Is everyone a street photographer now?

<p>Has street photography become a fad?</p>

<p>In the past three weeks, I have caught at least eight people snapping my photo on the street, in train stations, and in other public places. And I'm not talking about people who took a photo of a friend or a famous location and I just happened to be there at the time. These people singled me out and decided consciously to take my photo.</p>

<p>(There was another fellow who asked me before shooting - I thought that was a classy move. I gave him several "candid" poses as I worked with a camera on a tripod.)</p>

<p>I'm not famous. I'm not particularly attractive. I don't have a single tattoo or piercing - my hair is short and slightly messy most of the time. I'm not visually interesting in any way. I don't even spend that much time outside. What is the allure that makes people want to snap my photo when I'm running out for coffee or staggering home in the evening so tired that I can barely walk?</p>

<p>It seems as though every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a DSLR or a EVF camera out there snapping strangers. Is this a new trend? If so, what's the motivation behind it? Did children, animals, and seashores go out of vogue?</p>

 

<p>Some will post the street candid images on Flickr for all to see. It is just another category to appease specific viewers or voyeurs.</p>

<p>Yes, seems that way, Dan.</p>

 

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<p>"I'm not famous. I'm not particularly attractive. I don't have a single tattoo or piercing - my hair is short and slightly messy most of the time. I'm not visually interesting in any way"</p>

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<p><br />That's the point.</p>

<p>Yup, street photography is very trendy, so hip it's this generation's WebTV. Lots of tutorials and workshops by certified expert licensed registered street photographers, some of whom are still young enough to hip-shoot a Nikon D4s all the way around Times Square with barely a hint of carpal tunnel syndrome. Why, all any aspiring street photographer needs to do is Google <em>"how-to SP"</em> and find informative articles <a href="http://christwire.org/2010/05/how-to-spot-a-masturbator/"><strong>like this one</strong></a>. It's a fine hobby and keeps kids off the streets.</p>

<p>Would it be ok if they used a Leica?</p>

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<p> If so, what's the motivation behind it?</p>

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<p>I think that answer may be as varied as individual motivation to any type of photography. It's not really a new tread, street photography has been been around for a very long time. Perhaps just more folks with cameras now.<br>

From documenting the pulse of everyday existence to finding the moments of art-in-life that lay in the fleeting, fluid moments of the human condition, street photography covers a broad spectrum of approaches that offers many challenges and joys. Evolving from a documentary mindset, it can be joyful and humorous to solemn and serious. Read up on it. Look at some interesting photos of accomplished photographers and get out there and try it! It's a great change and challenge beyond typical low hanging photographic fruit.</p>

<p>I suspect it is for the same reason that everyone is snapping everything these days on their phone. Why are people now taking so many shots in museums? It's all so easy these days, why not? But equally as Louis says, it is surely one of the more difficult types of photography to make work for a wider audience and so it is a particular challenge. Also it is naturally very wasteful with a very high proportion of rejects - an ideal subject for digital capture, so in this sense it is now easier and less costly to do. </p>

<p>A couple of months ago I was in a restaurant with a friend, when I stepped up to look out a window. A chap at a nearby table saw my camera and started to talk, then he said, "would you mind posing for a photo by the window, I promise to not use it commercially". I was flabbergasted...but did pose for him. It reminded me of the early years when I really thought I might be good at street photography....eternally capturing the soul of others on film. So, today another generation is stepping up to the plate, and I applaud them in their endeavors.</p>

<p>So I am not wanted anywhere I don't think and my picture is not useful in any way and not very interesting so whoever takes it is welcome. i have been a bit successful lately taking hula hoopers practicing in local parks with permission. I don't know what they are practicing for but these are a lot more interesting than pictures of this old man. </p>

<p>Lex.....please specify: Is SP a fine hobby that keeps kids off the streets or......err, the other thing?</p>

<p>I like Stephen's answer very much!</p>

<p>It stuck me that Instagram might be a motivator. If one has a stream and followers, they might feel the need to update it with new images regularly.</p>

<p>I saw a bunch of folks with cameras standing near the lions at the NY Public Library today nervously looking at passersby. They looked as though they might have been part of a class or a workshop with orders to get out an shoot people.</p>

<p>I don't assess any value to the trend - it's neither good nor bad, and if people enjoy themselves doing it, I applaud that. It's just that it seems to have exploded in popularity in recent years, and I'm wondering what has contributed to that trend.</p>

 

<p>One positive-- more and more people seem to "get it" and just let you do your thing.<br />Many people now have at least heard of "street photography" and have a handle on what it is we're doing wandering around with cameras and that hungry look in our eyes. <br /><br />On the other hand, I see more and more people with that weird smile and an "aren't you going to take my picture" look on their face. <br />Not usually the picture I'm looking for-- although a whole set of those could be interesting in some post-post modern street photography project.<br /> <br />So, some good; some bad.</p>

<p>OP: Where are you?</p>

<p>I think it started from the cellphone trend, then pushed more by the arrival of the 'new app' instagram, and people started looking seriously at photography, the price of digital cameras more affordable, the rise of really good cheap compact cameras with wifi and cool hipster styling. Voila! Its now trendy.</p>

<p>Good street photographers are a treasure. Most people with cameras taking pics on the street (or in public places) are NOT street photographers and can't be confused with them.</p>

<p>Fred there are people who shoot street and street photographers, agreed. I'm one who shoots street, inspired by the street photographers, as Vivian Maier.<br>

What irks me are the young ones in concert t-shirts, skinny jeans, converse shoes with leica or fuji x100s, a clique of them, not saying who, set up a website, and close the membership to a select few. As though they are the 'best' and true artists. I have seen so many really and truly good photographers that achieve less attention, and it makes me cry. But I still love the street and look for the ones that stand out in the shadows. PN has been a good source of inspiration in that respect.</p>

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<p>What irks me are the young ones in concert t-shirts, skinny jeans, converse shoes with leica or fuji x100s, a clique of them, not saying who, set up a website, and close the membership to a select few. </p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

Why let what other people do with photography bother you? It's much easier to just do what you want to do and ignore them, unless they are getting in your way. And that comment doesn't even reference their photography. </p>

Adding to what Jeff said...

 

The nexus of low cost cameras and social media has produced large numbers of photographers who

otherwise would not be pursuing artistic endeavors. To me that democratization is a good thing. In the

end, good work will still rise to the top. Yes, there are now aspects of "street photography" that are

hyped to almost TV reality show proportions. My recommendation is to get off the giving-a-crap treadmill

and just do your own thing.

 

Photographer Pedro Meyer of Zone Zero in a past essay asked (highly paraphrased) if something

similar had happened causing more people to get into creative writing, would there have been similar

pushback from “serious writers” feeling that their field of expression has been sullied? That's a good

question to ponder.

<p><em>Why let what other people do with photography bother you?</em></p>

<p>IMO, much of this has very little to do with <em>photography</em>. It has to do with picture taking by average folks. The bother can be that people with cameras can very much get in the way. I was at an exhibit recently at the deYoung Museum, the annual flower show, and the folks with cameras bugged me no end, not because they were simply doing something which I had the option of ignoring but because they were rude, obtrusive, and clueless about the space of the other people around them, including me. People at fairs and parades with cameras are also often as blind to those around them, raising their arms up in front of other people who are trying to watch the parade, jockeying for position with no regard for those around them. Many of these people are not photographers at all. They are just folks with cameras. And they can be very annoying, even when I'm simply trying to mind my own business or enjoy what's going on around me. It's not what they do with photography that bothers me. It's their behavior while snapping pictures that does.</p>

<p>By the way, the de Young sent out an email following the flower exhibit because they got so many complaints about the iPhones and iPads and picture-taking. They were doing a survey, and now I understand they are considering making certain days of the flower show camera free and other days welcoming to those who want to snap pics. Seems like a good democratic compromise. </p>

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<p>The bother can be that people with cameras can very much get in the way.</p>

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<p><br /> But so can people without cameras. And, as I pointed out, people getting in the way is a possible annoyance. It's the resentment of what other people are doing that in no affects anyone but themselves that is a waste of time and energy. The comments about attire and camera choice make it obvious that the issue is not someone getting in the way.</p>

Fred, I think you are addressing something very different than what was expressed by Marie and Jeff.

 

Still, I hear you. Not sure what the solution is on that other than to gently push back on the worst offenders.

I suppose you can at least feel a bit lucky your 6'4" height does have some advantages in environments like

that!

<p>Jeff, had you been at the de Young on the night I was there, you might understand what I'm talking about which has specifically to do with people who had cameras and the screens lighting up all over the rooms and the people with cameras being oblivious of others sharing the space with them. Of course, people without cameras can be annoying as well. But, at this venue, it was the people and the cameras that were the problem specifically. </p>

<p>Brad, you're probably right about it being somewhat different than what Marie is addressing and the OP specifically talked about his own photo being taken by folks with cameras. I haven't experienced much of that and when someone does take my pic on the street it doesn't really bother me. Still, I don't consider most of them photographers. I think they are *mostly* people following a fad, and I still maintain it has little to do with photography <em>per se</em>.</p>

<p>I am glad some people are able to access cameras and that photography is now a medium more accessible to more people who want to express themselves photographically. Among those out snapping people's pics on the street, I'd say a relatively small number are doing it to express themselves or show the world something of significance. It's generally more trophy-like and mindless.</p>