Street Photography

Does anyone know a good book/website or other resource for someone who wants to

explore street photography? I'm not really a "beginner" in photography, but I

have never really dabbled much in street photography and would very much like to

start. I have read the Learning section on photo.net and found it to be very

short (I thought there used to be a much longer one on here a few years back).

I am looking for any info on -strategy, -gear -composition -projects, etc.

 

Thanks for your help.

R.

Hi Ray. Rather than be helpful (sorry!), I'm actually asking YOU a question. I'm always curious what different people have in mind when they hear or say "street photography." Meaning, what is the purpose of that area, for you? Anthropology (recording what you're seeing for posterity)? Journalism (i.e., material you hope to sell for use by publications)? Art/abstract material that just happens to use your local environs for fuel?

 

That's more a philosophical or semantic question than anything else, I suppose, but your answer to it may also help you to get some much more useful advice on equpment and techcniques. Meaning, if you're all about faces, and not having to get up IN someone's face to capture it, that's a very different thing than trying to get sweeping streetscapes at night, or trying to maintain very high dynamic range while peering into building shadows at objects that are catching light. You get the idea... what's your objective(s)? And, thanks for helping me to understand the "street photographer" mindset a little better.

I've always thought it was best to learn by looking at results. The Street and Documentary Forum here is a quick, easy access to pictures in this genre. Looking at the works of Garry Winogrand either on the net or in his books is a good idea. Also, get a copy of "Bystander...", a history of street photography. I can't remember the authors.

I guess my answer to that is that I am wanting to capture people in their natural state - in the moment - whether that be faces or farther off. I'm not really trying to fill a book or publish anything (for now) just would like to get better at it. I always see such awesome photos of NY where the photographer just captured random people walking down the street, or getting into a cab. But right now when I take pictures of people, that's all it looks like really is just a random shot of a person/people with no subject and nothing really striking about the photo.

What I am hoping to find/learn is how to make the subjects interesting, what to try to include/exclude, how to frame & compose, the best places to look for shots, etc.

Ray you just said: "...What I am hoping to find/learn is how to make the subjects interesting, ..."

 

Fact is you cannot make the subjects interesting, unless you stage your shots as a film director would.

 

You have simply got this backwards: YOU have to search, find, and see worthwhile subjects in order to photograph them.

 

That "seeing' can be learned without even a camera: just keep on the alert for neat scenes, whenever they show up around you. This is called "learning to see". You are in for a treat, once you learn to see. Then it is but a small step to bring along a camera and shoot what seems like a good picture.

 

But first, the picture must intrigue your eye. So keep these eyes open as you go about town and learn to see. I know this is hard and almost unfathomable before you can actually see by yourself. It takes babies about one year to walk, it will take you that long to "see" also, I am sure.

You know there's a forum here for street photography, right?

Good book: " Beginner's Guide to Photographing People" by Ralph Hatterslay has an excellent

chapter on street photography technique, "How to Photograph Strangers on the Street." This

book is out of print, but Barnes and Noble.com lists the availability of used copies. Also,

some public libraries may have it. The tend to keep their photography books for a long while.

<I>Fact is you cannot make the subjects interesting, unless you stage your shots as a film

director would.</I><P>

 

Yikes, cast in concrete as "fact." What nonsense...

<I>"I am looking for any info on -strategy, -gear -composition -projects, etc."</I>

<P>

Figure out why you want to photograph a complete stranger. Then develop an ability to explain that in a non-confrontational way to anyone who asks. Everything else will fall neatly into place.

<P>

And the only "fact" I can think of is that the gear doesn't matter.

>>>>Fact is you cannot make the subjects interesting, unless you stage your shots as a film director would.

 

>>Yikes, cast in concrete as "fact." What nonsense...

 

I think what he meant was you cannot *make* - as in *alter* them to be - interesting. You have to *find* the interest yourself from what's already there.