Eric’s Note: I am pleased to share the work of Brian Day, a street photographer based in Detroit, Michigan. I have had the great honor of meeting Brian several times – and he is an incredibly down-to-earth and honest guy. Not only that, but he is passionate about storytelling both the beauty and the struggles of the people in Detroit.Â
Brian Day: I was born and raised in Detroit, and currently live and work in the metro area. I have been shooting in and around Detroit for about 3.5 years, and tend to focus on black and white photography across a number of genres, including land/cityscape, conceptual, photojournalism and candid/street photography. Like many photographers, I’m working on a number of unfinished series, one of which is titled “Walkers With the Dawn”, centered around the epidemic of residential fires in the Metro Detroit area.
Yesterday on my Facebook fan page, I asked you to submit your best self-portraits of yourself with your camera. I got an overwhelming response, and thanks to everyone who was brave enough to upload their images! I chose the most fascinating self-portraits out of the bunch and included them here! Hope you guys don’t mind ;)
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.
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.
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.”
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:
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.
The master, Henri Cartier-Bresson with his camera always close to his eye.
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.â€, 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.
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.”
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: 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.
"3 Men"- note how the man's face is visible, yet not identifiable. Thus I do not need a model release for this if I wanted to sell this print.
Hey guys,
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.
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.
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
Haha–tricked you. As there is no “best†paintbrush for a painter, there is no “best†camera when it comes to the street photographer. The camera is merely a tool, and there are different tools required for different situations and tasks at hand.
In street photography as well as general photography, photographers can sometimes become more obsessed about camera gear over actually taking photos. Photographers who are obsessed with camera gear often feel that their images are lacking due to their equipment, when their underdevelopment of photographic vision is the culprit.
Therefore many individuals fall into this trap and go on a never-ending chase in the hope that buying more expensive camera bodies and lenses will help them get better images. However most of them are quite dismayed when they realize that when they buy the newest and most expensive equipment, their images don’t get any better. Now don’t get me wrong—nice bodies and lenses can indeed give you images with better sharpness, resolution, and color, but they won’t give one intrinsically better photos.
When it comes to street photography, I like to believe that the best policy is to have the least obtrusive camera and lens as possible. The antithesis of an ideal camera for street photography would be a 1D Mark IV with a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L lens attached to it.
Although my knowledge of cameras may be limited when compared to the 20+years plus photo veteran, I will try my best to outline the pros and cons of different cameras that street photographers use, including rangefinders, DSLRS, or compact “point and shootsâ€.
Rangefinders
Rangefinders are glorified for their ability to take images without a battery, being small and unobtrusive, quick in operation, and virtually silent in terms of a shutter sound. Rangefinders are fully manual, meaning that you have to manually focus and manually control exposure through aperture and shutter speed.
The most popular rangefinder (by far) when it comes to street photography is the Leica. It carries all of the fore mentioned characteristics and has a tradition for being built like a tank with superior optics. Shoot—the granddaddy of all street photography (Henri Cartier-Bresson) used a Leica for his entire career.
Taking photos with a rangefinder is much different than many other cameras because what you see through your viewfinder is not necessarily what your photos show up as. There are superimposed grid lines showing the borders of how much your camera will actually capture which many photographers claim that gives them a sense of freedom and seeing entire scenes.
However there are obviously cons with using a rangefinder camera. First of all, rangefinders are fully manual, meaning that one has to learn how to constantly adjust for the changing lighting in an environment with aperture and shutter speed, while modern digital cameras can do this automatically. Although many advocates of using fully-manual settings do not see this as a disadvantage, the aspiring street photographer may have a difficult time constantly adjusting his or her settings.
Furthermore if one decides to get a digital Leica rangefinder, they are most likely going to drop a huge chunk of change.
DSLRS
It seems that nowadays many street photographers use digital SLRs (DSLRs) to take their photographs. DSLRs are massively popular due to their overall image quality, quick shutter speed, and their ability to interchange lenses, and relative affordability.
However the downside to DSLRs for street photography is that they are relatively large and clunky, and look intimidating to the average person. Furthermore due to the fact that it has a mirror inside, it makes a loud clicking (or clunking) sound when taking photos, which can disturb the serenity of a scene. There is nothing more apparent than the loud mirror-clacking of a DSLR on a quiet subway.
However that doesn’t mean that it is impossible to use a DSLR for street photography. I currently use a Canon 5D for my street photography and in order to make my camera more stealthy, I covered up my “Canon†and “5D†logo with black gaffers tape. I feel the advantage of this is that it converts my “professional-looking camera†into any old generic-looking camera. This makes the camera look less conspicuous in public, and makes people feel less anxious when you are taking photos of them.
Furthermore, DSLRS have great high-ISO capabilities, which make them ideal for shooting at night without having too much noise in the shots. The 5D is infamous for having creating clean images at even high-ISO’s. I never hesitate to shoot my camera at ISO 1600 or even 3200 at night when capturing scenes with faster shutter speeds.
Furthermore, another huge advantage of DSLRs is the ability to interchange one’s lenses. Therefore, one can switch up his or her lenses once in a while if you want to shoot at different focal lengths.
Generally for street photography, I recommend a 35mm “full frame equivalent” lens.
“The Corridor” – Shot by me with my Canon 5D in Prague.
Point and Shoots
There are currently a handful of high-end point-and-shoots on the market that many street photographers use for shooting in the street. These cameras tout larger image sensors, which gives better image quality as well as cleaner images at higher-ISOs.
The advantages of point-and-shoot cameras for street photography is that they are small, have a virtually silent shutter, and that they are unobtrusive. However on the other hand, many point-and-shoot cameras have shutter-lag, which can make it difficult to capture moving people without getting them blurred out.
“Sunflower” – Shot by me and my 5-year old Canon Powershot SD600
Micro 4/3rds
Micro 4/3rds cameras are also a fantastic option in street photography, because of their near instantaneous autofocus, small form factor and weight, as well as solid image quality. Their image sensors aren’t as good as Aps-c DSLR sized sensors, but they still make beautiful images you can’t complain about.
When it comes to street photography, everybody has their own style and techniques. What interests one street photographer may not necessarily catch the eye of another street photographer. However in order for you to get a better grasp of what kind of styles there are in street photography, I have compiled a few elements that street photographers like to use to their advantage when constructing their images.
Play with Juxtaposition
"Skating" - Paris, France.
Juxtaposition is a big and fancy word that artists love to use. If you are not familiar with the word, it simply means drawing a stark contrast between two elements in an image. One could use juxtaposition in his or her favor by creating an image that is interesting, ironic, or just plain uncanny.
For example, if you were to see a sign that says “get fit†and you see a woman eating an ice cream, that makes for an image with great juxtaposition. Or you can see a sign that says “get big†with a small person standing next to it.
Another huge obstacle you will face as a street photographer (and a general photographer) is that at times you are not going to feel a lack of inspiration to go out and take photos and let your camera collect dust on your shelf. Although it can be healthy to put down your camera at times and not to feel compelled to take images, I would say it is very detrimental to your photography if you go for around a month without taking any images.
Street photography is all about capturing the beauty in the mundane, which is every-day life. The ability to take a slice of life and capture it in an image. By not taking photographs for an extended period of time, you almost lose a part of yourself. I consider my camera an extension of my body, a 6th sense in which I am able to connect and interact with the world. It is as important as an appendage to my body as my arms or my eyes.
Skywalker, San Francisco.
Imagine not using your arms for an entire month. Just visualize them losing strength and muscle as well as the ability to make precise movements. And after a month of not using your arms, they may feel foreign and unknown to you. But you soon realize how much you have been missing out in life without them; the inability to write, the inability to embrace others, and the inability to itch your face at will. Suddenly a surge of empowerment rushes through your body, and you swear to yourself that you will never live without your arms again.
Photography is very much the same thing. If you quit taking photographs and using your camera for a month, it might feel awkward and foreign to you. You try taking photos again, but they lose that precision and touch that you used to have. But once you start taking photos again and get in the groove, you realize how much you have been missing out on life. Those little slices of life that you were unable to capture such as the man waiting at the bus stop, the woman walking with her child, or the two elderly men playing chess in the park. Suddenly a huge sense of inspiration rushes through your body and you vow to yourself that you will never live without your camera again.
