Capture a stranger street style : Part 2

I like this thread - it is helping me to get clear in my head what I want to do as 'street photography'
 
Elines said:
I like this thread - it is helping me to get clear in my head what I want to do as 'street photography'
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And it is something along the lines of - take interesting pictures which just happen to have (unposed) people in them
 
A lot of people use this thread to cut their teeth on street photography....a lot of which I find very boring (people on phones etc.), but it's not all bad! People need a bit of encouragement to get past the mental hurdle of pointing a camera at a stranger before they can start to capture interesting moments.
 
mid_gen said:
A lot of people use this thread to cut their teeth on street photography....a lot of which I find very boring (people on phones etc.), but it's not all bad! People need a bit of encouragement to get past the mental hurdle of pointing a camera at a stranger before they can start to capture interesting moments.
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Yea I understand that. Some people (and I'm not saying specifically or exclusively on here, or in this thread) continue shooting like that ad infinitum, and others appear to aspire to it.
 
who cares ?. if people are taking pictures and having fun with their camera, that's what its all about, not everyone is going to be interested in everything that people shoot, i find some photo's of some subjects totally boring, but as long as they are happy with them i suppose that's all that counts. whats interesting to some folk, bores the s#*t out of other's. :)
 
"take unposed pictures which just happen to have interesting people in them".
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Ahh - there's the rub - my starting point is that everyone could be interesting - the challenge is to produce it. Also - if I were in the street taking pictures and somebody asked me why I wasn't taking a picture of them I don't think I would like to reply:

Because you're not interesting:)
​
Out of interest, can anyone explain the appeal of a lot of this type of photography to me?
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For me there are several reasons, but they cover posed and unposed

  • I have been able to take some still life, architectural, sporting etc pictures that I have liked and been proud of
  • .
  • I have yet to take a picture of a person - posed or unposed - that I'm proud of - I quite like my avatar one that - for me - indicates someone who prefers to be in the background/generally looks miserable (even though I'm not - honest guv:))
  • .
  • With still life I can take ages re-shooting, moving things around at will, altering the lighting until I get something I like; I can't do that with people - posed or unposed - so I need to get better at getting it 'right first time' (or at least recoverable afterwards with the help of Photoshop:)
  • .
  • I have never found it easy to start a conversation with a stranger but when I have then I have found that most people are quite happy to talk/chat; so people pictures should help me to be better in breaking the ice. This covers posed and unposed because even when taking unposed I could get approached by somebody who happened to be in the picture was taking
  • .
  • still more difficult - for me is to get them to the point, after only a short conversation, that they are relaxed and will make a good image
So in summary, it is a difficult form of photography for me and that is the challenge - it would be boring if it was easy (same reasoning for me applies to the Mundane Monday thread in Creative photography)

People need a bit of encouragement to get past the mental hurdle of pointing a camera at a stranger before they can start to capture interesting moments.
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I am still at the tail end of this phase but hope to get past it and then see if can produce interesting images
 
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Jayst84 said:
Out of interest, can anyone explain the appeal of a lot of this type of photography to me? I love street photography, but I don't get the 'record shot of a person doing nothing' aesthetic.
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As someone who posts a lot in this thread, I'm going to stick my head above the parapet. :)

Street photography can include: interesting people; an interesting situation; an interesting juxtaposition of two contrasting elements; a comment on the person or situation, usually unspoken but left to the viewer to discover; some element that could make it a stock shot. This list isn't inclusive, it's just what comes up without thinking too much about it. But a real problem arises if I try to define the word "interesting". For example, I can do endless numbers of landscape shots, some good, many not so good, but very few of them will be interesting to me. Unless there are people in them, that is. Landscapes aren't really something that interests me, but people most definitely are.

What makes someone interesting, and thus worth capturing an image of? Take a look at my photo of the elderly Indian lady, eight posts above this one. If anyone were to tell me that they don't find that interesting then I know that there's no way that I could explain to them why I take that kind of shot. To me, it oozes personality. I don't care that it's slightly out of focus, or even that the lady's clothes provided some excellent leading lines. It isn't about 'image quality', it's about the subject. And, to me, every shot in that post shows the personality of that person at the time I captured the image. They're all shots that I felt that I had to take.

And, as for "doing nothing", here's a picture of two guys "doing nothing". It's by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It's one of the most fascinating examples of street photography, and I can't explain why. And I don't think anyone else can, really. And if you take a look at the work of Vivian Maier - not the posed shots so much as the unposed ones - it's equally obvious that she's an excellent street photographer, but it's equally difficult to define precisely why.

I could write an essay on this subject but it would all only lead back to the same point: if you're a street photographer interested in people then you see something in the person or in the situation that lets you 'just know' that you have to take the shot. My guess is that this feeling is the same as the one felt by the landscape photographer when he sees that scene that doesn't stir me at all. The same feeling the guy on the POTN forum had when he got those airplane shots that really don't interest me in the slightest. Probably the same feeling that you get when you take the shots that interest you, James. It's the same feeling that lets you know that you have to be a photographer.
 
Jayst84 said:
Out of interest, can anyone explain the appeal of a lot of this type of photography to me? I love street photography, but I don't get the 'record shot of a person doing nothing' aesthetic.
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I don't really get the the "record shot of a bird doing nothing" (see also: cars, aeroplanes) either. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks - I find photos of mundane people can be interesting (they can also be mundane, of course), and the things that record shots record might be a lot more interesting in 20, 30, 40 years time when everything has changed. (I love looking at old photos of people doing nothing in particular)

Here's my latest contributions to the genre from Cardiff, yesterday.


Tea Break by Arfonfab, on Flickr


DSC_0060-2 by Arfonfab, on Flickr

Not sure if the second one is "interesting and moody" or just "badly exposed".
 
abdoujaparov said:
I don't really get the the "record shot of a bird doing nothing" (see also: cars, aeroplanes) either. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks - I find photos of mundane people can be interesting (they can also be mundane, of course), and the things that record shots record might be a lot more interesting in 20, 30, 40 years time when everything has changed. (I love looking at old photos of people doing nothing in particular)
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That's what I mean (y)
 
I really like this.

It works even though the figure is ~on the centre line and I think that is because it ~on the 'thirds' line in the lighter part of the picture.

Some might think that the dark trees should be cropped out but for me they should stay because the darkness of the trees balances the faded background.
 
Thanks, Chris. The figure is more or less in line with two towers above him, too. I could have cropped some of the trees on the left but I wanted to emphasise how small the man was compared to the man-made buildings, and how small he was compared to the trees, so I wanted it in landscape format, with the bridge very near the bottom of the frame, with the lines of birds helping to keep the eyes in the frame at the bottom. The trees and bushes on the right gave me leading lines to the bridge and the man, and the mass of trees to the left stop the eye from leaving the frame. It all only took a few seconds, but I was hoping desperately that he wouldn't move. Luckily, he was on his mobile phone... :)
 
garryknight said:
Thanks, Chris. The figure is more or less in line with two towers above him, too. I could have cropped some of the trees on the left but I wanted to emphasise how small the man was compared to the man-made buildings, and how small he was compared to the trees, so I wanted it in landscape format, with the bridge very near the bottom of the frame, with the lines of birds helping to keep the eyes in the frame at the bottom. The trees and bushes on the right gave me leading lines to the bridge and the man, and the mass of trees to the left stop the eye from leaving the frame. It all only took a few seconds, but I was hoping desperately that he wouldn't move. Luckily, he was on his mobile phone... :)
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I couldn't have articulated that lot but makes sense to me:).
 
garryknight said:
As someone who posts a lot in this thread, I'm going to stick my head above the parapet. :)

Street photography can include: interesting people; an interesting situation; an interesting juxtaposition of two contrasting elements; a comment on the person or situation, usually unspoken but left to the viewer to discover; some element that could make it a stock shot. This list isn't inclusive, it's just what comes up without thinking too much about it. But a real problem arises if I try to define the word "interesting". For example, I can do endless numbers of landscape shots, some good, many not so good, but very few of them will be interesting to me. Unless there are people in them, that is. Landscapes aren't really something that interests me, but people most definitely are.

What makes someone interesting, and thus worth capturing an image of? Take a look at my photo of the elderly Indian lady, eight posts above this one. If anyone were to tell me that they don't find that interesting then I know that there's no way that I could explain to them why I take that kind of shot. To me, it oozes personality. I don't care that it's slightly out of focus, or even that the lady's clothes provided some excellent leading lines. It isn't about 'image quality', it's about the subject. And, to me, every shot in that post shows the personality of that person at the time I captured the image. They're all shots that I felt that I had to take.

And, as for "doing nothing", here's a picture of two guys "doing nothing". It's by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It's one of the most fascinating examples of street photography, and I can't explain why. And I don't think anyone else can, really. And if you take a look at the work of Vivian Maier - not the posed shots so much as the unposed ones - it's equally obvious that she's an excellent street photographer, but it's equally difficult to define precisely why.

I could write an essay on this subject but it would all only lead back to the same point: if you're a street photographer interested in people then you see something in the person or in the situation that lets you 'just know' that you have to take the shot. My guess is that this feeling is the same as the one felt by the landscape photographer when he sees that scene that doesn't stir me at all. The same feeling the guy on the POTN forum had when he got those airplane shots that really don't interest me in the slightest. Probably the same feeling that you get when you take the shots that interest you, James. It's the same feeling that lets you know that you have to be a photographer.
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In other words who cares what i and others think. So long as you find your image you have taken interesting then who cares. Thats basically what you have said and i have summed it up in a sentance for you :)

edit: Your pics are interesting to me btw :)
 
jonneymendoza said:
In other words who cares what i and others think. So long as you find your image you have taken interesting then who cares. Thats basically what you have said and i have summed it up in a sentance for you :)
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Where on earth did I say that? I've re-read that post a couple of times just now and can't for the life of me see why you came to that conclusion. James asked:

Jayst84 said:
can anyone explain the appeal of a lot of this type of photography to me?
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so I explained why it appeals to me, as others have in this thread. It's an interesting question and one which sparked a debate right at the start of the original 'Capture a stranger' thread. And it's a question which can only be answered by each person for whom this type of photography is appealing. If you were to say why it appealed to you and I said that it showed that you don't care what others think, how would you feel?

jonneymendoza said:
edit: Your pics are interesting to me btw :)
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I've always enjoyed seeing yours, and I hope you keep on posting them here as I look forward to seeing more.
 
garryknight said:
Where on earth did I say that? I've re-read that post a couple of times just now and can't for the life of me see why you came to that conclusion. James asked:



so I explained why it appeals to me, as others have in this thread. It's an interesting question and one which sparked a debate right at the start of the original 'Capture a stranger' thread. And it's a question which can only be answered by each person for whom this type of photography is appealing. If you were to say why it appealed to you and I said that it showed that you don't care what others think, how would you feel?



I've always enjoyed seeing yours, and I hope you keep on posting them here as I look forward to seeing more.
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Hi Garry,

I wouldnt feel a thing if someone answered me like that because this is art and if it appeals to that person, why must i anger them and keep asking them why why why does it appeal to them?

Thanks about my pics, i will try and post more but ever since the website got a huge makeover i have not posted much here. At first i couldnt even find the subscribed threads!
 
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