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Street photography without pissing people off?

My thoughts:
1. Doing secret snap shots of people makes me feel like a dirty little sneak.
2. I don't believe any single frozen image of a person tells the truth so in affect it is always telling a lie.
3. I personally am very tired of people being obsessed with photographing other people. People are not the most interesting thing in life.
4. It seems like every street photographer out there is trying to show the world is a surreal place. The world isn't surreal to me.
5. There are too many street photographers. Adding to that pile of work is like peeing in the ocean.
 
I go places with my friends and loved ones. Then I take their pictures. Voila! Street photography that is candid. My friends are very comfortable with me taking pictures and hardly ever pose anymore. They ignore my camera since I have it with me all the time. I'd rather have their picture than that of a stranger anyway.

Make some friends and go places with them. Live a full life and record it.
 
With the current paranoid atmosphere in the world, I would not dream of doing any street photography. An article on the local news had a photographer being stopped by the police for having a camera and being close to a school. He spent a couple of hours with them in order to prove that he was not a child pornographer. Sadly street photography belongs to a past and more innocent era. I believe that in some parts of Europe you can be sued for taking someone's picture without their permission. This also applies to their house, their dog and their livestock.

And don't even think of taking a photo if part of a government building would be in the frame!
 
Do what Atget did and photograph the street without the people. I love his photographs, they have a certain surreal quality.
 
it is ben... the challenge is all about relating to people...

sometimes you relate before you make the picture, sometimes it has to happen afterwards to maintain the spontaneity/creativity... you have to relate.
 
Who said" those willing to give up some freedom to gain security deserve neither" and "if the shoe fits" . .. ... well you know what your wearing.
 
Just talk to people.

That doesn't mean you have to ask everybody for permission. Just simply chat with people.

Sit on the park bench and talk about baseball or something. Be polite. Be social and engaging. When people are comfortable with you, it isn't uncommon for them to come up and ask for a picture. Once or twice a week, I'll have people come up to me, hand me their digicams and ask me to take their picture. I always oblige. Then, before the scene breaks up, I quickly snap one with my camera, hand them my business card. I tell them to send me an e-mail and I'll send them a picture. Once the ice is broken, I can take almost any picture I want so long as I'm not an a$$hole about it.

The effect sometimes snowballs. When other people see you talking to other people and taking their picture they'll often come up and ask for their picture taken.

If you get yourself a box of Ilford postcard stock, you can mail the pictures you take to the people who want them.
Use stick-on return address labels with your business logo on them. Postcards make good advertising.
(If people get sketchy about giving out their home address, tell them it's okay to use a business address.)

Bottom line: Don't be that "creepy guy." Be a nice, sociable and professional photographer. People will treat you accordingly.
 
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Check out this japanese guy who shoots street, totally in your face, and walks off. Not my style, but he does get a few images, most are ehhh though imo.

2:32 mark for massive film dump
[video=youtube;Fnh8x_FrnGQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh8x_FrnGQ&feature=youtu.be[/video]

[video=youtube;K32E2qmg6tE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K32E2qmg6tE&feature=related[/video]
 
For a 35mm camera, Eric sure took a lot of 120 film!
 


This guy just doesn't do it for me. His work is weak and 'success' ratio is surprisingly low for all the film he goes through. Gawd bless him but I don't get that approach...Bruce Gilden did this first and did it better.

Best advice I read here is from JimO --

.. the challenge is all about relating to people...

sometimes you relate before you make the picture, sometimes it has to happen afterwards to maintain the spontaneity/creativity... you have to relate.
Click to expand...
 
I haven't read past the first few posts, but whoever suggested the 'Street Shots' video with Bruce whoever..... THANK YOU! I am LOVING all the street shots episodes that WYNC broadcasts.
 
I'm amazed how many people when I shoot street pretend they haven't seen me when I know they have.
, and I suggest with regard to "pissing people off" that you use the smallest camera you can get with the smoothest contours like an Olympus XA so if they take offence and stick it "where the Sun don't shine" it won't be as painful
 

 
I'm going to find a rangefinder, grip and cam for my Linhof so I can use it in street shooting. I tend to reverse the intention and do the shoving when someone tries something like that.

Seriously, what little of this I do I REALLY like my Yashica TLR. Some don't recognize it as a camera, those who do mostly think it's a very cool thing, and with the WLF I can often photograph people who have no clue I'm doing it. Those that do don't seem to care.
 
I like TLRs too Roger because they're quiet and none threatening because you're looking down into the viewfinder and not directly at people you can also point the camera sideways in the opposite direction to the way you are faced and shoot, or even at arms length above your head.
 
freax said:
I think the best example is this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHtsZLsMlJI. Watch the guy with a M9 saying some joke and a thanks and everyone laughs.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking everyone is laughing in this video because he has a video camera stuck behind the RF viewfinder of the Leica, piggy-back style, as if the video camera is humping the Leica.

It is funny, though. Thanks for sharing.

~Joe
 
I am doing a project where I photograph people in the subway. I love to record their expressions and faces. The camera is a Nikon F3 from which I remove the prism, so that it becomes a waist viewfinder camera. People often do not notice me, even though I sit right across the aisle.

Lately, though, I have found those photos more interesting where I am noticed and people accept that I photograph them.

Have a look at my results, if you like

http://erikpetersson.livejournal.com/
 
While not my primary photographic interest - that would be either landscape, fine art or industrial work - I do shoot a small amount of "street photography." I have yet to find a non-compliant or aggressive subject. My modus operandi? 1). I dress to blend in: blue jeans or khaki chinos with neutral colors; 2). I keep the equipment simple: an M6 with either a 35mm or 50mm lens - never anything longer; 3). If my "subject" engages in conversation, I always explain WHY I photographed her/him/them (i.e. what I found visually interesting, etc). This I do AFTER I have made my photograph(s) - I do not like posed pictures; and 4). I ALWAYS thank the party or parties involved, either with a nod of the head, a smile or a simple "thank you."
The keys, in my view: 1) Comportment; and 2) My M6s (most see these as toys and do not find them "aggressive" in the same way as SLRs and DSLRs seem to be).
 

Dang, those are quite good! That's some good work, my friend. I didn't even realize you could do that to a Nikon. Great idea!
 
Thanks! The prism is just removed briefly, otherwise stuff would fall out of the camera. The image in the viewfinder is inverted, but you quickly get used to that.
 
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