What's the point?

[Helinophoto]

What's the point of street photography? I mean, most of the street shots I see are of some gnarly old Asian dude missing a couple teeth <snip>

Right on, I am so tired of seeing "indian wisemen" and other old men in this genre. (or it may be more 'photojournalism'......none the less, it has been done to death).

- And bums.....leave the worse-off people alone.

Though, I believe street has become a little boring as of late, why?

- People wear the same all over the world, more or less.
- Nobody wear hats
- Most people look very plain

In the olden days, people looked really good, hats, coats, dresses, even the cars were special (these days, you can't really tell a 'Merc' From a BMW, from any other car, unless you see the logo).

Also, street-photographers live more dangerous nowdays; Photography in the public has become an 'issue' regarding security and the protection of children and so on and so forth.

Why bother?

 

[Helinophoto]

What is the point of your question? Street photography is no different than portrait or landscape: you have a lot of bad pictures and among them some jewels.

Don't worry, HCB, Koudelka or Winogrand certainly has their share of bad shots but this is not what hangs on the museums walls.

According to HCB, he never took a bad photograph, ever.

That pompous little pr*ck from a rich family and good standing, enabling him to "play" while the rest of the world had to drag their butts trough depression and two world wars.

 

[Bob Carnie]

I'm not trying to question the credibility of it as an art form. I'm just wondering what exactly it is that it tries to capture or convey. Other genres of photography are easy to answer the same question for. What's the point of sports photography? To capture the excitement, struggle, or peak of the action. What's the point of landscape photography? To capture the beauty/grandeur of a particular scene. I just can't seem to figure out the answer for street photography quite as easily. Several of the responses given here do make sense to me though. Thanks.

Each new generation of photographers show us what the Streets look like , today is just as important as when Bresson was taking photographs of the streets.

 

[frank]

Think of it as documentary photography. And it's not easy to do well, that's why one sees so much dreck.

 

[Soeren]

"What's the point of street photography?"
Life

 

[Richard Searle]

I agree with frank. A lot of street photography is documentary. Take a look at Walker Evans and Eugene Atget. It doesn't always have to be about people. There are plenty of inanimate subjects worthy of attention. I've seen plenty of photo of trees and rocks that I wouldn't get my camera out for.

 

[guangong]

As I was reading through the comments I was about to make the same remarks as Frank and Richard. Since the existence of photography and cinematography we know a great deal about the daily life of people all over the world at different times. We can also see the changes. A great film,shot silent in late twenties with sound added, was about Canadian indians following game. They wore traditional garb. Today they would be dressed in ny Yankees baseball hats,tee shirts that say I love ny and sneakers. We see time and space fly by. Even in the 1950s we wore suits or jackets to jazz clubs...out of respect. Today, people dress like bums going to church.is it all a question of self respect that the modern photographer is documenting?

 

[Helios 1984]

Read: What is the point of recording human activity?

I'll tell you... I don't know, but it's fascinating.

 

[Alan Klein]

Street pictures of the past are more interesting because they show scenes that you can no longer see. Different clothes, different styles, horse transportation, even the people were thinner then. If you check out old newsreels, they even spoke different with a "high" accent, almost British. Better, actually. More eloquent and educated.

But even today, if you catch a shot that shows people doing things that are "hubris", or funny, or unusual, or juxtaposed to something else that conflicts with it, it starts to get good also. Also, a street picture is not like eating a meal that you can enjoy over a few hours if you stretch it out. If a picture can catch your attention for a few seconds, it's a success. What more can you ask of it?

 

[skorpiius]

As has been touched upon, street photographs improve with age, even mediocre ones will gain new interest as the time they portray becomes more and more foreign to the present day.

 

[Helinophoto]

You said a mouth full.

Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you aren't allowed to state your opinion on a forum, meant for stating your opinion.

 

[removed account4]

the the point is there is no point, its like anything.

 

[Harry Stevens]

Street photography is not just about people, there are different types in my opinion. I can think of at least five different photographs of street scenes that I have taken within the last two years that are now gone forever. I have always considered street photography as recording history be it local or national. Always strikes me as odd that people will dive into a books about the past history of their town/city and love the old street photographs and then moan about being photographed when they are out and about in the very same town or city.

 

[jeffreyg]

Street photographer ? Photographer in the street?

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[guangong]

Back to What's the Point? People just like to do street photography, especially if you live in a city. But street photography includes more than people. Besides people there are the artifacts...door knobs, building fronts, posters, etc. When living in the city that is what I photographed...not just people. Now I am spending more time in a rural environment a shoot a lot of trees. The most difficult is to make interesting photographs of the suburbs. Seldom any people on the streets. Not even kids playing anymore because they are engaged in "organized" activities. Bill Owens was the only photographer that I know of who attempted suburban photography in the 1960s or 70s. But people take photos on the street just because that is what some people do.

 

[Helinophoto]

It's an American expression. I was agreeing with you.

Ops, I'll eat my own words then lol

 

[MattKing]

One of the things I've noticed about a lot of street photography is that it often seems stronger if shown as several related photographs in a series rather than as an individual image.
If shown together in a book or on a gallery wall, the various photographs seem to support each other.
IMHO, in modern times, too much of our viewing is done one image at a time, on a computer/tablet/phone screen.

 

[Alan Klein]

Street photos: Not just buildings and people.

The Flatiron Building NYC et al.

 

[pentaxuser]

What's the point of anything? We're all doomed anyway ...

Things are never as bad as they seem. In the recent words of a philosopher whose name escapes me for the moment:

"Mesut Ozil"

That's all

pentaxuser

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I don't do it but I do enjoy looking at it. In 100 years from now people will look at it with amazement.

 

[marcmarc]

I've been shooting in the streets for over ten years and while I enjoy the process I'm not a big fan of the genera. Maybe it's because when I started, I had no idea that "street photography" existed and I had no idea about Wingrand, HCB and others, but to be honest I'm just am not as amazed at their work as a whole like a lot of other street shooters are. I mean they all have individual pictures I like but the majority of what one sees by them, their so-called greatest hits that are often published over and over just don't do anything for me. Yet, the gushing hero worship from a lot of street photographers is fairly common and a number of todays street shooters are simply imitating Wingrands tilt, or Moriyamas high contrast look. When SFMOMA had a Winogrand retrospective several years back me and my sister went to see it and as we were leaving the museum she wasn't impressed either. "Your pictures are better" is what she told me. So I guess one either "gets" it or not. I certainly don't, but that's OK because I have enough trouble working on my own work and figuring that all out.

 

[baachitraka]

Streets do provide an opportunity to take photographs that I can't find in my home...

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have several HCB books and largest photo book I have is GW book. I'm taking pictures on streets since 2007 or so. I wasn't aware of HCB and GW until 2012, before I joined RF dedicated forum. I was in similar situation - why do I need to look at their pictures, if I'm great without it, my AF DSLR pictures are in focus and don't have motion blur. I only purchased HCB and GW books this year. But I see no practical reason in replication of their photography by myself. I don't have education in art and specific gifts in photography as they have. And same as above, I don't have time to practice in street photography.

 

[Huss]

"What's the point of street photography?"

If you are asking this question it is not your thing. To me street photography is taking pictures for my own memory. I'm always looking at the people while I'm walking. I'm doing it since I was kid. Now if I see something or someone interesting I'm taking it with me.

Personally, I'm finding this much more interesting comparing to BiF, cars and cheesy landscapes, naked bimbos pictures:

Hey, don't u be bad mouthing snaps of nekkid bimbos!

Your first pic is great. Action and humour. The image of the guy on the bike pulling a loaded cart is already interesting, but what tops it is the framing with the sign showing 60% off. Now it could be implied that he took advantage of that sale!

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Hey, don't u be bad mouthing snaps of nekkid bimbos!

Your first pic is great. Action and humour. The image of the guy on the bike pulling a loaded cart is already interesting, but what tops it is the framing with the sign showing 60% off. Now it could be implied that he took advantage of that sale!

Thanks for positive feedback and great interpretation! It never came to me about 60% off and him taking advantage