I have never been fond of photographing strangers, and my natural reticence has been enhanced as a result of a few people who responded badly. As a consequence, my photos generally include either friends, people who aren’t prominent in the image, or nobody at all. I make a bit of an exception for situations where people are clearly making a display of themselves (in costume, for instance), but generally avoid pointing my lenses at people I don’t know, even in public.
While I recognize the sense of this approach, it does make me feel as though my photos lack something that most street photographers manage to capture: specifically, the various moments that make up city life. Should I try to be bolder and produce some images like those in the photo.net ‘Street Photography’ tutorial?
Go ahead and be bold!
Street photography is such a big part of what you do, and there is no reason for it to be so depopulated.
Hard call, I’ve wondered about this one as well. I had a lovely and surprising experience on my last holiday in South America, where I took a photo of a kid on the street, and I was then literally mobbed by every other kid in sight, who wanted me to take a photo of them too:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mcummins/BestOfSouthAmerica#5253822596581496530
I can imagine bad reactions and sticky situations all too easily though.
You should be very careful taking photos of kids you don’t know.
Parents often freak out when they see strangers – especially male strangers – doing so.
Mark,
It is certainly pleasant to find onesself in a situation where lots of people want to be photographed.
I quite like your South America shots. It looks like it was an amazing trip.
Anon,
I am very mindful of that.
R.K.,
I would certainly like to do more photography of the kind in the linked tutorial, but doing so tactfully and politely is a challenge.
Mark,
I especially like the mountain and llama shots.
You have taken some wonderful photos of your friends and family members. They make better memories than simply city or countryside shots. To capture a person’s expression at a given moment creates a powerful memory. Strangers can also add a feeling to a good composition, but not everyone likes to be photographed.
While it’s true that not everyone likes being photographed, there is a huge body of amazing work that could never have been done if it was necessary to ask formal permission from everyone in the image.
We would have a lot less collective photographic memory. In some sense, I think street photography is meant to be a contribution to that kind of memory – offering people who view it both now and later some insight into how things were at a particular place and time in the world.
Street Photography Techniques
Adam NYC , Dec 22, 2008; 03:20 a.m.
“I was interested in other photographers’ techniques for capturing candid images of people on the street. I have always been intrigued by street photography, particularly candid shots where knowledge of the camera does not influence behavior, etc. But I often find myself trigger-shy for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the pictures I want to take can perhaps be invasive, and the mere fact that someone sees me with a camera can be enough to ruin the candidness of the moment.”