Street photography. How do you go about it?

This is a question for those who have some experience in street

photography (for thouse who have at least some pictures in this genre

that they themselves like :).

How do you do it? Do you just roam the streets hoping to see

something interesting? Or do you go to see a specific event? What is

your operating procedure?

And do you know what classics did?

HI there,

I like to park my van close to a corner that overlooks a teenage hangout. most of the time I use 35mm rangefinder (m-3)with b&w because I shoot in low light..I am testing a new digital. I like to scout for new locations, as they say "just do it"

Yes (I do occasionally "just roam the streets hoping to see something interesting") and yes (I also concentrate on specific events). It might be useful for you to get started by attending carnivals, street festivals, community "art walks" or other organized events where potential subjects are preoccupied with having fun. This is the approach I use in a "street photography" course I conduct in our local community college's adult education program. My students start out talking about how inhibited they are in taking pictures on the street. After shooting a couple of events and sharing the results and the experience with their fellow students, they're much more confident about doing street work--and they usually stress that they've begun carrying a camera as a matter of course.

I like to go to a downtown area, small suburbs or sometimes Chicago. I use a 35mm Jupiter 12 lense on my leica IIc and shoot HP5+ film. I have tried standard 50 mm lens with varying success. What I do is just walk down the streets casually and indescretly snap the shutter when I see someone interesting coming my way. I rarly look through the viewfinder because the field of view is big with a 35mm lens. I usally set the shutter to 1/200 sec and adjust the aperature as the lighting conditions change. I just estimate the focus distance also.

 

I did a reasearch paper on Gary Winogrand, my personal favorite street photographer, and I kink of model my style after his. He used a leica M4 (I think) with a 28mm lens, shotting Tri-x pan film. He always looked throught the viewfinder when shooting. Look him up, he's quite interesting.

 

Check out my folder for street pics I just uploaded.

Nothing special here... sometimes I have a destination in mind, sometimes I roam about all aimless... Sometimes I go to a busy intersection & just lean on a wall & take happy snaps for a time... but I find my most interesting photos come from days where I am not out to shoot, but just happened to have my camera on me.

 

The more you shoot, the better you'll get :-)

"HI there, I like to park my van close to a corner that overlooks a teenage hangout......"

 

This sounds disturbingly like the opening scene of a slasher movie.

I think you have to have an affinity with the street. You have to feel it and know it before you can shoot it. It comes from being there, with or without a camera, and just becoming part of it. Talk to anyone, no matter how much they look like their favorite activity is kicking your teeth in, and you will eventually be enough a part of it to shoot it. That's all there is to it.

Carry a camera at all times, and when you see a picture, take it.

 

Easier said than done, of course, but not *that* hard to do.

get a bottle of natural spring water.......this time of year, anyhow............as light a cam outfit as possible, put on a pair of actual hiking boots...........all of this to make my walk as comfortable as possible....then start walking. Watching the sun, watching the way it bounces off buildings, the way the alleys suck it up, the way buildings make little slits of light on the pavement, the way the morning mist filters the light, the way the commuters walk inbetween all this light and lack of light.........smell coffee brewing in the breeze, some fried eggs and bacon down the street, the dogs pissing on the light poles, the shop owners opening up their store for the day,

 

along about noon stopp for some coffee and a raisen oatmeal cookie (my fav of late)..............watch the passersby, take a piss myself........head for the subways to escape the first real heat of the day, watch a few trains load/unload passengers before I actually get on

 

come up somewhere I never was before, a stop I never stopped at before..........watch, listen

 

setting sun doing the same thing as the rising sun only on the opposite side of the street, people a little more zombie like after dealing with the world all day.......supper time, but I dont eat, still shooting, eat later, now everybody is moving araound getting ready for the night

 

sun sets, night falls, the city comes alive with a whole new breed of inhabitants, a seedier, mor lively group, anything goes, smiling faces, some of them begrudgingly happy, some wanting your last dime, or that shiny cam in your hands..............keep shooting......

 

get the picture?............you live life while your shooting.........the pics, they just come

Denis -

 

Good question. And there are some great answers here.

 

Lately I've been inspired by a bunch of interviews Mason Resnick has done w/ contemporary street photographers; check out the link:

 

http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=5&article_id=855

 

Most of the photographers have work displayed on this site:

 

http://www.in-public.com/site/index.php

 

I also suggest checking out John Brownlow's site:

 

http://pinkheadedbug.com

 

where he discusses street photography.

 

John Brownlow also runs a street photography discussion forum/list serve which he mentions on his site; it's worth joining and following the rich discussion there.

 

Markus - I really like your B&W work. The HP5+ looks great. I've been using Tri-X; I think the HP5+ has a similar look, right? (Or am I thinking of Ilford Delta?).

 

Thomas - great contribution. And I like your site a lot.

 

Denis - happy shooting.

 

Regards,

-Mark

I do both. I roam the streets observing as much as I can. Sometimes I go to a spot and remain fairly stationary and wait for something to happen. I also go to events such as some colorful ethinic parade. I generally don't shoot the parade itself but I go into the sidestreets where the people are preparing to march. It is here that one can get some interesting photographs. Some of the smaller parades/events end up around 23rd street and Madison Ave. (in NYC) -- here a festival is held and you can roam back and forth looking for intersting situations and asking people if you can photograph them.

"If we proceed to the City, and attempt to take a picture of the moving multitude, we fail; for in a single fraction of a second they change positions so much so as to destroy the distinctness of the representation."<p>

 

+William Henry Fox Talbot, circa 1843

 

<p>

 

"When out with his camera the photographer must feel whether he wishes figures in his landscape or not. He must say to himself, "This view wants a figure exactly there, and it must be a light figure or a grey figure or a black figure". For the life of him he may not be able to say why he wants a figure there. It is sufficient for him to know that its addition will make his photograph more satisfactory. If he has patience and waits long enough the figure will come. Then is friends will say "What a lucky snapshot; how well that figure comes there; an artist could not have put it in a better place."<P>

 

+Frank Sutcliffe, circa 1890s

I roam the streets and backalleys, often without purpose... If there's a special event, I try to go, because it's usually easy to find something interesting happening.<br><br>

 

I like the idea stated earlier about leaning up against the wall, and taking happy snaps. I'm going to try that. Also, I found that using my TLR makes it much easier; I'm not sure why, though. Maybe it's the square format, maybe it's the fact that I'm looking down, not "at" the people, but I'm much more comfortable.<br><br>

 

And for those of you out there having trouble getting started, here's a handly little guide:

<a href="http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/techniques/shynessone.html">

pinkheadedbug

</a>

John Brownlow???

<p>

You gotta be kidding....

Wow! I forgot to turn on the automatic notification option, just came back to see if anybody replied and there are so many answers. There is a lot of data to digest here...

<b>"How do you go about it?"</b> I usually take subway.

<a href="http://elmo.academyart.edu/study/ph101/Required%20reading/Winogrand%20Interview.htm" >Garry Winogrand interview</a>, if you catch this.

"John Brownlow???

 

You gotta be kidding...."

 

Pure jealousy from Edmo. Johnny's one of the greats. He comfortably sits in my top five -

Klein, Koudelka, Brownlow, Ren, and Stimpy.

<i>Pure jealousy from Edmo. </i>

<p>

:D .... ya, ya, ya

"I think you have to have an affinity with the street. You have to feel it and know it....."

 

You've also gotta look it. Think old-school, I can't put it better than Sister Sledge -

Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci.......

I occasionally shoot specific events (although that's usually a show or concert, not street), but usually don't have the time to simply "roam the streets" either. Mostly, I try to fit photography into my daily life & carry a camera w/me almost all the time I'm out in public. Like Heather, this has enabled me to get some of my most interesting shots while running errands, etc. When I'm out for the sole purpose of taking pix, I often take the old beat cop's approach, i.e., observing people, the things they do, & when they do them (along w/the photographer's addendum: the quality of light).

Very interesting. I liked the ideas of developing affinity for the street, leaning up against the wall, etc.

I think my first problem in doing street photography is that I am always "on the run." I like to walk and I am rather fast walker and I usually go SOMEWHERE and get absorbed in my thoughts. Like people in Moscow subway who either read something or get into a sort of a trance :) This habit influences me when I am out to take pictures. Looks like this is the first thing I have to overcome.

Thanks to all who answered and thank you Mark for the references.