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Zygar
Aug 6, 2005
I LEIK TRAINZ!!!1
I was shooting some "street" around my university the other day... using flash and a very aggressive photographic style, inspired by Bruce Gilden.

Yesterday, my photography tutor told me that somebody ended up ringing up the Photography department's office and complaining about me because they found the flash annoying. It seriously made my day. :D


My theory is that it was this woman:

Seriously, she just looks like the kind of humourless bitch to immediately end her conversation with whomever she's talking to in order to phone in a complaint.


I also took this photo, which I just thought was sort of funny. And phallic.

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sandmaniac
Sep 15, 2005

by mons al-madeen
general question: why do you people shoot street? why do you like it, why do you think it's worth doing, what's special about it?

Twenties Superstar
Oct 24, 2005

sugoi

sandmaniac posted:

general question: why do you people shoot street? why do you like it, why do you think it's worth doing, what's special about it?

There's nothing special about it :confused: It's just another genre of photography. My impression is that people like it because, for a photographer, it is an interesting challenge to capture the fleeting and exciting moments that occur all of the time on the street that most people wouldn't notice because they are usually thinking about where they are going and what they are going to have for lunch or whatever. It's really interesting to see people look at really good street photography and and be shocked at what the photographer sees, seemingly every day, when really the photographer is just capturing what anybody could see in a day out walking around downtown, it's just most people don't look for it.

I guess that's a bit overwrought: Street photographey is interesting, to me any way, because it takes something as banal and everyday as walking down the street and captures the unnoticed micro-moments of humanity-off-its-guard to create some of the most compelling (compelling because they are extremely relateable and yet somehow alien) and exciting images in modern photography.

e; I'm not entirely happy with this answer but I have to go.

Twenties Superstar fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Aug 19, 2009

The Finn
Aug 27, 2004

إنه أصلع في الأسفل، كما تعلم

Twenties Superstar posted:

There's nothing special about it :confused: It's just another genre of photography. My impression is that people like it because, for a photographer, it is an interesting challenge to capture the fleeting and exciting moments that occur all of the time on the street that most people wouldn't notice because they are usually thinking about where they are going and what they are going to have for lunch or whatever. It's really interesting to see people look at really good street photography and and be shocked at what the photographer sees, seemingly every day, when really the photographer is just capturing what anybody could see in a day out walking around downtown, it's just most people don't look for it.

I guess that's a bit overwrought: Street photographey is interesting, to me any way, because it takes something as banal and everyday as walking down the street and captures the unnoticed micro-moments of humanity-off-its-guard to create some of the most compelling (compelling because they are extremely relateable and yet somehow alien) and exciting images in modern photography.

e; I'm not entirely happy with this answer but I have to go.

This is exactly what's cool about it to me, I made a post in the PAD thread that is basically the same thing. Also I find the accessibility very rewarding, all you need is a camera and you too can be a street photographer.

some kinda jackal
Feb 25, 2003

 
 
I like it because it makes you look at people in a crowd. There are some real characters you just walk by without giving them a second thought. When you're looking for an interesting subject you start to notice things about the people around you, how each one is unique once you separate them from the faceless mob.

That sounds like some stupid hippie bullshit but I found it's pretty true :v:

TsarAleksi
Nov 24, 2004

What?

sandmaniac posted:

general question: why do you people shoot street? why do you like it, why do you think it's worth doing, what's special about it?

Beyond photography for profit, that has a specified aim and goals that meet a commercial or other need, photography is simply art, largely practiced for the benefit of the person producing it and those who are interested in viewing it. Street photography is no different than landscape photos or portraits or anything, really, with regards to its benefits to the photographer. If you want to know why people do it, I think Twenties Superstar covered that fairly well.

It's also just fun.

Kaerf
May 3, 2007
never work
Why?

To share with others.

I think that's the easiest way to say it.

http://cweeks.deviantart.com/art/Why-23125033 is an 18 page answer. Also the introduction to the book he made http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/480228 (hit preview book and full screen and you can read the text), while it doesn't exactly explain why, does explain street photography in a light that I like.

Pompous Rhombus
Mar 11, 2007
I used to do a lot more when I was overseas, I honestly don't feel that safe taking a camera out at night in the US. I like street shooting because you never really know what you're going to come across, and I'm always having to weigh getting the shot versus potentially looking like an rear end in a top hat. I try to err on the side of caution.

Most of these I took with an SLR and 50mm prime (except for the first, that was with a 21mm), although recently I've picked up a Bessa rangefinder and I find it a lot more discreet and portable. Even if people see you, it doesn't trip the same "look at that guy with the big camera taking my picture!" switch in people's heads. The one of the motorbike taxi guy was taken with an Olympus XA, which is an even smaller, more discreet package.



Tourists browsing at a night market in Laos



Definitely see some different things on the street in Laos.



Halloween in Bangkok (I just now noticed the guy with the 1-series in the background)



Taken in a small town in northern Vietnam



Motorcycle taxi guy waiting for a fare in Hanoi

These I did on Soi Cowboy in Bangkok during the day during Thai New Years. Soi Cowboy is kind of notorious for sex shows or prostitution or whatever, Thai New Years is basically 3-5 days of a country-wide water fight. It's sort of like Mardi Gras or Carnival in that a lot of social norms get temporarily tossed out the window, which basically makes it a street photography bonanza (if you have a waterproof camera).











Radbot
Aug 12, 2009
Probation
Can't post for 4 years!
Those are some flippin' sweet shots, Pompous. They've got a superb organic feel to them. The girl with the water gun and the black and white shots are my favorite. It looks like you have some interesting halation on the last one, or is that just me?

Not to sound like a gearfag, but what did you scan these with?

Pompous Rhombus
Mar 11, 2007

Radbot posted:

Those are some flippin' sweet shots, Pompous. They've got a superb organic feel to them. The girl with the water gun and the black and white shots are my favorite. It looks like you have some interesting halation on the last one, or is that just me?

Not to sound like a gearfag, but what did you scan these with?

Thanks! The halation was water on the lens (well, on the UV filter in front of the lens), I wasn't always super-careful about wiping it off so I'd get things like that in some of the shots.

I kinda wish I knew, I handed them all off to a pro lab and they did a really nice job of developing/scanning everything. These were the cheapest/lowest res they offered... from their website it sounds like it would have been done with either a Kodak Creo IQ Smart Scanner (flatbed, seems like kind of a pain), Fuji Frontier (most likely, I think) or a Sigma (unlikely, seems too high-end).

fronkpies
Apr 30, 2008

You slithered out of your mother's filth.

sandmaniac posted:

general question: why do you people shoot street? why do you like it, why do you think it's worth doing, what's special about it?

Twenties Superstar answered this perfetly.

Pompous Rhombus those Thai New Years shots are great, really capture the energy of the celebrations. Your thread in tourism and travel was a big inspiration before i went backpacking, although only for 6 weeks.

For the first time today I actually asked someone if I could take there picture, granted it was a crazy preacher but I like the way they came out.





This isnt as sharp as I would have liked but so glad I got it, had to do a little run to get over to them in time.

man thats gross
Sep 4, 2004

Martytoof posted:

I like it because it makes you look at people in a crowd. There are some real characters you just walk by without giving them a second thought. When you're looking for an interesting subject you start to notice things about the people around you, how each one is unique once you separate them from the faceless mob.

That sounds like some stupid hippie bullshit but I found it's pretty true :v:

Just to add to this, even if you don't have your camera, look for interesting shots on the street. Honestly, before I took up photography the rest of the world was just a fast-moving blur to me 99% of the time. Now, I find my attention diverted outward even when I'm not shooting. I'm still composing in my mind. I see a LOT of interesting people and places on my walks around the city these days.

To me, the funny part is if I had walked by these exact same people and places a year ago, it would have barely registered with me. I didn't expect such a profound psychological shift from picking up a new hobby.

sandmaniac
Sep 15, 2005

by mons al-madeen

fronkpies posted:

Twenties Superstar answered this perfetly.

Pompous Rhombus those Thai New Years shots are great, really capture the energy of the celebrations. Your thread in tourism and travel was a big inspiration before i went backpacking, although only for 6 weeks.

For the first time today I actually asked someone if I could take there picture, granted it was a crazy preacher but I like the way they came out.





the contrast on these is really nice.

AIIAZNSK8ER
Dec 8, 2008


Where is your 24-70?

man thats gross posted:

I didn't expect such a profound psychological shift from picking up a new hobby.

Skateboarding did the same thing to me in high school, you constantly scan the city for lines and new spots. Those curved surfaces and benches started to look a lot more fun in a way the original designers hand't intended. So it wasn't so jarring for me when I picked up photography and started to take notice of lighting and interesting people. It is refreshing when you are able to view the world differently.

AIIAZNSK8ER fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Aug 20, 2009

man thats gross
Sep 4, 2004
While I'm here, I may as well post some of my cowardly street photos.
























AIIAZNSK8ER
Dec 8, 2008


Where is your 24-70?

man thats gross posted:



This is a favorite of mine. You made the harsh shadows really work for you.

visuvius
Sep 24, 2007
sta da moor
I'm really jealous of all you people that live in or are close to these urban areas that seem to be teeming with life. Street photography is hard as poo poo in bland as hell Orange County.

HPL
Aug 28, 2002

Worst case scenario.

visuvius posted:

I'm really jealous of all you people that live in or are close to these urban areas that seem to be teeming with life. Street photography is hard as poo poo in bland as hell Orange County.

Do you have county fairs or farmers markets or rodeos or anything like that around there?

What you may want to do is look up the Farm Security Administration's photo archives from all the photos they gathered during the Great Depression. The bulk of it is rural photography, including street-style photos, just done in the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_Security_Administration

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html

ryangs
Jul 11, 2001

Yo vivo en una furgoneta abajo cerca del río!

Pompous Rhombus posted:

Definitely see some different things on the street in Laos.



I'm obsessed with photos of people taking photos. The light from the flash assist, together with the horns, yikes.



Usually I end up either too close, or too far away, though.



2x bonus!

Radbot
Aug 12, 2009
Probation
Can't post for 4 years!

HPL posted:

Do you have county fairs or farmers markets or rodeos or anything like that around there?

Spoken like someone who knows all about Orange County. ;)

dunno
Sep 11, 2003
If only he knew...
Try big box store or strip mall parking lots, see how long you last before you are kindly informed that photography is not allowed on the premises.

Edit: Actually, the Vancouver Art Gallery is currently showing bunch of street stuff by Anthony Hernandez, curated by Jeff Wall. There's a lot of good colour stuff taken mostly downtown and in Hollywood as well as a lot of black and white stuff taken in less dense, poorer areas near bus stops. A lot of the b/w is done with a view camera so is less "intensely street" but there are some amazing figure centric compositions and gestural stuff. I really liked it.

dunno fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Aug 21, 2009

Oprah Haza
Jan 25, 2008
That's my purse! I don't know you!

sandmaniac posted:

general question: why do you people shoot street? why do you like it, why do you think it's worth doing, what's special about it?

Kaerf posted:

Why?

To share with others.

I think that's the easiest way to say it.

I think this is my answer. Street photography is simple - it is not posed, it is not drawn up ahead of time, and most importantly, it is human. Because it is human, it is essentially timeless.

Think back on the street photography you've seen in the 50s and 60s and compare them to the commercial photographs you've seen from the same era. Which tell you more about the people back then?

50 years into the future, I want people to be able to see who we were and what we did. More importantly, I want them to see that (as we do with pictures from long ago) humans haven't changed much at all. Street photography instantly and powerfully gives insight into past generation. It's put me at peace with the world in general.

</end rant>






Color works too.

Oprah Haza fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Aug 24, 2009

Radbot
Aug 12, 2009
Probation
Can't post for 4 years!
What's going on with the processing in the last set of photos? Is that HDR?

some kinda jackal
Feb 25, 2003

 
 
Street photography definitely tends to get more awkward for me when I'm one on one with the subject on what is otherwise a deserted street.

Nevertheless, it's fun. Two from my last roll. I went out with the intention of shooting more people, but these are really the only people I came across. Stupid lazy Sundays :(





RustedChrome
Jun 10, 2007

"do not hold the camera obliquely, or the world will seem to be on an inclined plane."
Manhattan, this weekend: I went out shooting in the streets with some other goons and these are some shots that I liked.





hope and vaseline
Feb 13, 2001

Hopefully this thread will inspire me to get off my rear end and do some more of this poo poo. I miss New York, the crowds and people there are just so wonderful to capture.







quote:



This is awesome, and a great example of when a long lens works well in street photography.

hope and vaseline fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Aug 24, 2009

man thats gross
Sep 4, 2004

hope and vaseline posted:

This is awesome, and a great example of when a long lens works well in street photography.

On the subject of long lenses, I've never really understood the telephoto hate in street photography circles.

Okay, I get the idea that there's no intimacy or person-to-person interaction, but that's just one possible aspect of street photography. Maybe I want candids. Good luck with that if you're shooting like Bruce Gilden. Note that I said "candids", not "shots of people temporarily stunned by a hand-held flashbang." Or maybe I want to take advantage of the way long lenses flatten the scene to try and convey a sense of claustrophobia. Well, that's just too bad because telephotos are for cowards.

TsarAleksi
Nov 24, 2004

What?
The compression in particular is why people talk about telephoto being a bad idea for street/candid. It makes the subject distant and separates them from the viewer, rather than involving the viewer in the image. Much of street photography seeks to replicate a 'normal' view rather than relying on the way that a lens makes a particular scene look and a telephoto keeps you from doing that.

Obviously it's not impossible to do interesting street photography with a long lens. But many beginners are going to fall back on telephoto as a crutch and use it just because they don't want to get closer, not because they are seeking particular ways that their gear makes the image look.

killabyte
Feb 11, 2004
Blue Horeshoe Loves Anacot Steel

man thats gross posted:

On the subject of long lenses, I've never really understood the telephoto hate in street photography circles.

Okay, I get the idea that there's no intimacy or person-to-person interaction, but that's just one possible aspect of street photography. Maybe I want candids. Good luck with that if you're shooting like Bruce Gilden. Note that I said "candids", not "shots of people temporarily stunned by a hand-held flashbang." Or maybe I want to take advantage of the way long lenses flatten the scene to try and convey a sense of claustrophobia. Well, that's just too bad because telephotos are for cowards.

I like something like a 90mm lens (on a 35mm leica), because you can be a little bit further away and it looks like you could be pointing the camera at something else. I also like using film because then no one can ask to see what you were shooting.

I guess you can also use a wide angle and get up sorta close, that way you can point the camera slightly away and still get a shot of someone, but it can make for some weird angles and distortions.

Twenties Superstar
Oct 24, 2005

sugoi

man thats gross posted:

On the subject of long lenses, I've never really understood the telephoto hate in street photography circles.

Okay, I get the idea that there's no intimacy or person-to-person interaction, but that's just one possible aspect of street photography. Maybe I want candids. Good luck with that if you're shooting like Bruce Gilden. Note that I said "candids", not "shots of people temporarily stunned by a hand-held flashbang." Or maybe I want to take advantage of the way long lenses flatten the scene to try and convey a sense of claustrophobia. Well, that's just too bad because telephotos are for cowards.

Just so we're clear, street photography isn't just photos of people on the street. It's kind of a broad name for a very specific thing which I think causes most of the confusion. Most people who know their stuff when talking about street photography will tell you that the 50mm focal length is very important because it aids in one of the primary goals of clever street photography which is reducing formal distortion to allow the subject to stand as the most important thing in the frame so when somebody looks at the photo they get the sense of claustrophobia as if they were the one on the street walking around. So, in a sense, long lenses are for cowards because it takes a bit of gut to try and pass on that feeling on your talent and luck alone without the need of canned effects.

Oprah Haza
Jan 25, 2008
That's my purse! I don't know you!

Twenties Superstar posted:

Just so we're clear, street photography isn't just photos of people on the street.

This is correct. Street photography isn't just taking pictures of a street, it's taking pictures FROM the streets, if that makes sense. You try and capture a bit of the culture and give a sense of immersion.

Kaerf
May 3, 2007
never work

Twenties Superstar posted:

50mm focal length is very important
Agree with everything you said except I'd replace 50mm with 35mm.

Oprah Haza posted:

Street photography isn't just taking pictures of a street, it's taking pictures FROM the streets, if that makes sense.
I'd say this is too confining of a definition. Street photography can happen anywhere there are people. Obviously, on a street, but also anywhere ranging from an elevator, hotel, park, bus, subway, airplane, beach, etc. To me, all that is required for a photo to be considered street is generally it has to be of someone you don't know, in a candid situation, where the environment they're in has some meaningful contribution to the composition.

Which is why longer focal lengths don't work. When you're using something above, say, 75mm, you're really honing in on one single person and unless you're really far away (and, thus, a coward) you're not going to be able to get that person in their environment.

multigl
Nov 22, 2005

"Who's cool and has two thumbs? This guy!"

Kaerf posted:

Agree with everything you said except I'd replace 50mm with 35mm.

only on crop, 50 reigns supreme for normal on FF.

brad industry
May 22, 2004
Curious as to what you guys think of Peter Funch's "Babylon Tales"



He did an interview for Art World that I thought was really interesting

Peter Funch posted:

I liked the idea of shooting over a long time at one place and pulling it together, and I have always been fascinated by how we find and define ourselves as human beings […] I go to a street corner every day at the same time and in the same weather conditions and shoot passers-by from the same position and with the same settings. […] After a couple of days I will start to identify a pattern of ‘what people do around here,’ and then start looking for that. […] I shoot for 10 to 15 days, producing maybe 10,000 images at one street corner. I then categorize the people, build up the background and cut out the people and put them in. […] It is manipulated, but to me that’s not the point: it’s a photo which has been taken over a long period of time, a more cinematic version of Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment.

I know a lot of people who would have a problem with this because real street photography can't be manipulated :colbert: or whatever. I think the main reason I'm not particularly interested in street photography is because a lot of it is really stale.

Like no offense TsarAleksi, but every street photographer I have ever met has at least a few of these "random business man with distracted expression" in their portfolios:

TsarAleksi posted:



Twenties Superstar posted:

Street photographers typically use black and white film because it takes the mind away from A LOT of the distracting elements that come with colour photography and distil the impact of the image to the strength of the subject, and their action, alone.

That's why subject is so important in street photography and why so many budding street photogs fail because they think it's the same as just taking a photo of any random person walking around.

The only person I can think of right now who's done color is Eggleston.



Also if any of you guys live in the Bay Area you should hit up the Robert Frank exhibit at the SFMOMA, it is really really good.

HPL
Aug 28, 2002

Worst case scenario.
Telephotos aren't ideal for street photography because they're very picky for focus. Wider lenses aren't so critical with focusing so they're better for shooting from the hip or hit-and-run snaps. If you use a 28mm (on full-frame/film), you can pretty much shoot behind your back or sideways without even looking at the subject because the field of view is so wide and the distance to infinity focus is so short.

dorkasaurus_rex
Jun 10, 2005

gawrsh do you think any women will be there

why aren't August Sander or the Sartorialist in this thread?










both are excellent examples of how a cool subject can really take your image from good to great

plus, the sartorialist is modern, shoots digital, and has a great success story.

here's some of my better street shots:















plain to see how the guys i posted about influenced my stuff

Kaerf
May 3, 2007
never work

brad industry posted:

I think the main reason I'm not particularly interested in street photography is because a lot of it is really stale.
It happens in all genres, though. Bad street is bad, while the good is good. I do think, however, that getting even "ok" street photos takes a level of courage not really experienced within other genres.

dunno
Sep 11, 2003
If only he knew...

dorkasaurus_rex posted:

why aren't August Sander or the Sartorialist in this thread?

both are excellent examples of how a cool subject can really take your image from good to great

plus, the sartorialist is modern, shoots digital, and has a great success story.

here's some of my better street shots:


plain to see how the guys i posted about influenced my stuff

Because they are not street photographers. There is a world of difference between street portraiture and conventional street photography, the primary one i guess being asking permission and poses. Street photography generally feels immediate and maybe a little transgressive. It's not about portraying the subjects positively so much as some imagined and captured version of "how things really are".

Those portraits are generally pretty decent but they are not street photography as conventionally talked about.

Edit: Also, I've been meaning to put together a better/more specific reply for a while, but I think the overall calibre of the shots in this thread so far is pretty high, good on you guys!

dunno fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Aug 25, 2009

Radbot
Aug 12, 2009
Probation
Can't post for 4 years!
dorkasaurus: Nice work, those are some awesome portraits. They seem a little soft to me though, is this intentional?

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dorkasaurus_rex
Jun 10, 2005

gawrsh do you think any women will be there

dunno posted:

Because they are not street photographers. There is a world of difference between street portraiture and conventional street photography, the primary one i guess being asking permission and poses. Street photography generally feels immediate and maybe a little transgressive. It's not about portraying the subjects positively so much as some imagined and captured version of "how things really are".

Those portraits are generally pretty decent but they are not street photography as conventionally talked about.

Edit: Also, I've been meaning to put together a better/more specific reply for a while, but I think the overall calibre of the shots in this thread so far is pretty high, good on you guys!

Ah, I thought they might fall under a larger umbrella.

Radbot posted:

dorkasaurus: Nice work, those are some awesome portraits. They seem a little soft to me though, is this intentional?

Really? I think the guy in the yellow jacket and the delivery guy are some of the sharpest I've ever taken, and considering they're medium format, that's pretty drat sharp. The Indian looking business-man I shot like the first day I ever had my 6x7 so yeah it's soft, and the Asian girl was shot at night with push-processed film at like 2.4 or something. Not trying to make excuses, but some of those are far from soft.

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