Note: Every week, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature street photographer Dominique Jost from Switzerland. I found Dom’s work on Flickr and I was blown away by his vivid and provocative B/W images. His work is very unique as he specializes in street photography with his iPhone. Intrigued enough? Read his exclusive interview below and see his amazing images as well.
Recently one of my readers named Reacher Rau suggested that I write a blog post on the pros and cons of using rangefinders. He told me how he always heard how awesome rangefinders such as Leicas were good for street photography, but never heard a discussion about the pros and the cons. Although I have to disclaim that I am not a rangefinder master, I still have enough experience using them so I feel that I can give a pretty unbiased opinion on both sides of the issue.
I have to say that I am a pretty passionate guy when it comes to street photography. However as I have recently noticed, passion simply isn’t enough when it comes to street photography. There are days that we aren’t going to feel inspired, which makes it really difficult for us to get in the streets and shoot.
Recently on Twitter I asked you guys to share your best street photos with me. Here are all of the best entries that I got which I find quite inspirational. Congratulations to everybody who made the list!
If you haven’t heard of Scott Schuman or his street fashion blog, “The Satorialist,” I highly recommend you to check it out. Essentially what Scott does is roam the streets of New York City and take photos of interesting people that he meets, with an emphasis on their fashion. If anything, Scott Schuman is less a fashion photographer and more of a street photographer with an eye for fashion.
In this beautiful and 7-minute mini-documentary, Scott gives an overview of what goes through his mind when shooting on his streets as well as why he does it. As you can see he (like many of us) hasn’t had any formal training in photography, but truly has a strong passion to go out and capture what fascinates him. He is quite methodical with his work and commited as well (he has run his blog for over five years, taking photos and updating them nearly everyday).
I think we can all draw inspiration from Scott and strive to capture the beauty of everyday life. If you look through his photos, he doesn’t necessarily take photos of people who only wear high-end clothes such as Prada or Gucci–rather the ordinary everyday people on the streets who are able to put together bits and pieces to create their own unique style. In this image you can see that he has even taken an image of a construction worker’s boots. How much raw and urban can you get?
"On the Street....East 13th St., New York" - The Satorialist
What is your take on Scott Schuman and his blog? How can you take inspiration of his his style of photography? Share your thoughts with us and leave us a comment below!
Legandary fashion photographer Helmut Newton once said, “The first 10,000 shots are the worst.” When it comes to street photography in the digital age, I would say your first 100,000 shots are your worst.
Recently word of the phenomenal discovery of street photographer Vivian Maier has been hitting the web like wildfire. A fellow Chicago street photographer by the name of John Maloof found Vivian’s negatives in 2007 while at a furniture and antique auction house. After scanning and looking through her collection of 30-40,000 negatives, he soon realized that she had a tremendous gift for street photography. Not only that, but he realized that he also had a huge responsibility to share her work with the rest of the world.
Note: This is a guest post from Nathaniel I. Córdova, a rhetoric and media studies professor from Willamette University. I hope you enjoy this great article that he generously offered to share with you guys!
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This is a handout originally developed for my students at Willamette University. As such it was designed to be generic and introductory, more an opportunity to clarify and simplify than to provide depth about a subject. Some caveats: I’m a firm believer that rigidly held category schemes can get in the way of creativity and the photographic imagination. The following is written in order to encourage you to think more about these issues. Updated: December 2010.
A quick glance through various photography forums often reveals a category of “candid” images of people walking, pretty women, people in festivals, etc. The overall impetus for such “candid” photography seems to be the casual snap of something the photographer found intriguing at the moment, or the adventure of shooting in public. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that (although some images tend toward the voyeuristic), and many of those images can be quite compelling. Unfortunately, some posters in those forums tend to conflate such “candid” photography with Street photography, eliding any difference between the two practices.
Hi everyone, my name is Michael, I am a street photographer, I shoot with an iPhone.
The iPhone offers me three things that a big camera doesn’t – it is discreet, it is always with me and it is easy to use.
I have been using the iPhone since I moved to Melbourne, Australia in February this year. The iPhone lets me concentrate on scene and structure instead of dials and lenses. I feel more connected to the process because there is no glass in the way.
Eric has asked me to share some hints to help make the most of the iPhone when shooting the street. So here we go.
Note: This post was originally written by Ahg, who is a young and talented street photographer from the Philippines. He originally wrote this post on hisTumblr, and he was generous enough to let me host it on my blog. I made a few edits here and there, but mostly it is untouched. I hope you guys enjoy it and please leave a comment below and let us know what you think :)
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*Author’s note: The following are my reflections and realizations as to why I enjoy street photography. These are from the 2 years of experience I had with film photography and my undying passion for the street because there is perhaps no other genre of photography that captivated me and made me grow as a photographer. I am writing this as a reminder of why I do street and to urge others to give street photography a try.
Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature street photographer Gavin Zeno Watson from Glasgow. I first stumbled upon Zeno’s work randomly on Flickr, when he commented on some of my images. I was taken aback by his provocative b/w imagery, and the strong eye he has for geometric shapes and lines. Check out his interview and leave a comment to show him some love below!
1. How did you get started in street photography?
"Scoop on the Snow" - Gavin Zeno Watson
I always see people, situations and scenes as a photo in my minds eye, so it was only logical that should capture what I saw. The photo’s captured in Street Photography tend to be more unique and almost impossible for someone else to re-create, making street photos that little bit special.
I would say that I’m a pretty mellow and easy-going guy. However as a street photographer, there are some things that really bug me or really annoy me. Hope you have a good laugh and can relate to these 5 things that piss me off as a street photographer.
"Cubes" - Shot with my Contax IIIa Film Rangefinder
If you guys have been noticing, I have been experimenting with many different types of cameras including disposable cameras, my Contax IIIa Film Rangefinder, as well as my camera-phone. After doing this for the last month or so, I have re-kindled my love for shooting in the streets.
I just finished a book by Paul Arden titled “It’s Not How Good You Are, it’s How Good You Want to Be” and got blown away by one of his chapters on finding inspiration. Paul Arden worked as an advertiser for several decades, and he wrote that one way that he got re-inspired in making advertising campaigns was by using “new tools.” He clamored that how everybody in the advertising world only used felt-tipped pens to make advertising campaign layouts, which often lead to the same boring ideas. To go against the grain, he often used different tools such as brushes, pencils, charcoal, chalk, and even crayons to get new ideas.
I see this easily being relateable to street photography as well. Although I love my Canon 5D to death, it started to bore me. Everything was just too easy with it. The autofocus was quite responsive, and the images always came out great. I wanted a little more challenge– I wanted more excitement. I wanted to re-stimulate myself and my street photography experience.
Now I’ll tell you straight up that using a different camera won’t necessarily give you better images. However what it will do for you is re-inspire you by realizing certain camera’s strengths and limitations.
Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature amazing street photographer Jurgen Burgin. I first stumbled upon Jurgen’s work when he left a comment on my blog, which made me check out his Facebook page. I was mesmerized by his great eye, and wanted to share his phenomenal work with the rest of you and the community. Check out his interview and leave a comment to show him some love below!
1. How did you get started in street photography?
"Berlin Lovers" - Jürgen Bürgin
It’s not too long ago, less than two years that I bought my first SLR. I started taking photos of birds, landscapes and so on, but living in a big city like Berlin, I soon started to shoot architecture – and finally people. To get some inspiration I went to my public library and read literally hundreds of photo books, of all kinds of photographers. That’s when I discovered the classic street photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassai and so on. So those hundreds of photo books tought me everything I know about taking a good photo. And there was a lot of try and error, sure an advantage of digital photography: You can shoot hundreds of photos and try to find out how the aesthetics of photography works.
Currently I am teaching a photography class to under-privileged students in Los Angeles at a high school named Phoenix High. These are the students that I ran my campaign for camera donations for (which you guys helped donate to). Teaching photography to these students is the high point of my week, as I love to interact with them and also see their passion for photography. Not only that, but it seems that photography is a wonderful outlet for them to express themselves creatively and also use as an escape for the difficult situations that many of them live in. You can watch a video I made on YouTube.
Although I wasn’t able to take portraits of all the students, I wanted to write a short photo-essay about them. I hope you can enjoy their stories as well. Also if you were wondering, I shot these photos all with my old Contax IIIa rangefinder with my 50mm 1.4 Zeiss Sonar lens with some cheap Kodax 400 Max film. I love the look and feel.
Eddy
Now don’t judge Eddie by his appearance by his rapper-inspired sideburns and punk-inspired gauge earrings. He is shy and quiet in demeanor, and doesn’t say much. However when given the opportunity to speak, he shows great insight into photography and life. He is always enthusiastic to be in my class, and although shy– is always wiling to contribute to class discussions.
So Christmas is around the corner and you have been a good boy/girl this year. So you want to buy a new camera and/or some new lenses? Sure we know that it is the street photographer, not the camera that makes his/her photos amazing. But hey– it is always fun to experiment with new cameras and lenses as well.
I have gotten many questions from aspiring street photographers–asking what lens or body to get next. Read this list and pass it onto your loved ones (hopefully they love you enough to buy you some stuff in this list).
Also please note that these are my personal recommendations. If you don’t agree with this list, please leave a comment below and let me know whats up!
If you are interested in purchasing your first DSLR, I would highly recommend a used Canon 5D. You can get them used for only $1200, and they are full-frame, meaning that the lenses you get will show their true focal length. It is also phenomenal at low-light high-iso situations.
A bit short on cash? Check out the Rebel XSi or the Rebel XS (a bit cheaper). Both are small, and give great performance as well. Oh yeah, also heard great things about the Nikon D3000 as well.
If I was in the market for a new camera, it would definitely be for a micro 4/3rds. They are small, inconspicuous, and give fantastic image quality. Definitely the best “bang-for-the-buck” imho. I tried out Thomas Leuthard’s Panasonic GF-1 and instantly fell in love with it. Super-responsive auto-focus, and great image quality. I also heard that the EP-1 gives great image quality as well, but the autofocus is painfully slow.
Out of all the point and shoots for the street photographer out there, the Canon S95 (or S90) blow all the competitors out of the water. It is one of the smallest point and shoots out there, but offer great control with the front and rear dials–and has a super fast f/2 lens. Don’t consider anything else.
Update: If you have a little extra $$$ to spend, check out the Ricoh GRIII. It has a beautiful fixed focal 28mm 1.9 lens and with its “snap-focus” function, it has practically zero shutter lag (while the Canon S95 has a slight shutter lag). Also its built like a tank with its alloy body, and feels great in the hand as well. A worthy (but more expensive) competitor.
If you are interested in getting a digital rangefinder on a budget, check out the Leica M8. Sure it is not full-frame, but it will give you the true “rangefinder experience” without having to shell out $6900 on a Leica M9.
Lenses:
Primes (Canon)
(For full-frame)
The Canon 35mm f/2 is my lens of choice on my full-framed 5D. Small, inconspicuous, and sharp– it is the perfect walk-around lens for a street photographer. I personally like the 35mm focal length, as it is wide enough to capture a background, but at the same not too wide. Also note that the 35mm focal length is my preference, although many street photographers out there such as Markus Hartel prefer the 28mm focal length.
For 1.6 crop bodies, the problem about primes is that they are often too close. Therefore you are good getting a 20mm 1.8, which will translate into roughly a 32mm (close to a 35mm).
One doesn’t go up to strange men, women, children, elephants or giraffes and say, “Look this way please. Laugh –cry– show some emotion or go to sleep under a funeral canopy.”
From Naked City, Weegee
“f8 and be there”, the great Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, used to say, which quickly became a popular quote in photojournalism, and still stands to this day. I personally live by this maxim. Being “there” is the most important aspect for street photography, being aware of one’s surroundings is paramount, quickness is key and total control of your gear an absolute must. Learn how your lens renders your scene, try to instinctively frame what you’re after – shooting the same (fixed) focal length at a time helps a big deal to master this task. I regularly rely on zone focusing and absolutely despise autofocus cameras, as I tend to find automatisms counter-productive on speed and on my creativity. The camera is my tool, and I control it, not the other way around.
Gary Winogrand experimented with different focal lengths, until he grew fond of the 28mm, which allowed him to get close enough to his subjects, yet this focal length allowed him to portray a person’s full body at close range.
The conventional conception of the wide-angle lens saw it as a tool that included more of the potential subject from a given vantage point; most photographers would not use it unless their backs were literally against the wall. Winogrand learned to use it as a way of including what he wanted from a closer vantage point, from which he could photograph an entire pedestrian from a distance at which we normally focus only on faces. “Figments From The Real World”
I had a great idea for all of us for Christmas. We all love having prints in our homes of other photographers, but it can be pretty expensive at times. So I thought that having a “print exchange” in which photographers can send one another prints would be awesome!
So this is how it will go:
Leave a comment below with your full name, your email, what country you are from, and a link to your photos (Website, Flickr, Blog, etc). (Due December 19th)
I will then randomly assign two photographers to one another, and you will both coordinate sending 1 photo each to one another with at least a 12×18” size.
Send photos to one another using a service of your preference (I prefer Costco or Snapfish–they are cheap and look amazing).
Mount the photo you receive in your home or office, and take a photo of it.
Send me the photos to erickimphotography@gmail.com and I will post them on my site.
Got questions? Leave a comment below.
Understand how this works? What are you waiting for–get started!
$5 Disposable Camera from Walgreens. My new street photography camera.
When it comes to street photography, I am a huge advocate that it doesn’t matter what camera you have for street photography. You don’t need a $6900 Leica M9 to do street photography–whatever camera you have on you will work. In-fact, there is no “best” camera for street photography, as every camera out there has its own pros/cons.
To help bring some light to the issue that what camera you use for street photography doesn’t matter, I decided to do a new project involving disposable cameras. First inspired by the Mosaic photography contest, where contestants in Beirut, Lebanon had to take photos with disposable cameras– I was quite amazed by the results. And at $5, disposable cameras are certainly cheap. Sure buying a ton of them and developing the film isn’t, but I thought it might be a fun exercise regardless.
All the images taken below were with a disposable $5 Walgreens camera. I am quite pleased how they came out (no post-processing applied):
Recently my mother sent me a video released by the National Gallery of Art with paintings from Edward Hopper. His paintings truly show images of life from urban New York, raw and colorful. After watching the video, I saw many wonderful compositions which can inspire any street photographer. Spend the 8 minutes to watch the video–the images are truly exceptional.
Are there any other urban painters which inspire your street photography as well? If so, leave a comment below and leave us some links to check out!
My wonderful girlfriend/manager Cindy Nguyen is at it again–producing another interview video about myself and an introduction to street photography. I hope you all enjoy it and share it with your friends!
Street photographers are all amateurs. Not to say that we lack skill, insight, or vision– but that we do street photography for the love of it (not the money). Although people typically equate calling someone an amateur in a negative way, the word amateur roots from French meaning “love of.”
I know very few (if any) street photographers that make a living doing only entirely street photography. Honestly in this day and age– I would say it is near impossible. However, us street photographers try to take out every minute of our days and free time to go out and do what we truly love doing–shooting in the streets.
Having a passion for street photography for the pure reason of loving photography is beautiful. There is nothing better than wandering the streets, stumbling upon serendipity, as well as meeting fascinating people along the way. Not only that, but there is no greater joy than getting “The Shot”–rushing home–downloading your photos to your computer–processing them–and finally uploading them on the internet for others to appreciate as well.
When I realized that I shoot street photography purely for the love of it and not for the money, I tried my best to take away the temptation of making money from my passion. I knew this would only cause me to be miserable and lose the true sight of why I love photography. In-fact, I hear many photographers who go into commercial and wedding photography…they feel that photography is more of a bore and a chore than their passion. I never want this to happen to myself.
Sure I could always use a bit of extra money–but I knew that I wanted to spread the love of photography rather than making myself richer. Therefore I founded The Sukhee Chung Photography Foundation which strives to spread the love of street photography to under-privileged youth. I have already raised enough cameras for the high school class I am teaching (with a very generous grant from Jonathan Murray) and am looking forward to helping out other photography programs in Los Angeles as well.
So remember–shoot street for the love, not for the money (as my good street photographer friend Thomas Leuthard loves to mention). Be an amateur and truly bask in it. Before there is nothing more noble than doing something purely for the love of it.
In October of 2010, I asked the community to donate old digital point and shoot cameras to the Phoenix High Photography Class that I am currently teaching to under-privileged high school youth. To say the least, the response was overwhelming. The first few days I already got donations from Cydney Alexis and Jason Paul Roberts. However on the third day, a talented Swiss street photographer by the name of Jonathan Murray generously donated 11 brand-new Canon Powershots to the class.
You cannot believe how ecstatic I was. Wanting to record the students’ expression, I decided that I wanted to film a short documentary (which was directed with great help from my beautiful girlfriend/manager Cindy Nguyen). Not only that, but she really “set the mood” in the video to give you the fuzzies in your heart. Anyways– please take a few minutes to watch the film and we both would love to hear your feedback!
The Sukhee Chung Photography Foundation is also currently fundraising for 20 used digital point and shoot cameras for another photography program in Los Angeles lead by my friend Terry Kim. Please check out the Facebook Event for more information. Also please spread the word by posting this on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networking site you use! Thank you so much for the love and support!
Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature amazing street photographer Thomas Leuthard. I first met Thomas online when he decided to generously donate a large sum of money to help support my street photography trip to Beirut, Lebanon. After meeting in Lebanon, he was my guest speaker for my Street Photography 101 workshop and we became great friends as well. His technique and vision is exceptional, and I am constantly inspired by his work.
Also feel free to check out all of the other featured street photographers of the week here!
1. How did you get started in street photography?
"Blue & White" - Zürich, Switzerland 2010
This is difficult to say as there is no real start “date”. I was shooting a lot of things when I started in early 2008. I was 3.5 weeks in Beijing during the Olympics and there I somehow got infected to shoot people in their everyday life on the streets. But I didn’t realize that at that time. On a trip to Hamburg Germany in October 2008 I take probably my first street photo on purpose, which I still like very much. A little bit later I got my Nikon D90, took another course in photography and I remember very well, when we went to Strasbourg, France, with this class. There was a beggar outside of the cathedral asking for money. I gave her 1 Euro and take some pictures of here. This was the moment when I started to shoot people’s portraits from short distance. But it really started when I bought my 85mm lens in May 2009. Then I decided to shoot only with this lens in the streets and call me 85mm.
Note: Recently New York Street Photographer James Maher got in contact with me asking for some points and tips regarding building his online social media presence. He noticed that I had a great community backing me up (you guys), and he was curious how I did it. I thought about it long and hard, and came up with this blog post. Hope you guys enjoy!
The modern-day photographer is more blessed than ever having a wide-array of online social media networking tools at his/her fingertips. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, DeviantART, and online Forums/Blogs allow photographers not only to build up their own online social media presence, but also to connect to the rest of the photographic community. The benefits of having a strong online social media presence are numerous. One of the most apparent benefits is that photographers are able to get more comments & critique on their work, which help them develop their own style and composition.
However for an aspiring photographer with no experience with online social media, building a presence can be difficult. In this blog post, I will give you a small summary of my experiences, and hopefully give you information which can help you in the long-run as well.
During my time in Beirut, Lebanon– I was fortunate enough to meet some of the nicest and most fascinating people in the world. Not only were the people extremely cordial here, but they actually liked getting their photos taken (compare this to Los Angeles and New York). Regardless of the fact that I was a blatant tourist (I was probably one of the only few Asians in the city), people were genuinely interested about my life story and why I was “gracing” their presence by visiting Beirut, Lebanon. Considering the fact that everybody there is trilingual (speaks English, French, and Arabic), it was extremely easy to converse with everybody I met.
I will forever remember Beirut, Lebanon for not only having some of the friendliest people in the world, but also for being extremely photo-friendly as well. Considering that there are practically no laws against street photography (except taking photos of military personnel and embassy buildings), it is truly the street photographers’ dream city.
If you are an avid street photographer and looking for a new place to travel to, definitely check out Beirut. When you go there, say hi to all the people in the street and tell them that “Eric says hi.”
Street photography is one of the biggest passions in my life. I spend a large amount of time either shooting on the streets, blogging about street photography, tweeting about street photography, and talking/thinking about street photography. But why do I love it so much and why does it bring me a lot of happiness?
The answer is “Flow“–as psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes it. I’m sure all of you guys have experienced this when shooting on the streets. You go out and take photos, and become totally immersed in the experience and forget a sense of time or space. You can be out for hours shooting, and don’t even realize that time is passing by.
Whenever I am on the streets and shooting, I feel pure euphoria. I am out there in almost a zen-like state–simply wandering wherever I want to go, while capturing the beauty in the mundane. I meet interesting people, and I experience fascinating and new places. There is no feeling quite like it.
However the problem that many street photographers (myself included) face is that we lose sight of what really makes us happy (shooting photos) and we chase other things such as fame, wealth, or prestige. Would making a few bucks out of our photographs really make us happier? Will the $6900 Leica M9 make us happier? If we become as famous as Henri Cartier-Bresson–will that make us happier? I beg to disagree.
After watching the TED talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow and his theory on the matter– I am convinced that the true happiness I will gain out of street photography is quite simple and in front of me. Shooting in the streets.
For those of you who are interested in watching the TED video that inspired me, take 20 minutes out of your day to truly change your perception about photography, happiness, and life. And if you are really interested in the subject, purchase his book on Amazon titled Flow: The Classic Work on How to Achieve Happiness.
So my question to you guys is that do you experience this zen-like feeling of “flow” when you are shooting on the streets as well? Leave a comment below and let us know what your experiences are like!
After having the time of my life teaching my Street Photography 101 workshop in Beirut, Lebanon with Thomas Leuthard, I thought that I’d spread the love to those of you who couldn’t make it! In alignment with my ideas on open source photography, I will be providing all of my slides as well as my outline to those who are interested. Feel free to use this information in any way you’d like–but all I ask is credit back to myself or to Thomas Leuthard (for his slides). I hope you guys enjoy and spread the love as well!
If you are interested in having me lead a street photography workshop in your city, please shoot me an email to erickimphotography@gmail.com. You can also contact Thomas Leuthard at photography@leuthard.ch.
When I was in Beirut, Lebanon–the city was full of fascinating old cars. They came in so many different varieties, colors, as well in various places. They caught my eye, and I thought they would make a gorgeous photo-essay.
I tried to shoot all of these cars with roughly the same framing, all using my 35mm. These images were taken from all different neighborhoods in Beirut, Lebanon–and I feel each car has so much character and a story to tell. However when looking at these images, don’t get the impression that all the cars in Lebanon look like this. The streets are full of very nice cars as well– such as BMW’s, Mercedes, Audis, and even Ferraris!
However, I hope you enjoy these images, and that your eyes get a nice feast.
Found this beautiful picture of a Rolleiflex on the internet today. Thought I’d share it with you guys (drool). You can read more about this amazing camera here on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolleiflex.
(11-17-10, waiting for my flight at 6:25AM at the Beirut, Lebanon Airport)
My beautiful morning view
My last week in Beirut, Lebanon has truly been a very humbling experience. I left leaving Los Angeles to teach my street photography workshop in Beirut, Lebanon with my friends/family telling me to “be careful” in Lebanon as it was still “politically unstable” and that I might “get shot” while here. Many also suggested for me not to go, but I decided to take my chances and plunged both feet in.
Thomas Leuthard and I at the end of our Street Photography 101 Workshop in Beirut, Lebanon
After teaching my Street Photography 101 workshop in Beirut, Lebanon–I got interviewed by a magazine called NowLebanon. One of the questions that Naziha (the reporter) asked me was how in the world I raised $1100 for my plane ticket to fly to Beirut, Lebanon in only 3 days. My answer for her was (you) the community.
Despite what the media and general public says, Beirut, Lebanon is not full of terrorists and no– you will not get shot here. First coming to Beirut, I didn’t know quite what to expect. Everybody told me to be careful and that it was a dangerous place. However after being here for about 4 days, I highly recommend everyone I know to come visit here. Not only does everybody speak English, French, and Arabic–but there are some of the kindest people here in the world.
In this post, I will give you some reasons which show why Beirut, Lebanon is indeed “The Paris of the Middle East,” and why it is such a beautiful country and why I don’t want to leave. In 2009, The New York Times also called Beirut the #1 place to visit as well! [Link]
1. It is a street photographer’s paradise
"The Printer" - Beirut, Lebanon
I would say that Beirut, Lebanon has one of the most lax laws on street photography, as there are no laws concerning photography here. Sure you don’t want to do things such as shoot photos of military or embassy buildings, but everything else is free reign.
I was surprised that most people here didn’t mind getting their photos taken of. In-fact, there were many people who would approach me in the streets and ask me to take photographs of them. Some of them even invited me into their homes to talk and some even offered me coffee.
When you are walking around the streets, you will find street photographs around every corner. Beirut, Lebanon is a city of contrasts. On one side of the street you will see a decrepit and abandoned building, while on the other side you will see new apartments and shopping centers. Not only that, but the streets are always full of hustle and bustle and people are constantly interacting with one another.
2. It has amazing food
Eating a traditional dinner in Beirut, Lebanon
Sure every country has its great foods, but Lebanese food is on a totally different level. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have probably gained 10 pounds in the last few days getting my hands on all these different types of foods. The food here is fresh, hearty, and always satisfying appetites.
Fallafels, lamb, hummus, olive oil, pitas, wraps, tomatoes, barbeque beef, and grilled onions are only a few of the things that will delight your tastebuds.
3. The people treat you like family
My Street Photography 101 Workshop Group Picture
As I write this, I am currently staying at my host (Mohamad Badr’s) house. Although I did not know him at all before, he treated me like family and truly opened up his home to me. Not only that, but all the times that I went to his families’ houses to eat dinner, they were always open to me and really spread their love with me as well. Mohamad’s aunt even told me if I stayed in Beirut, she would find me a beautiful wife! (of course I declined as I already have a beautiful girlfriend/manager back home).
But regardless, the feeling of community here is very real. In Los Angeles I often feel that everybody is always out their for themselves and don’t spend enough time with friends and family. Here, people have a huge emphasis on spending time with one another and are always out on the streets having a great time.
There are a million other reasons why you got to travel to Beirut, Lebanon before you die. I highly encourage everybody out there to disregard the public inaccuracies of the media and the general consensus about Lebanon being a “terrorist country.” Definitely swoop on in and you will definitely have the time of your life.
Just wanted to update you on my travel in Beirut, Lebanon. After 5 hours waiting at LAX, 11 hours on a flight from LAX to London, a 5 hour layover in London, and a 7 hour plane trip from London to Beirut, I have finally landed in Beirut, Lebanon. My flight arrived about an hour later than expected, but it was a great pleasure meeting my host Mohamad Bahr and Thomas Leuthard at the airport. I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t be able to find me at the airport, but then I realized that I am probably the only Asian in Lebanon (so it was really easy).
After landing down, Mohamad took Thomas and I to one of the downtown districts where I had some of the most amazing Lebanese street food. They were chicken skewers marinated in Garlic, roasted over a charcoal fire, then wrapped with some sauces I am not quite sure what they are. Regardless, they were delicious beyond belief. After downing a Pepsi as well, we hit the streets and walked around at 12AM in the morning.
Beirut definitely has a fascinating vibe and soul to it. It reminds me a lot of Seoul, Korea–with the narrow streets and the tall buildings. In the area that we were shooting, there were many art/movie posters plastered all over the walls, which gave the area a very artsy feel. Not only that, but the city was hustling and bustling with cars and people in the street. It truly felt alive.
Anyways, we arrived at Mohamad’s place, and after a nice little chat with him and Thomas, I passed out and am currently writing this at 10:09AM in the morning, waiting on one of our friends here to get us traditional Lebanese breakfast.
For the record, my workshop here is going to be from Saturday to Sunday, and there are already quite a bit of people signed up on Facebook. I am quite excited to do my presentation, and I am sure it will be a great learning experience as well. I already feel the warmth and love of the Lebanese people, and my stomach is already in love with the food here.
Also per the request of Piotr and a few others, I will be posting my slides online via slideshare or some other medium for you guys (who can’t attend) to check out. Stay posted and wish me luck! I hope to post some pictures soon as well!
Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature talented street photographer Jonathan Murray. I first met Jonathan Murray on Twitter, and witnessed his great images and thoughts on his blog. Not only that, but he generously donated 11 brand-new Canon Powershots to the photography class that I teach to under-privileged high school students. Oh yeah, also feel free to check out all of the other featured street photographers of the week here!
1. How did you get started in street photography?
Burmese Karen Refugee Child, Tham Hin Camp, Thailand
My interest in ‘street’ photography has emerged over recent years driven by both necessity and a desire to overcome my own personal limitations as a photographer.
I am excited to tell you guys I am heading to Beirut, Lebanon tomorrow! Through all of your generous donations and sponsorships, I am able to make this trip. My heart goes out to everybody in this community who has not only gave me so much, but has helped me support my journey through creating this street photography blog.
The workshop will be two days long, and will involve myself presenting tips & techniques regarding street photography. Not only that, but participants of the workshop will actually be given time to go out and shoot with me! In addition, I also have a guest street photographer, Thomas Leuthard, who will also be a guest speaker. I have never done a workshop or anything like this, but I have definitely put a lot of time, energy, and love into this presentation. Hopefully all goes well!
As with the blog, I will continue posting once I come back from my trip, which is next Thursday (11/18). Hopefully I will be able to blog while I am there, but in reality– I will probably be too preoccupied traveling, meeting new people, and of course–taking photos.
If you want to know more about the event, check out the Facebook event for my workshop here.
You can also check out my original blog post here.
Sponsors who made this trip possible:
-Raoul Marinescu
-Kay-Won Chang
-Pamela Mandeville
-Neal Bingham
-Bob Soltys
-Justin Tzou
-Amy Huang
-Shawn Murphy
-Graham Alderton
-Ziga Puh
-Juan Carlos Olivo
-Irma Jessica Salgado
-Jan Klomp
-Ziga Puh
-Aleksandr Bortnik
-Eivind Sandstad
-Don Crossland
-Matthias Mariacher
-Jim Kneuper
-Holly Pyon
-Stephanie Chiang & Kenneth Kim
-Pamela Mandeville
-Aldrin Gamos
-Lisa Kim
-Rosa Seo
-Justin Lee
–Thomas Leuthard
Let’s admit it–if you are a street photographer and not driving a BMW or Mercedes-Benz, you probably want the Leica M9. Trust me, I want it really badly too–it has been on my mind for quite a while. But honestly, can we justify purchasing a $6,900 camera just because the camera we have doesn’t pay an homage to Henri Cartier-Bresson and all of the other street photography masters? Mind that this is not taking into account the extra $2000 or so you need to purchase Leica lenses as well. So before you plunge yourself $6,900 deeper into debt, perhaps you should read this:
Note: I got this email from aspiring street photographer named Tasos. It was quite inspirational and eye-opening. I thought I would share it with you guys!
"Hey this guys shooting us!" - Tasos
The other day I was out, and as usual I had the camera with me.
I took a photo of 2 gentlemen. It was a great learning experience.
I shared my thought with another member on flickr who was kind enough to comment on my photo.
Here is my letter to Mary (fellow flickr(er)):
Hi Mary. Thanks for your comments.
You know this photo is very important to me. Not because of the subjects, composition, lighting etc. I am hoping to take much better photos than this one. The reason why this photo is important to me is because it taught me something about shooting “street”. I am getting my courage up shooting with a wide angle lens, and getting close to people. I think that it is important/necessary when shooting street. So I think I’m getting comfortable with that part. I practice even when the camera isn’t to my eye, by trying to hold eye contact with strangers for as long as possible, seeing if the other will turn away first (something that was hard for me because I’m normally not that type of personality). Sometimes the other person looks away first, sometimes they smile, and sometimes they scowl (that’s when you have to break a smile). Having said this, here I am in this parking lot. I get out of my car, full of confidence, and I am walking up to these guys. At first they are unaware of me and I snap a couple of photos. Nothing special. but then on the last shot, the man on the right takes notice. He didn’t seem all that enthused. I had my shot, and I moved on. At that moment I thought highly of myself as I had the shot, wasn’t timid etc.
When it came time to leave I got into my car.
The man on the right had left. The man on the left was still sitting there.
As I drove by him. He was looking at me, with a sort of questioning look, and at the same time kind of upset. I didn’t break eye contact, and he looked away first. This time I felt very poorly of myself. It was as if I had broken him. As if I had taken something from him that he wasn’t willing to give.
It was at that moment I learned my lesson.
You see, street photography (I am learning) walks a thin line. On one hand you are documenting the human condition, and you want people to be natural and unposed, unaware of you. But what happens when you get noticed (like I was)? My reaction (just walk on by), at least in this case, wasn’t the right one. I should have approached them, made some small talk, and let them know what I was doing. Instead, I felt as if I had been caught taking something that wasn’t mine.
Later that night I came home and found a link to this article titled: “People Like to be Honored.” It clarified what I had experience earlier that day (almost as if fate had it waiting for me).
Links:
Add Tasos as a contact on Flickr and follow him on Twitter!
Have any of you guys had an epiphany or lesson you learned about Street Photography? Leave a comment below and share your story with us!
“Buy a good pair of comfortable shoes, have a camera around your neck at all times, keep your elbows in, be patient, optimistic and don’t forget to smile.”
Some may argue that posed portraits of people on the streets is not “street photography” per-se. However regardless of all these definitions, I still feel that there is merit in taking portraits of people you might encounter on the street who have fascinating stories to share. There have been many occasions in which I have randomly started talking to people and wanted to simply take their portrait as it interests me as a photographer. However one problem that many people have is that they feel “awkward” doing so. Therefore I will teach you guys some practical tips how to take street portraits without being awkward.
1. Use a preface
Shinji - An amazing hot-dog chef I met in Los Angeles. He had an incredible life story he shared with me.
Asking to take somebody’s portrait is a bit uncommon in western culture, although not everybody is totally opposed to it. To break the ice in asking a person for their portrait, using a preface is always a great way to make the other person feel relaxed.
My favorite preface to use when asking random people on the street to take their portrait is “I know this might seem weird, but would you mind if I took a photo of you?” In saying “I know this might seem weird,” you are acknowledging to the other person that what you are doing is against “the norm”, but it reassures the other person that you have no malicious intent. When asked this, most people shrug their shoulders and say, “Sure I guess so–why not?” Granted that you will get some people who say “no,” but I would say I find much more people who say yes.
Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature amazing Parisian street photographer Yanidel. I first witness Yanidel’s work when I googled “Paris Street Photography,” and his site came up on top. I’m glad it did. He roams the streets of Paris with his Leica M9, and consistently shoots great street images. Continue to read this inspirational interview with him! Oh yeah, also feel free to check out all of the other featured street photographers of the week here!
1. How did you get started in street photography?
"Rebel without a cause" - Yanidel
It started with my move to Paris five years ago. Paris is absolutely wonderful for long walks since there will be something interesting inpretty much any corner of the city. During these walks, I started to notice scenes and atmospheres and took my first snapshot at that time. Parallelly, Paris is also one of the mainstay of photography so I was exposed to the work of famous street photographers through exhibits or magazines. At the same time, as I began looking for a new camera, I got attracted by rangefinders and discovered the big role they played in the history of street photography. All of that came together at the same time and soon after I found myself in the street shooting strangers. Not only was I taking long walk, but I had become a shot hunter with a finger always ready to hit the trigger.
Today I was on Twitter and saw two tweets about this video, one from Jonathan Murray and one from RooshPhotog. It is a wonderful video which shows you Craig Semetko, a street photographer in action. He has been featured in countless exhibitions, and has even had his work side-by-side to street photography master Henri Cartier-Bresson. The music is great and gives you insight into Craig’s philosophies on street photography, which is quite inspirational.
A street shooter in the tradition of Cartier-Bresson, his Leicas capture classic images that reveal the moment
Perhaps this says all you need to know about Craig Semetko’s inspired Leica photography: In 2008 his work was featured along with images by legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson at the Open Shutter Gallery in Durango, Colorado, in an exhibition entitled, “Street Photography: From Classic to Contemporary – Henri Cartier-Bresson and Craig Semetko.” In 2009/2010 he mounted one-man shows at the Leica Galleries in Frankfurt, Germany, Salzburg, Austria, and at the Leica headquarters in Solms, Germany. His work was also recently shown opposite renowned photojournalist Elliott Erwitt’s in the group exhibition “The Art of Photography Today” at the Camera Obscura gallery in Denver, Colorado. In June of last year he spoke on street photography at the International Center of Photography in New York City and he was the keynote speaker at the Leica Historical Society of America’s 2009 annual meeting in Seattle, Washington.
Semetko is inspired by the humor and irony that crosses cultural boundaries and he travels the world to find them. A graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a current masters candidate in Consciousness Studies at the University of Philosophical Research in Los Angeles, Semetko’s photographs have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune and numerous other international publications. Twenty of his images were selected to be published in the exhibition book Family of Man 2. Also, his book “Unposed” came out in October from publisher teNeues.
He also has a an interview with the Leica Camera Blog where you can continue to read here.
Every street photographer needs to take more photos. Street photographers (and many other types of photographers) don’t go out and shoot photos nearly as often as we should. In an ideal world, we should be outside every day, trying to capture the beauty of everyday life. Whenever photographers say, “I don’t have enough time” or “I’m too busy”–it is all just excuses. If there is something we care about enough, we will make excuses to go out and take photos. To help you get out on the streets more and shooting, I will outline some quick and practical tips that could help you be more on the streets and shooting photos.
1. Carry your camera with you everywhere you go
The master, Henri Cartier-Bresson with his camera always close to his eye. You know he never made any excuses not having his camera with him.
This got me wondering, what exactly differentiates a good street photograph from a bad one? People say that art is subjective, but when it comes to st reet photography (and other forms of photography), I find it uncanny that there is a general consensus in the street photography public what constitutes a good and bad street photograph.
"Man with bread pillow at The Golden Mile, South Africa" - Michelle Sank
Recently in the news, the British Journal of Photography recently awarded this image, “Man asleep on the Golden Mile, Durban, South Africa.”, by South African photographer Michelle Sank as the best single image category of its International Photography Award.There was a ton of unrest on the internet with some people calling the piece “a joke” and others calling it “rubbish.” Honestly when I saw the image, I was a bit turned off too. I didn’t see the strong merit of the image, when there were tons of other great photographs that were submitted.
In searching for the truth of what makes a good street photograph, I will chronicle some of the aspects that I have noticed of all award-winning and inspiring street photographs.
Recently I have started a Flickr group titled “Aspiring Street Photographers.” Here are the 5 most inspirational photos that I chose (although there are a lot of other great images in the pool). Check them out and hopefully they inspire you to continue taking great street photographs as well!
"Untitled" - Exi87
"Move!" - lempkin
"Fakes and Ladders" - chad^michael
"94/365" - Eugene Lum
"Paris" -
Want to be included in next week’s post? Join Aspiring Street Photographers and add your best images! Also remember to not just add photos to the pool without commenting on others! We are a community, not view-whores :)
Recently I asked on my Facebook fan page I asked the members of the community what tips they had for aspiring street photographers. They gave some quite insightful/fun answers that I would love to share with you.
Note: I love making lists, as I feel that they are fun ways to learn and gain more insight about street photography. Please do not be offended by this list, as they are some of my own personal opinions about street photography. However I feel that these “rules” are broad enough to apply to most street photographers. If you don’t agree with any of the points below, leave a comment and tell me otherwise!
Never carry your camera with you
Be “too lazy” to go out and take photos
Only keep your batteries charged half-way before you go out and shoot
Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature street photographer Piotr Golebiowski! I met Piotr by an insightful comment he left on my blog regarding using his Olympus EP-1 for street photography. I took a look at his work and was blown away! Check out all of the other featured street photographers of the week here!
1. How did you get started in street photography?
"On the Watch" - Piotr Gołębiowski
Photography has been my hobby for more than 20 years now, but my adventure with street photography started in July 2009 with one photograph I took during a walk near my home. It is titled “On the watch” and it shows a cat and a dog looking through a window. There was something magic in that moment. It lasted only for a couple of seconds and the guys in the window reminded me of some elderly people who like to sit in the window and watch the world passing by. Later I received a comment on Flickr saying “I think the cat is keeping the dog captive.”
Some of you may not know, but I am teaching a digital photography class to a high-school class of 25. The school is located in Los Angeles (near Venice) and is called “Phoenix High.” The majority of the students are from lower socio-economic status neighborhoods and under-privileged backgrounds, and struggling to make it through school. Although their lives are tough, they find a lot of inspiration and joy in photography. Therefore, I am currently trying to get donations for old point and shoot cameras (11 to be specific) for the students to use.
I have always looked at many great street photographs and have always wondered what the story was behind them. Interesting enough, I also get many questions about what was going on in my head when I shot certain photos of mine. Therefore I thought it might be a good thing to show you my 5 best street photographs of all-time, and explain a little more about the backround story as well as what was going on in my mind at the time.
1. “The Conductor” – Downtown Los Angeles
"The Conductor" - Downtown Los Angeles
This is actually one of my first street photographs that I took. I was in Downtown LA with my girlfriend Cindy, and we went to go watch a show at the Ahmensen Theater, which is right next to the LA opera house. In the courtyard, there is this beautiful fountain that shoots streams of water at different intervals. Cindy exclaimed how beautiful it looked, and I ran over with my camera in hand, and snapped a few photos. I recall seeing the near-perfect silhouettes of the two people, and waited for the moment where either the man or woman would do something interesting. My wish was blessed, and the man on the left raised his hands as if explaining something to the woman. I snapped the photo and recall thinking, “It almost looks as if the man is conducting the streams of water to shoot up”. I then thought of the title, “The Conductor” and it has just stuck.
About two weeks ago, I was playing basketball and when I went up for the rebound, I landed on someone’s foot and fell my entire weight roll onto my left ankle. Then I proceeded to hear the cracks (like cracking your knuckles, except times five) and then the final pop at the end. It was a pretty serious sprain.
I then went to the doctor the next day and got an x-ray. Although I didn’t break any bones (thank God), I was going to be in crutches for at least 2 weeks. This meant going 2 weeks without shooting any street photography.
As you guys can imagine, I got pretty antsy staying at home all of the time. I felt that the streets were calling my name–and longed to go shoot.
Fast-forward 2 weeks and now I am walking with a slight limp (thanks for all the words of encouragement + prayer). I took the liberty the other day to shoot street photography, and I gotta tell ya–it was pretty damn painful. Every step forward felt like a thousand needles piercing into my ankle, and it was hard to even walk the distance of a block or so.
But as I like to think, “Everything happens for a reason.” I then noticed that although it was difficult shooting street photography while still injured, there were some learning points that I got out of it. This is what inspired me to write this post. I will therefore tell you how being injured helped me realize some points that helped me
1. Walking slower helped me capture moments I might have missed.
"After the Rain" - Santa Monica
Due to the fact that I was injured, I walked extremely slowly while shooting street photography around the 3rd Street Promenade. Although at first this was incredibly frustrating, I started noticing things I might have missed while healthy. I started to see more “interesting characters” I might have missed if I were walking at full speed. In slowing down, I started to “see” better as a street photographer.
Note: Remember that great poem that my student Edward Lim wrote about my photo, “Midnight Dining“? Well he is at it again and this poem that he wrote is on one of my favorite photos, “The Conductor.” Show him some love and leave a comment below!
"The Conductor" - Downtown Los Angeles
Eyes blind in concentration,
Hands perched in the air,
The barren floor, waiting,
Instruments ready.
Hand and baton descends
Liquid notes leaps up,
Graceful with rhythm,
A grand Forté.
From the ground,
The baton leads a river
A gossamer cascade
Glistening gold
A dance of light,
Symphony of water
In harmonious key
The midnight waltz
Note: Every Wednesday, I try to feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature street photographer Jimmy Dovholt! The brother has a great eye and is representing the streets of Stockholm, Sweden. I remember stumbling upon his blog one day, and being totally blown away by his great eye. Peep this great bio written by him and give him a big hand as English isn’t his first language! Also feel free to check out the feature from last week with Neal Bingham.
1. How did you get started in street photography?
"Shapes & Distractions" - Jimmy Dovholt
I took up photography in the summer of 2006 when I bought a cheap DSLR to go with a couple of old Pentax lenses I had from the early nineties. I realized pretty soon that I was not going to evolve quickly enough on my own, so I became a member of a large Swedish photo community.
Later that same year I shot what I consider to be my first street photograph (pictured above) and began looking for the right pool in the community to get some feedback. I found something called street photography and loved it instantly.
Note: One of the incredibly talented Sunday school students I have at my church named Edward Lim saw my “Midnight Dining” image and was inspired to write a poem. Not only am I humbled that he decided to write a poem based on my image, but I am also impressed by his fluency in the literary arts. Show him some love and leave him a comment below!
"Midnight Dining"
Walk home late at night
A day of toil done
Amid the chaos of chores
And thus night meal, forgotten
A midnight vendor
A hearty greeting
A snack before the halfway
And thus sat down
Midst of city light
The narrow strip of sky
Sets glow to nigh
And thus the dim alley
Not quite Christmas
Couple of months ’ till so
They hang above, those light
And thus a starry sky
Tom Kaszuba is a very talented street/architecture/landscape/HDR photographer based in Norwich, Connecticut. He is a photographer that I look up to highly, as he was one of the first people who gave me a ton of support and love when I was starting off my street photography. We originally met at the Black & White Vision forum at Fred Miranda, and our relationship has been solid after that.
Recently on Twitter, I asked why people loved street photography. Out of all the responses I got, I loved Tom’s the best:
@tomkaszuba: My fave thing about street photography is making art out of real life.
To show my gratitude for his guidance through my photography and just having awesome insights into street photography, I sent him one of my favorite prints, “The Mime at St. Pancras.” He was even awesome enough to send me some photos of it hung up in his house! (That lovely lady in shot #1 is his wife btw)
Keep posted to see if you can win more photos from me ;)
As of late, film has been having quite a comeback. Many photographers enjoy the “look” of grainy analog film, and many people even say that they enjoy the experience of shooting with film as well. In an article published by Wired, Charlie Sorrel states:
“Kodak’s US marketing manager of professional film, Scott pro film Scott DiSabato said that sales of color film are steady, and that black and white film is ‘doing extremely well’ He sees it as a mini-revolution, adding that ‘it almost feels that there is a very real resurgence for film.’”
Many places such as Urban Outfitters have caught upon this trend, selling Holga cameras, which are toy-plastic film cameras which give images an interesting cross-processed look. Sales for these types of cameras are strong within the young demographic, and it almost seems to be a rebellion against digital.
A Holga 120s on the left, and an example photo on the right.
This leads to the question, what is better for street photography, film or digital?
This is definitely not an easy question to tackle, as both sides of the debate have their own valid points and refuse to give up any ground. However for the purposes of this post, I will try my best to give an un-biased view to both sides of the argument.
@faireunvoeu on Twitter sent me this quote from film photographer Simon Watson on digital photography:
“There is a smoothness that is so ugly & slick, it looks like a gimmick.”
In my own personal experience being born and having grown through the “digital revolution,” digital photography is the only thing I have ever truly known. Sure I remember when I was a kid and having to wait for the film from my mom’s old camera to get developed, or waiting on prints from my old disposable camera from field trips. However other than that, digital has been everything to me. My first camera was a Canon Powershot SD600, and the other two cameras after that (my Canon Rebel XT and Canon 5D) have been digital as well.
It is quite ironic, because I have been attracted to the “film look” as well. I use Nik’s Silver Efex Pro to add grain into my images as well as strong vignettes in my black-and-white workflow. There is something that I couldn’t put my finger on, but I feel that it pays homage to the old “film look” of the street photography masters.
"Wine by the Seine" - Paris, France 2009. Note the grain I added to give the image a more "moody" feel
Digital definitely has its pros when it comes to street photography. It is no secret that it is much easier for photographers to learn photography on digital cameras as opposed to film cameras. First of all, digital cameras allow you to instantly see the results of your photos on the back of your LCD screen, to check for exposure, framing, focus, and even sharpness. This takes a lot of guess-work out of photography, as with film it takes much more time to develop and process images. Therefore when shooting street photography, an aspiring street photographer will thus have an easier time learning from his or her mistakes, or even learning how to better compose when shooting from the hip.
However recently, I have inherited an old film rangefinder, the Contax IIIa. Although I have only shot a few rolls with it, there is definitely a much different experience shooting with film. I feel that when I am shooting with film, I feel much more calm, and that there is some sort of inner-peace that I get shooting with it. Due to the fact that I am not able to “chimp” and look at the back of my LCD after shooting every image, I focus more on the experience of shooting on the streets, rather than focusing my efforts on the outcome of my images.
Me shooting in the streets with my Contax IIIa. Shot by John Golden
Furthermore, due to the fact that I can only shoot about 24 exposures or so from each roll of film, I am much more selective with my shots, which makes me focus more on my framing and composition of shots, so I don’t “waste” any of my film.
However I think in the long run, the convenience of digital trumps film by far. Being able to take raw images, edit them on your computer, and directly upload them to Flickr or online is much better than having to purchase film, send it to get developed, wait, download your images to your computer, then upload it online.
The way in which we share photos has fundamentally changed. Remember back in the days when people actually shared physical photographs with friends and family, and even made duplicates for them to have? Such an experience is now foreign to the modern person, as Facebook is much more convenient.
The Leica M9 - The First Full-Frame Digital Rangefinder
Getting back to the subject at hand, I feel that digital is still much more advantageous to the modern-day street photographer than film. I do not discount the merits of shooting film, but with new digital incarnations of even “classic” cameras such as the Leica M8,8.2, and 9, there is a huge shift toward shooting digital. Even Chris Weeks who wrote a book on street photography “Street Photography for the Purist,” he was initially turned off by digital cameras, but upon getting his Leica M9, he is starting to embrace it much more, as said in his more recent film documentary, “Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition.”
Street photographers–what is your opinion on digital vs film photography? Leave a comment below and leave your 2 cents!
Note: I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to feature some truly extraordinary photographers that I have met on the internet. For the first featured photographer, I decided to feature Neal Bingham, who is also one of the Admins for the “Aspiring Street Photographers” Flickr group that I founded a few months back. Neal shows great passion for street photography, which is apparent through his work. I hope you guys get to know more of his genius through this short bio of him!
How did you get started in street photography?
Signs of Rain - Neal Bingham
I first discovered street photography through the BBC documentary ‘The Genius of Photography’, and was inspired by the powerful images I saw from legends such as Garry Winogrand, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Joel Meyerowitz. I had recently taken up photography but had yet to find a genre that really captured my imagination – street photography very quickly became my passion.
I thought about writing this blog post after receiving many questions regarding street photography. I saw it as a great opportunity to help clear up some misconceptions about street photography, as well as answer questions from many aspiring street photographers from around the world! If you have any other general questions, feel free to leave a comment below and have either me or some other street photographer from the community answer your question!
1. Do I need a model release form when shooting people in the streets?
"3 Men"- note that although the man's face is visible, he is not identifiable. Thus I do not need a model release for this if I wanted to sell this print. Also I have no restrictions in posting this online.
No. As long as a person is in a public area and not on private property, you are free to take their photo without having a model release form. However the tricky part is when it comes to selling images of people shot in public areas. If the photo you are selling clearly defines a person’s face, then you need a model release form.
Edit: In the US, you are allowed to sell a recognizable photo of someone on the street as a work of art. What you are not allowed to do is to sell it for commercial photography — that is to say, photos being used to sell a product. This would prevent the sale of photos of a recognizable person to (let’s say) a stock photo service, but not as a work of art, or photojournalistic purposes.
Apologies for talking a bit quiet, as well as the squeaking (it goes away after the 25 second mark)– but thank you again for the love and support in helping me achieve my dream of going to Lebanon to teach my street photography workshop! In this video I give a quick shout-out to everybody who has helped me in my photography journey. Words cannot express my gratitude to you guys!
For those of you guys who have no idea what this street photography workshop in Beirut, Lebanon is about–read more here.
One of the questions that I often get from aspiring street photographers is, “How do I not look like a ‘creep’ when shooting in public?” I believe that this is one of the main factors which bars many photographers from getting their feet wet with street photography. In many societies, taking photos of strangers on the street is definitely not the “norm,” and can be interpreted as offensive to many. However although a photographer may feel like a “creep” when shooting in public, he most likely isn’t.
Street photographers try to capture the beauty in everyday-life, and attempt to journal their life through their lens. The term “creep” implies that the person is shooting strangers for some ill or mischievous reason.
In order not to look like a “creep” in the streets, you must first change your mindset that you are not a creep. In thinking that you are being “creepy” by shooting random strangers in the street, your body language will show it as well. Your movement in the streets will be erratic, your eyes will be shifty, and you will make other people feel uncomfortable. It is sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy in this way, therefore it is important for you to shift your frame of mind.
If you constantly tell yourself, “I am a street photographer there to capture the beauty in the mundane and I mean nobody ill will,” thoughts of being a creeper will disappear over time. Granted that every street photographer will have a difficult time doing so, the more you do it, the less awkward it will be.
In order to help you get over that feeling of being a “creep in the streets,” I will give you three quick tips on how not to look like a creeper when shooting street photography.
"Sacred Light" - St. Peter's Basilica, The Vatican.
Whenever I ask people want to do before they die, it always seems that traveling is on top of their list. Yet, so few people travel—why? Sure there are the default answers, “It is too expensive”, “I have no time”, “Isn’t it dangerous?”, “I have ‘responsibilities’ that I have to take care of” and the list goes on. However when it comes down to it, all of these statements are truly nothing but excuses.
For the longest time I have always wanted to go backpacking in Europe. However I faced the problem that many other people faced, regarding money, time, confusion, etc. All I knew was that it was a burning passion and aspiration of mine, and that no matter what—I wanted to go.
I can fortunately say that the last summer I was finally able to make that dream come true and I backpacked through Europe for 30 days. I started off in Paris, flew to Rome, took a train to Florence, took another train to Cinque Terre, continued to Venice, and then Prague, and finally flew out to London where I spent the rest of my time. How was my trip you ask? It was the trip of a lifetime. Words cannot express the breath-taking sights I had, the cordial people I met, the aroma of the wine I had, the taste of the local cuisine, the awe-inspiring architecture, and oh yeah—the copious amount of photo-opportunities.
Now let’s get back to the issue of “practicality.” I’m sure all of you are thinking, “I would love to go travel to _______” but I don’t have the money for it. Honestly, I believe that to be nothing more than an excuse for most people.
Are you a student in college?—you truly have no excuse. You have the best time of your life to travel, when you have nothing truly “tying you down.” There are tons of study-abroad opportunities, and you still have summer breaks! Can’t afford it? Take out a loan—(that’s what I did). Sure you probably have no to little money right now, but what you don’t have in money—you have time.
Do you have a full-time job? Take a vacation and even travel for a week. Most jobs in the United States give you at least two weeks of vacation time a year. Don’t get any vacation time? Well you should probably quit the job you have right now and get a new one. Don’t have any money and a load of debt to pay off? Stop spending your money on things that you don’t need (cars, clothes, eating out, etc) and invest that money into saving for a trip. You probably have a half-million things lying around that you could probably sell on eBay or Craigslist as well.
Are you married and have kids? Take them with you! The last thing that you want to do is use your kids as an excuse. They will have the time of their life as well.
If you died tomorrow, would you have any regrets on not traveling? Where have you always wanted to go, but always made excuses why NOT to go instead of making excuses WHY to go. Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Korea, Tokyo, Hong-Kong, Africa, the Middle-East, Paris, or India? Or can you see yourself on your death bed, regretting not going because of
Considering that people always make reasons why NOT to go traveling, I will make some reasons WHY you should go traveling:
What goes on in my head when I am doing street photography. (Yes, that is a penguin version of me with a Canon 5D)
Stumped for ideas, I recently I asked to the members of my Facebook Fan page what I should blog about next. These are the responses that I received that inspired me to write this post:
Eric Houng: “What prompts you to snap a picture of someone? is it cuz you see a story about that person? stuff like that :] (inspiration… that’s the word i was looking for hahah)”
Mithun Kumar: “Do we apply brains or just go with the instincts when photographing on Streets?”
Yvette Murphy: “Related to above requests– how much of it is planned, i.e. you see the possibility of a shot ahead of time and wait for it to happen and, simply, spontaneous, i.e. the right place at the right time. For example, I had seen the possibility of a great shot, I waited for the right time…and perhaps I lost patience, but it never happened.”
Rick Heath: “What does one need to do in terms of mindset on the street….I would love to do this but do not want to be threatening. How do you be forward in a nice way. Does this make sense? In other words, what does your mindset need to be…..frame of mind, etc.”
Therefore I will try my best to explain my “workflow” of my thoughts when shooting in the streets. The scenario I will explain my thought process when I went to shoot on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica (during my lunch break yesterday). I tried my best to record and write out my thoughts as candid as possible.
UPDATE 9/30/10! Thanks to your kindness and generosity, I have raised enough money to finance my plane trip to Beirut, Lebanon! Huge thanks to everybody who contributed, especially to Thomas Leuthard who paid for a large percentage and will be presenting at my street photography workshop as well! I will keep you guys informed with more updates soon :)
Peace and love,
Eric
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Hey friends and photo buddies,
After my “101 Things I Have Learned About Street Photography” post went viral, a project coordinator of this art group named Spearminds in Beirut, Lebanon contacted me, asking if I was interested in leading a street photography workshop there. More info here.
The email I received from the Project Coordinator:
Click to Zoom
Of course you guys could all image how excited and giddy I was hearing this news. For the last few months, I have been dedicating so much of my time and energy in spreading the love of street photography for the rest of the world. I cannot say how grateful I am for YOUR support (and the rest of the community) in contributing your thoughts, spurring interaction with other individuals, as well as spreading the word. This blog and my photography has grown faster (and bigger) than I could have ever imagined possible in my life.
Excited about this opportunity, I went to Kayak and I discovered that a round-trip ticket to Beirut is ~$800. As a recent college student heavily in debt, this trip is not exactly within my budget. This is where I ask for help of you, my friends and the photography community to help achieve my dream of traveling to Beirut, Lebanon. Not only could I lead a street photography workshop that can inform and inspire the lives of others living somewhere halfway across the world, but I can also capture some amazing photographs there as well.
Cheapest flight on Priceline:
Round-Trip Ticket to Beirut, Lebanon (via Priceline)
Not many of you know, but in my free time I have also been teaching a photography class at a continuation school in Los Angeles named Phoenix High School. The 25 students in my class are mostly from low socio-economic backgrounds, and have never had the opportunity to take any photography workshop. You should see their faces when I teach them the fundamentals of photography, and even take them on “photo outings” where they go out and take photos for themselves! You can see more information on a site I set up for them here. You can see how serious I am about teaching photography, and the true love of it I have.
So please help support my dream and make a donation today via Paypal! You are free to donate however much you want (Suggested Donation of $5 or more). Also, I have also recently opened a store for prints, and you can support me by purchasing some of my prints as well.
Thank you for the love and support! Please spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, and your blog! I will be forever grateful — and I will bring back some amazing photos too! :) If you do not have any money to contribute, please join my Facebook Group and invite your friends to join and help out!
In holding to my mantra of open source photography, I have decided to give away all of my presets that I use in my street photography for Lightroom 3 for FREE. Feel free to share these presets with anybody/everybody you know.
This post was originally posted here by Neal Bingham, but I thought I’d repost it here to share it with the rest of you guys. A great resource for any aspiring street photographer. Please pass it on! Also follow Neal on Twitter!
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I thought it would be useful to create a topic where people can share links to resources – whether that’s tips for beginners on how to get started, interesting articles found elsewhere on the web, or just amazing examples of street photography to give us all a bit of inspiration.
For starters:
Websites:
In-Public – collective of modern street photographers: www.in-public.com/
Photographer Not a Terrorist – a movement dedicated to defending the right to photograph in public – find out more about your rights here (UK only) photographernotaterrorist.org/
Magnum Photos – legendary photo agency founded in 1947 by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa and others: www.magnumphotos.com/
A view from photographer Nick Turpin on the relationships between street photography, fine art photography and photojournalism: www.sevensevennine.com/?p=429
