I may never do street photography

Luckless

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We are gonna have to disagree here. If someone is acting nervous and weird, people do pick up on that.

I have to admit that I've had a number of people catch my attention by acting "weird and nervous" when it comes to photography.

Most of them were the sort of people who would threaten to call the cops on me for "Peeping in people's windows"... While I was using a 200mm lens... And said windows were 2km away across the harbour...
 

jtk

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"Everyone is neutral"...hilarious idea...

Please re-read your own post: You've made my point by observing that it's "sickos" who attribute the bad stuff to people who "surround" them.

If Ann Landers was still around, she'd be more useful than the "experts" who scribble for Psychology Today.
 

jtk

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And you wonder why people don't like street photographers.

faberry...youre missing the pathetic point...he's shooting and narrating selfies...no doubt dropped trou!
 

removed account4

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I agree very much with your comment about "bad apples"...however, from what I see on Photrio Media, they are not a minority. Photography is increasingly a Rorschsach Test...
i don't really take images in the gallery/meida section as being any sort of barometer of anything whether it is street work or figurative work or rocks and trees or anything else; its more like an abstraction than anything else. Sure Rorschsach test if that means an abstraction of an abstraction ... just like life.
 

BradS

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I agree very much with your comment about "bad apples"...however, from what I see on Photrio Media, they are not a minority. Photography is increasingly a Rorschsach Test...

Who cares who agrees ...
or disagrees?
 
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Agulliver

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Try not looking nervous when you have an anxiety disorder!!!

I find that using an obviously old camera helps with street photography. A modern-ish SLR from even the 80s doesn't look that much unlike a DSLR to the untrained eye. Not that it should make any difference whether one is shooting with a phone, DSLR or speed graphic....but in people's minds it does. I have been accused of being a peadophile for taking a film SLR to the beach while enjoying a day out with friends and family. "You photographed that child in his swimming trunks"..."err, yes...he's my friend's son."....."oh...but you have that long lens, you could be photographing anything"....."Yes, I could...but I am not....I am photographing the party I came with and some nice shots of the planes flying overhead and the boats in the distance"...."You could be up to no good, I'm of a mind to call the police"......"Go ahead, I have every right to photography anything I want in a public place

It's that last but that people don't understand. At least in the UK, one has the absolute right to photograph anything that is in - or can be seen from - a public place. Yet I have come across people who don't understand this. Earlier this year I rested a 60s film camera on a wall to take a long timed exposure of cars going by....a teenage boy who walked past noticed and accosted me, "You can't take my photo"....."I wasn't."....."I heard it click. Delete it. You can't take my photo"....there followed an explanation of film, what I was doing and the kid still didn't believe that it was lawful to take a photo in the street. So I pointed out that he must surely do the same with his phone....

Generally I don't photograph specific people, I am looking to capture street scenes...life as it is in the moment. If that means people full of tattoos then so be it, that was life at the moment in time in the place I happened to be. Occasionally people want to be photogrpahed and pose, a specific example was a delightful punk couple in Camden a couple of years ago who admired my Agfa Super Silette and posed. Mostly people don't care unless they think you've specifically singled them out. Given that in London everyone is photographed an average of 300 times per day by security cameras you'd think one more wouldn't matter, but it seems to if they think you've singled them out. So I do general street scenes, with older cameras and people are more likely to be curious about the camera than angry that I am taking photos. What does sometimes upset people is a DLSR or SLR because, I think, they fear I am going to publish and sell the photos.

As for taking photos of the homeless, it once served a purpose to educate people....but it's been done and is probably in bad taste....though I have considered doing portraits of a guy I got to know who was sleeping rough outside the train station I use every day. I decided not to, but kind of regret it. Musicians and performers I will sometimes photograph if they look interesting or have gathered a crowd and always give them a quid or two.
 

Ste_S

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It still serves a purpose to educate people, now more than ever with the amount of people on the streets increasing yet barely mentioned in the media.
Only bad taste photos are bad taste cf again McCullin, Maier, Salgado etc etc
 

NB23

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anthonym3

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That could be considered stalking.
 

CMoore

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At first it was Commies and Reds.
Then it was Rock & Roll, long hair and "drugs".
Now it is a 60 year old guy, with a 40 year old camera.......
 

Pioneer

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Live and learn.

I still want that shot, Maybe use my Mamiya c220 instead with my 55mm lens, and if I have any issues say "don't worry, I've got a wide angle lens" and hope that works.
Didn't work. I did call the cops and I pointed out all the people who were using their own cell phones.

They told me that I could photograph all I wanted but that if I didn't leave that particular location they would arrest me for disturbing the peace.

So now I take the same pictures with a cell phone.
 

Colin Corneau

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"Never criticize someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes. That way, you're a mile away and you've got their shoes."

Prove me wrong.
 

CMoore

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That is not "Street Photography" it is taking portraits of strangers on the street.
There is no time to "Ask Permission"....the moment is gone at that point.
I wish i had a scanner, but there are Hundreds of examples on The Internet of what Street Photography is.
Garry Winogrand for example.
 

~andi

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At first it was Commies and Reds.
Then it was Rock & Roll, long hair and "drugs".
Now it is a 60 year old guy, with a 40 year old camera.......

Sounds like an interesting biography
 

Saganich

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There is no understanding among the general public about why someone would be alone and taking pictures of random people. The alone person is wrong. Simply having one person who is obviously with you takes care of this problem.
 

Colin Corneau

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What's your shoe size?

That is pretty good, I must admit

I still maintain people indoctrinating their kids to be fearful, small-minded and closed to the benefits of being open to the world is a bad thing...but a good laugh is always welcome.
 

Ste_S

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Nah. Street Photography is literally taking photos on the street - it's weird how all these stupid rules have sprung up over time and limits what people take.
 

Luckless

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Nah. Street Photography is literally taking photos on the street - it's weird how all these stupid rules have sprung up over time and limits what people take.

Arguing that one style is or isn't Street Photography, while another is, kind of feels like arguing whether a Sci-Fi novel is more or less of a novel than a Romance novel while ignoring how radically different a typical sci-fi novel is from a typical romance...
 

DonJ

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Nah. Street Photography is literally taking photos on the street - it's weird how all these stupid rules have sprung up over time and limits what people take.

So my photos of buildings are now “street photography” because I took them while standing on the street?

A classification isn’t a rule, and it doesn’t limit what people photograph.
 

Ko.Fe.

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CMoore

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So my photos of buildings are now “street photography” because I took them while standing on the street?

A classification isn’t a rule, and it doesn’t limit what people photograph.
I guess there are "No Rules" as to what i might call...... Fine Art, Landscape, Architecture, Etc etc
Nah. Street Photography is literally taking photos on the street - it's weird how all these stupid rules have sprung up over time and limits what people take.
No, it is not simply that.
Unless -
A picture of the front of my house is "Architectural" Photography.
A picture of my baseball glove and cleats is "Sports" Photography
A B&W picture of the spare tire under my car is a "Fine Art" photo
A picture of a General sitting at his desk is "War Photography"

Or do we just get Loosey-Goosey with whatever pleases your own snark on Internet Forums.?

There are all kinds of "Rules" in photography. None of them hinder anybody from doing anything.

Below must be one of the best known "Street Photography" photos of all time.


 
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