The Best & Worst Things About Street Photography - ISSUE 58
A short analysis of the genre so far...
Housekeeping
Welcome back guys! This week we are going to discuss the ever so popular genre of street photography, which I have been experimenting with lately and enjoying, for the most part at least…
Before we jump in though I want to let you know that I am taking bookings for 1:1 sessions in November. October is currently all booked up now but if you wanna grab a spot for November hit the button below. While your there download my guide to free resources for modern creatives. It’s FREE!
These sessions include:
A 90 minute call via zoom
A portfolio review/overview of your work or current project
Deep dive into your current struggles with photography/creativity
Assessing your mindset and highlighting patterns that may be holding you back (creative therapy I like to call it)
Identifying your goals and practical steps on how to achieve them
Free flowing conversation and time for questions
A follow up email outlining what we discussed as well as helpful links, documents and resources that pertain to your particular situation as well as on going support via email to answer any further questions or share ideas and accomplishments
A FREE copy of my 101 Creative Strategies Guide (if you don’t already have it)
I have had such amazing chats this month with fellow creatives and I love to empower people in the global photography community to share their work, start/finish their dream projects or feel focused and confident about their direction and work.
I look forward to working with more of you in the future :)
Most of the images you are seeing in this issue are available on my print shop as part of a new series called “Chinatown”.
Street Photography…What Is It Good For?
Probably the most mulled over and talked about genre of photography, has to be street!
It’s dynamic, it’s a bit risky, it’s physical, and it’s endless when it comes to opportunities for exploration and image making. These things make it popular to the point of saturation and is one of the reasons I have steered clear of the genre.
Plenty of YouTube channels cover this type of photography so well, it almost seems a waste of time to be adding to the catalogue of things out there documenting the process of various street shooters. But then I remembered that if everyone thought that way about everything, we would never see or experience anything new. So I thought, fuck it, why not make a video about street photography. Here it is for you!
Here is a neurotic list of things I like and don’t like about street photography so far…
LOVE
Looking like a cool street photographer and holding my camera up near my chest like Faizel Westcott, waiting to snap that epic moment but actually missing it because I’m to wrapped up in how cool I think I look.
Feeling like anything could happen and I might be the only one to photograph it!
How much incidental exercise I am getting right now strolling the city doing something I love
Spotting someone super well dressed and being able to get a good shot of them
The rush of taking a risky shot of someone straight on and then wondering if when I lower camera they will be loosing their shit at me for it
The relief I get when they don’t and I “got the shot” with no consequence but then also kind of wanting to do it again just to play with fire
Noticing how interesting people are and then getting totally lost thinking about where they are going or what their life is like?
Stumbling across delicious places to eat that I didn’t know existed and wouldn’t've have been able to google if I hadn’t have followed someone trying to get a shot of their shoes. Yum!
Seeing the photos and finding a theme that I didn’t even realize I was focusing on
Feeling like I’m now part of this cool club of people who spend their time wondering around looking for odd, humorous, beautiful moment on the street
Practising in my head what I would say if I was on an episode of Walkie Talkie with Paulie B
HATE
ANXIETY
Getting super sweaty in the city cause I’ve walked for ages and it’s nearly summer in Australia and I’m also super anxious generally but now more so cause I’m taking photos of people on the street without their consent and making a YouTube video at the same time. #sweatymess
Seeing a fleeting moment and missing it and not being able to stop visualizing how good of a photo it would have been and then disliking everything else based on this one photo in my head that would have been better.
Taking heaps of shit photos that just look like people walking on the street and then questioning the entire genre and why I’m bothering?
Being too scared to take a shot that you know would have been a banger cause you have empathy and also didn’t wanna get in trouble.
Feeling guilty for always photographing old people because they are slower on their feet and therefore easier to capture. Also they don’t really seem to notice as much.
Trying to decide if it’s better to camp in one spot or keep walking for hours
Taking a photo and then having it be ruined by someone walking in front or away before you could get the shot how you wanted.
Having an otherwise banger shot ruined by a sign that screams “I’m living in the modern world” and even though you shot an old lady on film to try and make it look like it’s the 70’s, it’s so clear by the Vodaphone sign that it’s actually 2023 and you are a totally lame fraud who is trying to hard
I find it harder to justify shooting film when doing street photog which makes me want to buy a FujiFilm XE4 or something and that is bad for the budget
Last Thoughts
So I hope you enjoyed my list! I’m keen to keep trying this out and see what happens. I don’t live in a great place for street though as it’s not a bustling city so perhaps I should organize some more trips to work the muscle of shooting street.
Below are a few more images shot on film with my Pen FT and my Yashica T4. A selection are now available on my print shop so be sure to go have a little peek over there.
Thanks for sharing your time with me guys. I will see you next week for an interview piece with a photographer from the community.
Love Lucy xx
It’s not the type of photography that I have ever attempted, it would make me feel like a stalker!! I much prefer taking photos of street scenes and buildings!
Great post, and video. I used to live in North Carolina, on the coast next to Emerald Isle, and it was a tiny place to do street photography, but I still went out lol. I still thought of the images as street photography even though I wasn't shooting in a big city. Then I moved to the Sacramento area and had more streets to explore.
I love street photography because, for me, it is a great way to practice seeing pictures. Often you have to react quickly and learning to see is something I really try to exercise as often as I can. Some days I felt like I couldn't see a picture if it slapped me in the face, and then others I felt like I hit the jackpot, lol. I found a lot of it really depended on my mindset. It all goes back to learning to see I suppose.
I do feel that I learned a lot about seeing and learning to tell stories with my pictures. Whenever I teach a class I suggest the students give street photography a try for those reasons.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi, and that I liked your post.