Street photography is quite a bit more difficult than many people may realize. I think this is one reason why the street photography world is currently so saturated with poor quality work. Here are a few thoughts on how to help improve your street photography portfolio.
‘Almost’ a good street photo…
Image by: Jimmy Lee Photography
Almost… If the girl looking in the bag had her head centered in the backspace, bingo! So close, yet so far away. Such is the nature of street photography. Darn nice shot otherwise. Even to come close can feel good. And yes, it MUST be candid to be street. NOT an opinion, just the rules of the game.
In an effort to get the perfect shot, this is a “stage” that I would visit often waiting to get the right people in the right places. It could take years! People don’t understand this, and post junk images instead of putting the time in. That’s why people want to include posed shots, or consider portraits and landscapes “street” photography.
Now, for me; I decided that the time needed to invest in street, in order to get top shots, isn’t worth the time, money, and energy. Think about it: even if this were a perfect shot, what do you really have? What does it say? How does it move the world? To me, I needed to move on to documentary. Much better use of time, money, and emotional toll.