sparrow]

No Selfies!

No Digital!

No Parades!

... so, what's wrong with parades?

 

[jsrockit]

No Selfies!

No Digital!

No Parades!

I'm going to do all three now... !

 

[starless]

Rule #7 is actually a good rule.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I'll play by your rules, if you'll play by my rules 😉

 

[nightfly]

I know this is in good fun but really if there are no guidelines about what generally makes something "Street Photography" than the term becomes meaningless and therefore useless. That might be fine but then it's difficult to know how to describe what you like or are looking for.

For the most part, those ten rules are pretty good. If you are a good at anything you absorb the rules and only then do you start breaking them. If you'e William Klein or Henri Cartier Bresson, you get a bit of slack. Honestly I think the Matt Stuart photo there and the Hiroh Kikai photos both should be disqualified due to the rule cited.

If you look at inexperienced street photography you will see a lot of backs, a lot of crappy hip shots and a lot of portraits take on the street. Having a set of guidelines is a good thing. Personally they helped me evolve my own street photography.

When you get that 10,000 hours, you get to crop and take some shots of peoples backs.

I find constraints are a good thing, they force you to think and work around them. Sometimes you have a good reason to break them, but being conscious of them at least as guidelines is a good thing. For me pre-editing, not taking certain shots, is as important as taking them. Some people work the opposite way.

 

[Sparrow]

I'll play by your rules, if you'll play by my rules 😉

... is that a quote from fifty shades?

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

... is that a quote from fifty shades?

No idea, though I sometimes feel like the only person who has neither read the book nor seen the film.

 

[Pioneer]

Good read. At first I thought this was an Eric Kim blog. 🙂

 

[nightfly]

You must hang out with a lot of middle aged, suburban women.

No idea, though I sometimes feel like the only person who has neither read the book nor seen the film.

 

[Lauffray]

Fun read (more chars)

 

[erik]

Love it. Everyone knows the only way to do street photography is from a cafe chair. Leica, hand rolled tri-x, beret, and pictures of lattes and moleskines.