It’s been said that “Street Photography” is basically a low spot where photographers tend to settle after they run out of other ideas.
Ouch. But some truth there. It’s easy: no planning, no setup, no trip to Iceland – you can do it today, in the rain. And you might get lucky this time – unlike your previous 17 attempts…
But street photography is actually a useful and productive pursuit. No, really:
“Getting out” is a big reason for doing photography. At least in my case.
It’s a compositional exercise.
Even if you’re in Paris or NYC, you’ll eventually run out of post-card landmarks. But not streets.
Streets are always changing. Today you might find something new – or just get an image of change itself.
You may not live in a big, iconic city (I’m in Minneapolis for Pete’s sake), but streets are streets; big city or small, the elements are there.
Really, I do it because sometimes I end up with photos I like.
My own spin on “street photography” is: I photograph streets, not people. I want the viewer to feel like it’s his place, he could walk into it and it would be his story. The only reason for people in these photos is a sense of scale. They don’t own the space or the story; they’re just extras.
My favorites take me into a Philip K. Dick story: the world is still rolling along on on its own, but something odd is happening, out there. It’s big, it’s coming, but we don’t know yet what it is. So we’re just standing on a street corner, waiting…
I like the ways light hits the streets at different times of day.
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I like the stories of street photography and portraits of the people you meet in the street.