{"id":2667,"date":"2011-05-09T01:09:09","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T05:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=2667"},"modified":"2014-06-06T00:05:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T07:05:53","slug":"how-to-become-a-fearless-street-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/09\/how-to-become-a-fearless-street-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Become a Fearless Street Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Charlie Kirk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I believe that getting a good street photograph is 80% balls and 20% skill. If you look at the work of such street photographers as Bruce Gilden<\/a> and Charlie Kirk<\/a>, you will see that they have incredibly memorable images. Why is that? It is because they get close to their subjects\u00e2\u20ac\u201duncomfortably close by most people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s standards.<\/p>\n

One of the most popular questions I am asked by the community is how to build courage when it comes to street photography. I have learned a ton over the last several years about building the guts to get extremely close to people and take their photograph without their permission. In this blog post I will go in-depth about how you can become a fearless street photographer.<\/p>\n

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1.Have staring contests with stran<\/strong>gers<\/h2>\n

\"street<\/a><\/h2>\n

This may sound silly, but one of the best ways to become a fearless street photographer is to get into staring contests with people you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. By our socialization, we feel uncomfortable looking at people we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. This is because our society teaches us that we should respect other people by not looking at them directly in the eyes.<\/p>\n

I am sure that we all know the feeling how awkward it is to be in a crowded bus or subway, and try hard not to make eye-contact with one another. However if you wish to build your courage, try this little experiment of having staring contests with strangers.<\/p>\n

How do you do it? Well the next time you are out in public and you are looking at people, continue to stare at them until they either look away first or walk away. As long as you aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in a super-shady part of town, most people won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give you crap. However if people do confront you and ask why you are staring at them, here are some responses you can give them (which work quite well):<\/p>\n