Approaching people

"Remember; YOU take YOUR own pictures YOUR own way..."

 

John makes a good point here.

 

Everyone is different and comes at a subject in a different way. Some people are arrogant

and aggressive. Some are confrontational. Some will stalk and harass. others will take a

different approach.

 

What if someone said " I wanna shoot celebrities".

 

does this mean avedeon or does this mean paparazzi.

 

so I agree that zach should shoot what he wants how he wants but.........

 

he did come here asking about HOW to go about it which really can't be answered well (

imo) until zach gives more of an indication of what he's looking to achieve.

 

have "more emotions" is too general.

 

So again I would ask.........

 

whose work do you admire and why?

honestly as far as street photography goes, i just look at what i see on here. i dont really know any photographers into street photography toher than the ones here. im just now getting into people photography, for close to a year now i have been doing weddings, but now i wanna branch off into other areas of photographing people. maybe in a photojournalism kinda way.

hi! I have no idea how to approach people but I agree with Aron- it is easier to photograph homeless than rich. I am new to photography and have 5 pictures of homeless and none of the rich and I feel shame about it. I don't know why, when approaching homeless people I feel like "reporter" and when trying to take picture of rich I feel like paparazzi. I don't want to blow it out of proportion but it doesn't feel morally right. (ESL)

Of course I ask them if they agree to have their photo taken. Sometimes I don't ask, just point a camera and smile askance and if they do not want to be photographed they shake their head in negative answer. I think it is important to have some kind of interaction so you give people chance to let you know if they object to being photographed. (ESL)

<i> i dont really know any photographers into street photography toher than the ones here</i><p>

 

Broaden your horizons, Zach :?) Here are a few other examples:<p>

 

<ul>

 

<li><a href="http://www.in-public.com">in-public.com</a></li>

 

<li><a href="http://www.jfwfoto.net">jfwfoto.net</a></li>

 

<li><a href="http://unposed.4020.net">unposed.4020.net</a></li>

 

</ul>

Homeless in your own city, poor farmers in Yunnan or tribes in India ... many people have 'problem' in photographying people who are 'different', especially if their living condition is harder. If you're uncomfortable, they will be too and very much, and they will notice it quickly. Just be human, yourself and relax in your shoes; engage contact if you feel so, if you don't feel so then pass your way.... and don't 'intellectualize' too much about it.

I think that you should only do it if you intend on helping them in some way...

I love homless people, They're some of the nicess people you could ever want to meet (most of them anyway) and they have good hearts too.

I photograph them in the hope that I can reach a bigger group of people with my photos and try to show them how bad the problum with them is.

Think about it, how much money have you given in the last year to help America's problum with homeless people and then think about how much your friends have given, think more would be given if it were harder to turn your back to the issue?

How about if they were on T.V., newspappers, books ect.?

I know they are sometimes, but not often.

I live just outside of Nashville Tennessee and if you know anything about Nashville, you know that it's not really as big as people think it is.

The TN. goverment over one year ago released a statement that said that over 10,000 homeless people live in Nashville.

It really is getting worse and worse.

I have some photos of homeless people in my portfolio and I'll be putting more in shortly.

I don't believe in taking people's pictures when they don't know about it, you don't know if they want you to or not.

Just go up to them and ask, buy them a meal or something you want to.

They will most always talk your ear off.

Keep shootin' and God bless.

-Micah

I forgot to say that once you realize that we are all brothers and sisters and that we are no better they they and they then us, we will all be much happier and better off.

Treat they with respect and like a humen, treat them the way you would like to be treated.

God bless.

-Micah

There's nothing wrong about photographing anything, including the homeless. I photograph in hope that I'll have some intersting pictures, not because I have some moral agendas or dilemmas. Moral agendas and such are too limiting for any art, including photography.

 

Go photograph anything you like Zach.

<i>"Show some real guts Zach, get closeups of 6'4" 275 lb bikers on the piss, just "Walk right up, sit right down, make sure you bring a joint along!"</i>

<p>

funny you should mention that. this guy was stabbed three hours after i took this photo:<div></div>

i could also add one of my early experiences in street photography. a guy was highly agitated in an obscure area of a parking lot. he was with another guy, who was unconscious and didn't appear to be breathing. given the location and the people involved, my guess was a drug overdose. and having recently bought my first camera, a photojournalistic fantasy began to bloom in my highly suggestible mind. as if in a dream i retrieved my camera and got ready to take some shots.

 

the agitated guy didn't take too kindly to that. i backed off immediately, but he backed me up into a supermarket, where several guys convinced him to leave the premises.

 

all this time i had my hand on a pocket knife in my pocket, but was acutely aware that being forced to use that option would lead me in a direction not much better than getting beaten up by the guy.

 

so i learned a couple valuable lessons that day. the one that might be applicable here is that, though taking a particular shot may be legal, assess the risks and make sure it's worth it if conflict is possible.

why does one need to get to know the homeless before shooting them? Sounds stupid to me. I don't talk to the people i shoot, so what? SOme kindda funny rules one has to obey.

 

Zach, I think you should just do it however way you want it, to answer your question.

"when did i say treating people like animals was fine?"

 

I didn't hear it either.

About taking pictures of rich or poor people:

 

just have a look at Jim Goldberg's pictures in the book "The Rich and the Poor"... it's not the same, it is true that all human beings share the same emotions, but the worries are completely different.

 

I never took pictures of homeless, but I photographed very poor people in Cuba, who show much more humanity than western people whose only concern is if to buy a Nikon D200 or a Canon 5D.

"Zach, I think you should just do it however way you want it, to answer your question."

 

but that doesn't answer his question does it? he posted asking HOW he should go about it. telling him to do whatever he wants isn't really helpful.

 

when asked WHY he wanted to photograph this subject he answered that he wanted "more emotions" in his photographs.

 

obviously creating a RELATIONSHIP with the subject (when shooting people pix) is not the only way to work, but it IS a way to get closer to the subject and realize greater access to THEIR EXPERIENCE.

 

When I asked zach whose work he admired and what specific "emotional content" was there that he was responding to it was an attempt to be HELPFUL, not to impose RULES on anyone.

 

good luck zach.

i'm with travis.

 

why would you treat the homeless subject any different than the business exec on his lunch break?

Hi, Zach,

 

If you visit homeless people, you have any close contact with them, and they are going to ask why you're there. <p>

 

This is going to be the awkward part. You've told us what you're thinking, basically: "I'm here to experience what you're experiencing, and I want to document that, I want to show what you are feeling with my camera, through my photographs." You're going to have to be able to articulate this and you might find some verbally hostile reactions, people I think you risk stepping on the dignity of people. <p>

 

This is going to be very different form photographing "poor people in a village" I think you're presuming that people in a village are by definition poor. But poor is a relative term - and someone who lives in a small community, a village, is not necessarily poor, or homeless. In addition, many people in such communities are quite comfortable with more technicalogically outfitted visitors, and so your presence would not be upsetting - you might be welcomed, and quickly put at ease. <p>

 

So, while I am sympathetic about what you want to do, I don't, from what I've read, think you've given enough thought to what you want to do. <p>

 

That said, here are a couple of approaches I've used when photographing people I don't know. <p>

 

First, plan to hang around an area with people you want to photograph and keep your camera in a day pack or fanny pack. Of course you're going to attract attention, with or without a camera. In fact, if you can keep your camera out of site, I can almost guarantee people who approach you first. And when that happens, you've been invited into their lives, rather than intruding into their lives. <p>

 

After you've spent some time - perhaps a few hours - making friends, directly with conversation, or even just with smiles, you're going to gain at least a measure of acceptance by the people you want to photograph. In fact after a while you will just become part of the scene, and people, if they see you at all, will not think of you as an outsider. <p>

 

Secondly, I often carry along some prints in a small album, or a page of slides, and after I've spent time talking with someone I've met, I will pull out my photos and explain that I like making photos of people. When the person I've been talking with looks at my photos, almost without exception she or he wants to have me make their photo, too. At that point, they want to be in my album, too.<p>

 

My suggestion - make your own album - photos of your family, friends, people you've photographed almost anywhere you've been, from your neighborhood to vacation locations, and of course some of the subjects of your wedding photography. Now it's time to pull out your camera and come back with what I think are the pictures you want to make. <p>

 

There is a lot of info on the Web - just google. Here's one place to look: <p>

 

http://www.nonphotography.com/ <p>

 

and of course on photo.net, here: <p>

 

http://www.photo.net/learn/street/intro - especially some of the comments. <p>

 

Other links: <p>

 

1. Here are some good tips (among them ask permission to make a photograph and say something nice to the potential subject) and some good photographs: <p>

 

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=7201&page=1&pp=10 <p>

 

2. Here's a more general article and lots of comments, including some on street photography, about portraits: <p>

 

http://www.photo.net/learn/portraits/ - there are some suggestions about overcoming shyness, too. <p>

 

3. More tips and photos, including some thoughts about paying subjects: http://www.vividlight.com/articles/3702.htm <p>

 

4. Shyness: http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/techniques/shynessone.html - click on the "next" link for a series of additional and excellent street photography tips. <p>

 

5. Inspiration: The master street photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson - some of his photographs are here: <p>

 

http://www.afterimagegallery.com/bresson.htm <p>

 

6. My own photographs of the last couple years of the Day of the Dead at Olvera Street are at: <p>

 

http://www.pbase.com/davewyman/photographs_of_the_dead <p>

 

Events like this are a good place to practive, since people are often very receptive to being photographed. <p>

 

Good luck, <p>

 

Dave

Q: "how should I do street photography?"

 

"do it however you want it."

 

"no wait, you should kiss the floor, climb on a lamp post and lie on the pavement before you do any shooting, and don't forget to smile to people after the shot."

Hi Zach - from reading your biog where you say you want to make photography a career and your original post saying you were thinking of shooting in a photojournalistic style and wanted tips on how to go about it I am surmising that you are thinking about being a photojournalist as a career - rather than landscape or whatever.

 

I agree with much of the advice above, but I think the most important one is probably the last post from Travis :

 

"Do it however you want"

 

When it comes down to it, if you do it how you want to do it and however you are comfortable with then that way you will get the pictures that are yours, and not pictures that are "Zach trying to take pictures like Henri Cartier Bresson" or whoever.

 

That said, if you are serious about doing this as a new career then there is no harm researching what has gone before. I would recommend you look out for "ROBERT CAPA - THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION" which is a huge bargain in bookshops now, for a look into the career of a true master of photojournalism.

 

Here's some advice he gave once:-

 

"Capa said to me: 'Don't keep the label of a surrealist photographer. Be a photojournalist. If not you will fall into mannerism. Keep surrealism in your little heart, my dear. Don't fidget. Get moving!' This advice enlarged my field of vision." -

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson

 

 

I'd also have a browse through the MAGNUM website perhaps. If you are going to do something you might as well aim to the very top, no ?

 

www.magnumphotos.com

 

Go downtown.

Take some pics.

Go for it.

Sheesh, this guy wants to shoot a little street, and everyone wants to stampede him into a

full-blown documentary project.

 

And regarding "treating people like animals in the zoo"--is there any evidence that's NOT

what a variety of street luminaries did? Winogrand and Frank in particular? It's kind of an

ugly way to say it, but isn't that really what all candid street comes down to?

 

I think the homeless (and other impoverished people) are overdone, but that's an esthetic

conceit, not a moral one.

 

At least some (not huge, but far from zero) percentage of the homeless are happy to be

noticed, happy to be treated as something other than their usual pariah-from-whom-

eyes-are-averted. Very few people middle-class and above are anything better than

annoyed if they notice they're the subject of a street photographer.

 

In fact, the prosperous are MORE like "animals in a zoo" because, like a caged beast, they

have very limited ability to retaliate--if they physically attack you they risk losing the SUV

and the house in the Hamptons. The homeless are risking what, a few months with

guaranteed meals and a bed that's at least softer and warmer than a sidewalk?

 

I mostly shoot from the hip or a neck strap and try not to get noticed, but really, the best

approach is all about your psychological makeup. Winogrand was completely overt, to the

point of being in-your-face about it, and his good stuff is about as good as it gets. Frank

was sneakier, but his images are good too.

 

If you are going to shoot from eye-level at least learn to be quick, the longer the camera is

pointed at someone the crankier they tend to get.

 

Cultivate a thick skin, you WILL catch hell from a subject now and again. If you take it

personally you'll end up switching to flower macros very quickly.

>At least some (not huge, but far from zero) percentage of the homeless are happy to be noticed, happy to be treated as something other than their usual pariah-from-whom- eyes-are-averted.<

 

That's a perceptive point.

I too wonder why the homeless... Do you have a curiousity about homeless people, something you wish to explore and understand? Do you want to prove a point, make a statement? Why? In your question you state you haven't done street shooting before, but somehow you have decided to start with an emotional and complex social issue. I've seen it done before, and it often feels to me like someone has gone out target shooting... there's one - got 'em.

 

There are other assignments you could give yourself on the street... people wearing hats, or the color red, or using a cell phone... How are these people different? How are they simular?

 

Just another $.02-

I am a formerly homeless, Disabled Vietnam veteran who himself has been photographed. I believe that because I was able to talk about my plight with those who wanted to ask I also did not mind my likeness captured as well. I always respected those who took time to talk to me before even thinking about pulling the camera out of the bag. Documentary photography dues serve a purpose of awareness but only when done with respect. These days I document the homeless experience with my camera and have never forgotten the importance of sensitivity and in 2005 became a finalist in the presigeous Gordon Parks competition. Just a note to you bleeding hearts out there from someone who has lived it "Keep IT REAL:<div></div>