Street Photography: Nailing it.

Thanks Gary, I can view it on the motion-id flickr site but not motionid.

Very aesthetically pleasing stuff. Great DoF, tonality, contrast. I can see why so many rank him as a favorite.
 
russbates said:
There are no rules but i thought this was quite a nice summary posted on HCSP discussion


Street photographers:
... never use long lenses.
... never shoot homeless people or street performers.
... never use flash, even if it would be necessary.
... always use flash, even when it`s unnecessary.
... avoid sunsets and butterfly's.
... walk at least 25 miles per day.
... do not care about people, they just take their pictures.
... shout at people, when asked what they are doing.
... think that the street belongs to everybody, especially to the street photographers.
... think that the constitution of Britain should have a paragraph to protect them.
... start to tremble and get out of control when being separated from the camera.

Ok so thats a bit of a gimmick but you get the idea!

Most importantly, NEVER EVER EVER EVER use a long lens. You would never use a 300 to shoot a child portrait cos you would be completely disassociated with the subject the same goes for street work.

Really do look at HCSP pool theres so much more to it than shooting a tilted frame of a homeless bloke!
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Interesting as at the moment I'm doing some work with my local homeless project and I've obviously shot a couple of interesting homeless shots this year.

For candid work I think you need a long lens as the shot is more natural.
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blinkerz said:
ive shot a homeless bloke before, i dont see why people say there is rules. I think the wonderful thing about photography is that we see the world differently and that you dont have to conform to any specifics..
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And I loved that shot when you first posted it - it inspired me to go out and do similar.
 
contrastingLight said:
Garry,
Did you manage to catch the brilliant BBC documentary The Genius of photography in the 4th episode there is an interview with Joel Meyerowitz in regards to street photography and his work.
He talks about living in the moment, if you can see in 1/1000 th of a second and capture the moment never to be seen again.
There is also a review of Garry Winogrand and the work he produced.

Well worth a look if you haven't already seen it.:clap:
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EdinburghGary said:
No afraid not :( Going to try and find it online.
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I have searched for a dvd copy of this program, however it has not been released for sale which is disappointing.

I would`t mind forking out for a decent copy.
 
I know what I think street photography isn't. It's not about taking head shots of people, in a crowd, juggling with citrus fruit with fantastic bokeh.
 
My two pence worth... what street is not..

Its not a photograph of fab light or a beautiful scene.
Its defiantly not a portrait or any kind of landscape.
It has nothing to do with using dof to produce bokeh.
It has no preconceived subject matter what so ever.
Deciding to capture a man smoking a fag with lovely background and great clarity has nothing to do with street...although a street shot can easily contain all those things.
IMO, what lens you use is irrelevant. I think its quite daft to go on about 50mm lenses when so many are using then on cropped sensors ...that’s about 80mm .. but 'oh its street cos I used a 50mm', yeah right!

There are no rules (apart from the rules that is) ...it is about getting close and capturing candid moments in time, and producing a shot that contents affects the viewer emotively and not particularly because of the beauty factor that the image may contain.

There is not a set idea or pattern, purely observation... working otherwise is probably detrimental to the spontaneous nature of street I feel.

This is one of my own faves... excuse the processing I couldn't be bothered to get the HD up and running to find the correct one.
Toyshopwindow.jpg


Shot at 200mm from my vans drivers seat ... if any one says that not street....I'll ...I'lll ...disagree. :D


mr_pants said:
Just about the greatest street photograph I think I've ever seen here. He's got a whole collection of wonderful stuff, too.
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Ooh yeah Like that lot, so simple, yet so street.
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
IMO, what lens you use is irrelevant... it is about getting close
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If I had to be picky, its a little about what lens you use. Get up close with a 100-400 and you'll need to move back. 50mm on FF is perfect I'm finding. On 1.6x crop it was too tight. So obviously you would have to account for that which is why I always say its around 24-50mm. 85mm shots, as you said, of the guy smoking with wonderful bokeh aren't technically "street" more of street candid portraiture. In the most simplest of ways street is essentially just documenting life on the streets.

[youtube]5dipTqJfiE4[/youtube]

[youtube]kkIWW6vwrvM[/youtube]

Bruce Gilden. Rule breaker. Flash, interacting with people, changing events but still a street photographer.
 
Keep the replies coming, turning into a superb thread. Love all the different ideas. has thrown a few surprises up too. Street is not what I thought it was, judging by a lot of the replies.

Gary.
 
petemc said:
If I had to be picky, its a little about what lens you use. Get up close with a 100-400 and you'll need to move back. 50mm on FF is perfect I'm finding. On 1.6x crop it was too tight. So obviously you would have to account for that which is why I always say its around 24-50mm. 85mm shots, as you said, of the guy smoking with wonderful bokeh aren't technically "street" more of street candid portraiture. In the most simplest of ways street is essentially just documenting life on the streets.
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Yeah, I'm with you, street doesn't always have to be on a street though does it? .. I mean it could be an urban wasteland or a window cleaner several floors up, or any combination as long as it portrays some aspect of life on the street....just adding, not arguing.

Its definatly about being intimate. A telephoto shots for example doesn't conjure that close up feel does it, because of constraining effects of all the distances and subjects .... Whether you know photography or not; We're all naturally used to seeing the differences between a close and distant views in everyday life, so the telephoto shot just doesn't work in the same way, its unnatural ...although the straight on zoom does I feel, it is, just as effective as a straight on view. (The straight on natural, supposed 50mm view that is)

Hmm just pondering outloud ..
 
Like the vids Pete the Gilden one is a fave of mine really like his work and approach.

The stuff shown in the video isn't his best but some on his magnum profile really is fantastic. This slide show he produced for Magnum in motion really impressed me, shows hes equally apt at other things:
http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/foreclosures
Brilliant
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Its definatly about being intimate. A telephoto shots for example doesn't conjure that close up feel does it, because of constraining effects of all the distances and subjects .... Whether you know photography or not; We're all naturally used to seeing the differences between a close and distant views in everyday life, so the telephoto shot just doesn't work in the same way, its unnatural ...although the straight on zoom does I feel, it is, just as effective as a straight on view. (The straight on natural, supposed 50mm view that is)

Hmm just pondering outloud ..
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Thats the problem with telephoto it compresses details and makes you feel detached from the situation be it subconscious or conscious. I challenge anyone to find a critically acclaimed/respected street photographer that shoots street on a telephoto lens.
 
Also just before i pop out the most current photograph in the HCSP pool at time of writing is from a guy called Kramer oneill. Brilliant book 'until human voices wake us'. Check his flickr set of the same name. Really pushing the boundaries of 'street photography'. Alot have described it as street in the sea. His stuff on wall street is pretty special too.
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Just one of many I love.
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Can I ask why ?

I really don't get or understand a lot of street work that others seem to appreciate. To me this just says two women and bloke on a bike. What am I supposed to be seeing ?

I feel like a philistine writing this but I don't see anything clever in this photo - artistically or technically. Help !
 
russbates said:
Thats the problem with telephoto it compresses details and makes you feel detached from the situation be it subconscious or conscious. I challenge anyone to find a critically acclaimed/respected street photographer that shoots street on a telephoto lens.
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I think you could go as far as saying, because the lens is telephoto, its just not street, so that tog doesn't exist.
50mm is a starter length, no longer than that, its definitely borderline on a crop sensor, but I guess if you can shoot street @ 50, its only a short hop to 20.
:)

Gilden is a nutter, I think he has it a little warped, like the general public owes him a living or something, but I guess its the same mentality as the paparazzi except the peeps they shoot make their living from exposure, unlike average joe who just wants to get to work without some toilet blocking his way and blinding him with flash, walking away like nothing happened.....no interaction, no subtleties, no blending in, a nod and a wink..nothing, its almost assault.
 
WeddingHack said:
Can I ask why ?

I really don't get or understand a lot of street work that others seem to appreciate. To me this just says two women and bloke on a bike. What am I supposed to be seeing ?

I feel like a philistine writing this but I don't see anything clever in this photo - artistically or technically. Help !
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I can totally understand why you haven't spotted its appeal, it is probably very personal, there’s some street stuff i don't like or appreciate too.

For me its very clever and artistic.

It is as you say just two women not particularly well caught apart from the good eye contact ... well that’s a pretty cool start as far as I'm concerned, then you've got their position over to the left on a third line, but leaving the frame, not usually a good thing unless you've got something else balancing it... and we have... we have a rider on the right side third line coming in on a curve, heading towards the women…. bingo the composition is balanced, unusual and law breaking yes, but it does work well as a composition I think.
Its obviously set in a park, a cool composition, its clean from distractions and simply and effectively nails a moment in the life of some human’s and yet also the busy world we live in. More than that its also two shots in one, both sides have their own stories to tell and yet together they tell yet another that only the viewer can see, to a great extent neither subjects have any idea of each others involvement in the photograph and what its final story was, that was for the photographer to nail …and he certainly did that for me.

Something like that anyway …
 
joxby said:
Gilden is a nutter, I think he has it a little warped, like the general public owes him a living or something, but I guess its the same mentality as the paparazzi except the peeps they shoot make their living from exposure, unlike average joe who just wants to get to work without some toilet blocking his way and blinding him with flash, walking away like nothing happened.....no interaction, no subtleties, no blending in, a nod and a wink..nothing, its almost assault.
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You've hit the nail on the head with the general public owing him, what is he like!! ... I so agree, don't like his take style at all, way to intruding.
 
joxby said:
I think you could go as far as saying, because the lens is telephoto, its just not street, so that tog doesn't exist.
50mm is a starter length, no longer than that, its definitely borderline on a crop sensor, but I guess if you can shoot street @ 50, its only a short hop to 20.
:)

Gilden is a nutter, I think he has it a little warped, like the general public owes him a living or something, but I guess its the same mentality as the paparazzi except the peeps they shoot make their living from exposure, unlike average joe who just wants to get to work without some toilet blocking his way and blinding him with flash, walking away like nothing happened.....no interaction, no subtleties, no blending in, a nod and a wink..nothing, its almost assault.
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You have got to laugh at his brash and brazen style, the reaction of the new Yorkers must be one of wtf.You can see it on there faces as they turn towards the flash
Its over in one quick sucker punch, bang done onto the next subject........oh by the way thanks......
I do like his work and the expressions he manages to capture.

If you cast your mind back several months a polish Photographer was arrested in Edinburgh for more or less the same thing albeit dressed as breach of the peace.
He also used flash as he took a picture of an inebriated woman feeling unwell.

I wonder how long you could get away with Gildens style on the streets of Edinburgh before you got decked??
Especially on a Friday night......:thinking::bang:
 
OK, thanks for that, i can see now where your appreciation comes from.

I wonder how much if any of your analysis was in the photographers mind when he took the shot ?
 
WeddingHack said:
OK, thanks for that, i can see now where your appreciation comes from.

I wonder how much if any of your analysis was in the photographers mind when he took the shot ?
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I don't suppose any analysis, it looks spontaneous to me. Dunno, he saw it coming, spotted the story and took the shot and created the scene.... unless its just a grab shot I can't imagine what else he would have thinking?

Seriously, unless I'm being stupid (which isn't uncommon) what else would he be thinking?
 
Since reading this thread Im inspired to do some street photography, dont know how to see stuff in the right way like what makes a good street image best get reading and practising and looking a lots of street photos (y)
 
Just Dave said:
Since reading this thread Im inspired to do some street photography, dont know how to see stuff in the right way lie what makes a good street image best get reading and practising and looking a lots of street photos (y)
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I have an idea that might help us all. A small idea, but a good one I hope :D More later!

Gary.
 
Thanks Gary Id love to do this sort of photography for a change, look forward to hearing your ideas, so I guess Im on a steep learning curve, this threads a great inspiration to start it
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
I don't suppose any analysis, it looks spontaneous to me. Dunno, he saw it coming, spotted the story and took the shot and created the scene.... unless its just a grab shot I can't imagine what else he would have thinking?

Seriously, unless I'm being stupid (which isn't uncommon) what else would he be thinking?
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You've made your own interpretation of what you think the story is in the photo, I was just wondering if the photographer was thinking along the same lines, or had a completely different message in mind.

Maybe that's my problem with this kind of shot, it's too ambiguous for me, I don't know what I'm supposed to see.
 
Street photography to me is something which is poignant, unobtrusive and captures the moment. Gilden's style leaves me stone cold, it borders on abuse and is far from what I would class as a professional attitude.
 
Grockle said:
Street photography to me is something which is poignant, unobtrusive and captures the moment. Gilden's style leaves me stone cold, it borders on abuse and is far from what I would class as a professional attitude.
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I tend to agree mainly because Gilden's method has the effec of changing the moment, often only a fraction of a second before the capture. While I don't necessarily agree with the means, the ends turn out pretty good sometimes, whether you call it street photography or something else.
 
I guess it's your approach to your craft that makes you unique. Everyone knows who Bruce Gilden is primarily because of the way he approaches his work, plus if it makes you a Magnum photographer then all the best to him :)
 
WeddingHack said:
OK, thanks for that, i can see now where your appreciation comes from.

I wonder how much if any of your analysis was in the photographers mind when he took the shot ?
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Can it be so different from a candid wedding shot ?
You use your nouse and experience to give yourself the best opportunity to capture that candid moment, whatever it is, whether its @ 50mm or 200mm.
Its perfectly reasonable to suggest that's how it was shot, whether it was or not is as irrelevant as how you captured a wedding candid, by accident....a staged pose....luck.....doesn't matter, you were in the right place at the right time by your own choice.

WeddingHack said:
You've made your own interpretation of what you think the story is in the photo,
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Its all pretty subjective, making an interpretation is what its about, if you don't see anything but an over contrasty b/w of two girls and a dude on a bike in the street, then you're either immune or its legitimately not saying anything to you, and the photo fails.
Personally, I don't find it hugely interesting, the light is great and the bike riders surly expression (he looks like he's gonna do somebody in) makes me wonder what is about to happen/has happened, its more than a "next" photo, its a story you are asked to complete/make up/imagine, but not one I could sit and think about for too long.

:)
 
I spent alot of time doing street photography this year in New York. I put together a book of my photos "A New York Minute"

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/333957?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=280x160

Here are copies of the index so you can see the content (just about)...

index001.jpg


index002.jpg


index003.jpg


index004.jpg


index005.jpg


index006.jpg


index007.jpg


This was my favorite shot:

ny001.jpg


For me it was about trying to soak up the atmosphere of the place and capture that in stills. It was nearly all shot with a 24-105 on a 5D. I particularly wanted to capture the rich colours as that is what the whole place is about. No one seemed bothered about me shooting them and if people looked at me like the girl in the shot above I just smiled at them and walked on. I really enjoyed putting it together :)
 
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