I love doing Street Photography but......

I love Street Photography but have had to give it up because of the negative reactions I get from other people. Anyone else had bad experiences

To avoid confrontation, go to events or places where people expect and tolerate cameras. Ask permission and have a good answer when they ask "why?" Never photograph kids without permission from their parents. I would consider a cell phone camera or something with a silent shutter.

Gary's right on the money!

 

I’m on a good run at 50+ years without a scar:) For me, it’s always been a game of disguise. The more conspicuous you look, the more attention you’ll attract - you have to blend in. As Gary says, "If you’re seen by others as part of the street, they might not be as likely to be suspicious of you. If you sneak around, you won’t feel good and people who don’t know you won’t feel good about you either". One way I avoid this is to openly take multiple shots (later deleted unless there's a happy surprise) of things on either side of my “target” in a slow sweeping series that includes the image(s) I really want. Talking with the people around you about the location and what you see there is also a great ice breaker. We've been guided to many places and sights we would have missed had a local not suggested them to us.

 

As a kid, I used my family’s Kodak 126 (?) folding bellows camera with a 90 degree waist level viewfinder, discovering early how much easier it was to be inconspicuous when the camera’s not at eye level. With articulating view screens, I can now shoot from waist level with a much higher success rate than ever. Holding the camera high overhead also works well, although it's harder to keep it steady with your arms fully extended. I'd love to try a body cam with a wireless link to my phone or tablet, too. If the IQ is good enough, that may be a wonderful approach to street imaging.

 

Public paranoia is at a new high these days, despite their willingness and desire to be known as internet presences. They’ll post names, locations, pictures, daily schedules and favorite playgrounds of their children and grandchildren. They'll openly discuss their diseases and get-rich-quick schemes on web forums with reckless abandon. Yet they don’t want the same faces in my collection that they willingly post (along with personal information that could help predators locate and exploit them) for millions to see and potentially misuse. We humans are a strange species....

I've only had bad reactions when I've tried to sneak shots. I learned pretty quickly to not do that.

 

Photographers shooting in a deceptive manner (hiding camera while shooting, pretending to look one direction while shooting in another, fiddling with camera while sneaking a shot, hip shots, etc) can result in an adverse encounter. People on the street are very perceptive to what they believe is suspicious and/or nervous behavior.

 

I've never had a problem shooting candidly out in the open with camera raised to my eye. If someone asks what I'm doing I just say "I'm documenting the city," or, "it's for my blog." And then hit them up for a posed street portrait - to which often results in a "sure."

 

 

 

 

"Public paranoia is at a new high these days" Otislynch person.

 

Big worry.

 

Best not sht yourself taking street photos.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Allen Herbert

To be thoughtful...

 

When the Nazi regime was murdering folk (among many many other regimes past and present ) the majority of documentry/street ….well..

 

Filling their pants.

 

Just a thought.

Just a street photo///

There's a reason why a short telephoto is a "street lens" as opposed to a normal lens, I suppose.

 

Here is a carnival shot using an 85mm Jupiter on a transmogrified Kiev.

gid odda here ya creep

gid odda here ya creep

Exactly.

I've always felt the best "street" images are of people totally unaware of the photographer's presence before the exposure is made. Once they become aware the relationship changes, sometimes for the worse. Call it the Observer Effect in photography.

Once they become aware the relationship changes, sometimes for the worse.

 

And often times for the better. Photos by William Klein, Graciela Iturbide, Daido Moriyama, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus, Susan Meiselas, and Bruce Gilden immediately come to mind.

I've always felt the best "street" images are of people totally unaware of the photographer's presence before the exposure is made.

I’ve always felt the best street images are ones that capture penetrating expressions, gestures, sights, and the overall feel of life on the street. I’ve also appreciated street photos that create their own sense of theater out of what’s found on the street. Martin Parr did a little of that. A lot can be done when people are aware of the photographer or not.

 

A lot of street shooters put a premium on candid approaches. Such approaches can be great but candidness can also act as a fetish, demanding more attention than it deserves.

 

There's a sense among some that candidness is the “real” approach to photography where people will be themselves. I think a good photographer can form a “relationship” with his subjects, whether in the blink of an eye or over a period of time, that can capture significant reality, often even when very intentionally shot, posed, or forced. Reality, and the street, comes in all flavors.

I've always felt the best "street" images are of people totally unaware of the photographer's presence before the exposure is made. Once they become aware the relationship changes, sometimes for the worse. Call it the Observer Effect in photography.

 

After a photo or two many subjects will forget you are there and start acting naturally again. You already have permission, just keep on photographing.

How do you do that "quote" thing? I had to use "copy/paste".

How do you do that "quote" thing? I had to use "copy/paste".

To quote the entire post of someone, hit the REPLY link in the bottom right hand corner of their post. It will then come up as a quote and specify their name.

 

If you just want to quote a part of their post, highlight that part of their text and once the text is highlighted and you let go of the cursor, a little box should come up under the highlighted text that says REPLY. Just click on that.

 

The reason your quote above didn't come out in a gray box is that you lost the initial string of code that creates a quote box. Before the text you want to appear as quoted, the following code must appear:

This will only provide a grey box that the quote will appear in, but the NOT the name of the person you're quoting. To get the name, you have to hit REPLY either for their full post or for the part of their post you want to quote.

After a photo or two many subjects will forget you are there and start acting naturally again.

My goal, even on the street, is not always (though it is sometimes) to photograph people acting "naturally." Sometimes I prefer working with very intentional poses, sometimes very UNNATURAL situations. Just like in theater or fiction, deliberate fabrication can tell a lot of truth, especially helped by an understanding of visual metaphor, if handled well. "Natural", like "candid", works in a lot of situations but are often overrated and often overlook the power of more deliberate and intentional posing or setups. Some great street portraits, for example, are not natural. They are posed and situated very deliberately and thoughtfully by photographer and subject. They are expressive, gestural, and often very important contributions to street photography.

The reason your quote above didn't come out in a gray box is that you lost the initial string of code that creates a quote box. Before the text you want to appear as quoted, the following code must appear:

Funny, it turned my example into the desired result. In order to get a grey quote box without the name of the person you're quoting, you have to start the text with BRACKET then the word QUOTE and then a closing BRACKET. Then type the text you want in the gray box, then follow it with BRACKET FORWARD SLASH QUOTE BRACKET.

I enjoy street photography but have chronic low level anxiety when it comes to approaching people in public. I have built in anxiety meter, just like a geiger counter that orders me to avoid certain situations before hand. So I have adapted and street photography for me happens at public events. Parades, Outdoor music and street performance festivals, etc. A tele-zoom lens also helps at times :rolleyes:

"gid odda here ya creep"JD

 

Add a smile and a waive. Surprise yourself JD.

 

"chronic low level anxiety when it comes to approaching people in public" Robert.

 

Me, I have the same fear about spiders....is there anything more scary than a big daddy long legs crawling about in your bath!. Nope, the pits.

 

But being big boys, wearing long pants, we address these fears and overcome them...cause we are big boys and wear long pants.

 

Scared folk achieve nothing other than being scared.

The lovely ladies.

One the 16th of October at about 2.35 pm I got really scared....a black mean looking shadow was following myself.

 

Scary or what something dark and sinister following me...a shadow of myself.

 

There's a story for some folk.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Allen Herbert

If I want to be a commercial photographer....you need to understand the craft and Art.

 

If I want to be a street/documentry photographer.... you need to understand the craft and Art.

 

 

 

How simple is that to understand.