Opinion on different rules of street photography.

[NB23]

Some street photographers seem to think that by imposing strict rules they are elevating the genre somehow. BS. It's about the photo, not the rules. (Same goes for cropping.)

If at lease you had a proper understanding of it all.

First of all, no protographers impose the rules, as you are saying. It’s rather that the rules impose themselves.
The said photographers can only learn those rules.

The rules are really clear and they are showcased in bold. They show up as the difference between a good and a bad picture.

Study the difference and there you have them, those rules.

 

[Pieter12]

So what you are saying is that if a photo is good despite breaking some pre-established "rule" then that becomes a new rule. More hot air.

 

[faberryman]

Rules or conventions? If rules, is there a governing body that writes them?

 

[jtk]

Rules or conventions? If rules, is there a governing body that writes them?

The Dotted Line.

 

[faberryman]

The Dotted Line.

The "dotted line" generally signifies to formally give your assent to something, as in "sign on the dotted line". I'm thinking the "rules" in this case are just conventions built up over time which practitioners generally follow. I am surprised that people assert with such authority what they are. HCB never got up in anyone's face, which some claim is a requirement today. I like to be a lot more flexible about things.

 

[NB23]

So what you are saying is that if a photo is good despite breaking some pre-established "rule" then that becomes a new rule. More hot air.

No.
You just can’t understand.

If it’s good while it’s breaking some rules, it simply means that it intrinsincally follows some other rules.

 

[Pieter12]

No.
You just can’t understand.

If it’s good while it’s breaking some rules, it simply means that it intrinsincally follows some other rules.

So if it's good, find or invent a rule for it.

 

[faberryman]

So if it's good, find or invent a rule for it.

That seems to be how they have been promulgated thus far, so why change now?

 

[NB23]

What is this? Promotion for sloppy photography or something?

This is getting as pathetic as the artistic way of developing films: stand development.

 

[removed account4]

What is this? Promotion for sloppy photography or something?

This is getting as pathetic as the artistic way of developing films: stand development.

which post are you referring to promoting sloppy photography, people that
don't adhere to some sort of orthodoxy ? i figure humans have an intuitive eye
they are bombarded by images 24x7x365 and they know the rules of composition.
nicholas nixon years ago had a portrait exhibit where he photographed someone's ear and called it
a portrait .. is that sloppy photography ? or are the RULES of portraits different than the RULES of street work ?
seems like the main rule is to make an interesting photograph ... and if it is interesting on different levels
or has some sort of unspoken composition like the last supper that's great too...
not sure why you have to insult people ...

 

[MattKing]

Five pages and more than 100 posts, but I still can't help of thinking of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid:

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Rules are concepts that are formalized in our brains beforehand not by some committee. Our brains create the aesthetics first that are expressed subsequently in the "rules". For example, our brain appreciates a picture that's in focus. So the rule is, get the picture in focus. It's not more complicated than that.