News flash… Walking up to someone and saying, “excuse me, you have an interesting face, can I take your photo?” and then cracking off a few shots while they stand there with that dull and meaningless look on their face (cheesy smiles included) – is NOT street photography. Sure, you may have been standing in the street when you took the shot, but that’s not what makes a shot “street photography.”
On top of that, if you ask permission, yet still somehow mange to get polls sticking out the back of people’s heads, while also failing to employ basic composition, you are not expressing your “personal vision,” you’re being too lazy to work hard for something truly good.
A rebuttal: “Once you label me, you negate me” – Soren Kierkegaard
Me responding: Once you label something, you identify it. Like when I say, “Soren Kierkegaard was a philosopher,” (as apposed to a Jazz musician) I don’t negate him, I identify him. He is then knowable. Without this, we could not survive. Snapshot photography is not really street. It’s just not. Bluegrass music is bluegrass, and Jazz is jazz. To identify them, is no crime.
If a bluegrass picker is unwilling, or incapable of playing Jazz, the bluegrass picker does not get to redefine what Jazz is, just so they can “feel” like they are playing Jazz rather than bluegrass. Only in photography do people make things up as they go.
How many candid shots are in your portfolio, % wise. 10%? … 80%? Generally, only the folks with a portfolio filled with mostly posed snapshots will dispute me on this. I know multiple people with large portfolios, but with obviously posed snapshots, who get pissed when I mention that it’s not really street photography. Generally you wont find much street in these portfolios, just portraits.
If you feel you are truly doing street photography, why not stop asking to take photos and start taking candid shots without permission? I bet you’ll soon discover that taking candid shots, is not the same thing at all. That’s why most people take the simple and easy road of asking and posing shots rather than adventuring into the world of street photography.
From a really good conversation I’m having with someone on another thread:
“…great artists, at least the ones I admire, seem to concern themselves more with a personal vision and less with popular constraints…”
Me – I’m not talking about “pop” constraints, I’m grounding my opinion in solid philosophy, and history (and, when it comes to street, I think you would be hard-pressed to find any of the founders impressed with what is being called “street photography”).
I’m ANTI-POP… The “pop” thing today, is to call street photography whatever one wishes, that’s the “pop” thing right now – no standards are the “in” thing (your position is more popular than mine, but built upon sandy soil just the same).
I know and talk with – what I consider to be – some of the current top street photographers, and oddly enough, they tend to agree with me 100% and consider most “street” to be pseudo (But, that’s a bandwagon argument. The most powerful argument for my position is not a bandwagon argument, nor even historical – for that’s an argument from tradition – but philosophical – the only rebuttal to my position, is grounded in subjective emotion. Logically speaking, my argument trumps the subjectiveist position).
There is NO personal vision in walking down the street and taking random snapshots of people. That’s what I’m trying to covey. It’s remedial, and uninteresting. The whole point of street photography for me, is to capture an essence. Really hard to do when you ask to take someone’s snapshot. It shows in the work. I can tell. I know multiple people who have rather large portfolios, but with only a small handful of shots that are truly worth anything. So many shots that I see I have to ask myself, “why did they post that?”
Truth be told, most people really DO NOT want to shoot street photography. Sure, they love the idea, but generally they don’t have what it takes… so… they start moving the bar to fit them. “We’ll, I’m too chicken shit to take mostly candid shots, so I’ll just ask first and call that street photography.” Or, “I don’t want to invade people’s space, so I’ll shoot street with a 200mm zoom lens, and I’ll call it street photography.” Or… “I must have the shot, so I’ll just Photoshop an entire locomotive train into the photo when I get home, and I’ll call it street photography (I’m not joking, I’ve had this happen).”
Now, the real street photographers out there – the ones applying the actual tools and techniques – get a little bent when people try and place themselves at the same level. Seriously, it’s insulting to people who work hard at what they do, to see people lower the genre just so they can include themselves. And that’s really all it is, it’s people who want to say they shoot street, but don’t want to get their hands dirty. They want rewards, without work – very trendy today.
Matt Tuteur – “all chicago’s street photographers have one thing in common, once they see imagery from another that rivals or better yet, trumps their efforts on the street, they hate on it asap.. folks always want to hate on others accomplishing what they wish to make a reality, but for one reason or another cant .. its the chicago way..”
Me – Has nothing to do with Chicago at all. Lol. This is about the history and philosophy of a style of photography. Thanks for sharing your wonderful snapshots, Matt.
Matt Tuteur – “You think i walk up to people and say ” you have in interesting face, can i take your picture”? Yea. Your so far off, your in Indiana friendo. Hope to see you again out there bud. I’ll def come say hello again. Hater.”
Me – When did I ever mention your name??? Lol… I don’t even know who you are! The best street photographer currently working in Chicago, is Brian Sokolowski. And he agrees with me.
Even though I’m not a street photographer (have tried many a time but find it difficult) and my opinion may not count for much. But I always thought with street photography that the aim was to capture a person naturally in their environment that conveyed something that would catch the viewers imagination. When you start asking a person on the street if you can take their image then to me the image is fake.
My biggest failing is I don’t have the bottle to get in front of people close up and take the shot. The shots I have got off have been with a 100mm lens. To be a true street photographer takes balls and a certain skill which I don’t have and is happy to admit it. It’s time a lot of so called street photographers owned up too and call it a day.
chuck jines likes to smoke crack and taunt people online. he gives heroin addicts needles so they can do drugs in from of him and he can take photos. he feels he is a good teacher or modivator, ?? nothing could be farther from the truth. i wouldnt follow this drug addict anywhere. he talked a bunch of negitivty to me online, then changed the conversation and publically posted it to the web. this dude is a good example of an unstable human with slim to no photographic talent and absolutly NO PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDABILITY.
Actually, I started passing out needles after I started photographing addicts. It was through photographing, that I came to realize the need for clean needles. Also, I haven’t smoked crack since the 80’s. 😉 Thanks for stopping by, Matt.