The Social Street Photographer

Why are street photographers so anti-social? My thoughts:

We are all slaves to the thinking of Henri Cartier Bresson

Pose for the camera! Istanbul couple.
Street portrait. Yellow/orange beard and face juxtaposed against blue sky.
A portrait of a guy I shot in Downtown LA at Starbucks. I saw him, approached him, and chatted with him for about half an hour. He told me his life story, how he was an aspiring actor, and how he loved bright colors. Toward the end, I asked if I could take a few portraits of him. He was glad to do so, and he asked me, “What do you want me to do?” I then told him: “Fix your tie.” I took two photos–and this second photo was the more interesting one. A case where getting your subjects to pose for you can make an interesting photo.

HCB (Henri Cartier Bresson) was insanely anti social. He was a bit of a tyrant:

HCB liked to photograph others without their permission, but he hated it when anyone else photographed *HIM* without permission.

Essentially a dick move. Why is this so problematic?

“I can treat others by doing x, y, z … but you are not allowed to do it to me.”

It is as if you were allowed to cut off everyone else in traffic, but nobody else would be able to cut you off in traffic. Or to be intolerant:

Because I like to eat meat, I will force everyone else (vegans and vegetarians) to eat meat.

Or the flip side:

Because I am vegan, I will force all meat-eaters to also become vegan. And if they refuse to do so, I will attack and destroy them.

Be social!

How to Talk to Strangers

If you like humans, talk to humans! Don’t strive to be this pseudo-artistic street photographer who refuses to talk to his subjects. This is bad.

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