Approaching people out there. How to?

[Mauribix]

Hello guys,
after posting and seeing many pictures in this forum, i'm just curious about your technique to "contact" strangers and take pictures of them.

I know that many of you that I really esteem use particular techniques maybe not so easy to reproduce (i.e. "fan team technique" approach as Azzo sometimes does , or "early morning technique for sleepwalker" as Stuart is able to do at 6:00 a.m. ), but in few words, how do you photgraph unknown people?

I'm really interested in this, and if you have the time and will to answer, please let me know where you come from too, i guess we could find different ways from different countries

Thanks for your attention


Best Regards

Maurizio

[michiel_fokkema]

Hi,

Check this video of Gary Winogrand: 2point8 Garry Winogrand with Bill Moyers, 1982
And this one also: 2point8 Jeff Mermelstein Video from Media Matters

Just do it. Be polite, smile, nod, be your self, know what you do and be prepared to explain.
That's all there's to it.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

[Mauribix]

Originally Posted by michiel_fokkema

Hi,

Check this video of Gary Winogrand: 2point8 Garry Winogrand with Bill Moyers, 1982
And this one also: 2point8 Jeff Mermelstein Video from Media Matters

Just do it. Be polite, smile, nod, be your self, know what you do and be prepared to explain.
That's all there's to it.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

I watched Jeff Mermelstein's videos before, and He's perfectly right when he says "it's only in New York that you can..."
If Jeff used the same approach to photograph people in my city as He does in N.Y., most probably He could get nothing more then a broken nose here.

But to come back to the point, i'm not interested in great famous photographer's techniques.
I'm interested in this forum's great photographer techniques. The "common" people as I am (hope not to hurt anybody's feelings)

Best

Maurizio

[michiel_fokkema]

My technique is very similar to theirs. Why would there be a big difference between their technique and my/yours technique?
Just go out and do it. Try and find out what works for you. Everybody is different and we all have subtle different techniques. Discover what works for you.
Why are famous photographers different from us? If it works for them it will work for us.
It is a matter of confidence. If you are convinced of what you do. Other people will accept what you do.
But if you already decided that it will not work in your city than there is no hope.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

[Mauribix]

Originally Posted by michiel_fokkema

Just go out and do it. Try and find out what works for you. Everybody is different and we all have subtle different techniques. Discover what works for you.
If you already decided that it will not work in your city than there is no hope.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

Thanks Michiel, but i think you didn't understand my aim.
I'm not asking "what should i do to photograph people?", i'm asking "what do you do to photograph people", it's slightly different
i'm just curious to compare and associate this forum's pictures to members and their hypotetic style, due it to age, character, nationality,lenses ecc...

anyway no hope is lost, just try to walk and shot like Jeff does in Milan or Rome or Turin in these days, you'll discover by yourself what i meant

Best

Maurizio

[WPalank]

Maurizio,
I recently went to India and photographed hundreds of strangers and got rejected maybe five times, typically by Muslim women.

Other people have Private Messaged me and asked me what is the secret, how do you connect? I would say it starts with having the camera all set up and ready to go. As you approach the subject have a slight smile. All your body language should be front forward. In other words, nothing about you should say, "May I take your picture?". Set up, focus, shoot. Look at LCD, adjust aperture, focus shoot. All in all I'm in and out typically in less than 15 seconds. It's all about confidence and showing it through your body language.
If someone goes frantic on you, and it will happen, regroup, smile and move on.
Also, learn hello, thank you, good morning, etc. in the language of the country or region you are in.
Finally, show your images to the people you shoot using your LCD display. Often times, suddenly other people want to see the images and you have people lining up to be photographed. Hope this helps!

[Rona|d]

Please use the photo forum ONLY for posting pictures and discussing pictures, thank you.
(I know the question fits well to "people").

[WPalank]

Ron,
Can you flip this to the appropriate Forum? What would that be?
I'm sure Maurizio wouldn't mind if it was in the M8 Forum.

[stnami]

"what do you do to photograph people"

.............I try to figure out why I am taking the photo.... never really figured that out

having buggered up that........I try to figure out what am I going to do with the image, what context can I place it is, does it sit with something I have and can help pull a past/future storyline together.
http://www.artouko.com/timetoo/

I usually know the environment I am in .......... as I chose to go there, so I check out the punters, see what is or isn't there
from then on it's a game both mind and physical

[stnami]

I'm sure Maurizio wouldn't mind if it was in the M8 Forum

...running out of decent posts on the M8 forum are we ? ..too much fog in a bag ai?

[azzo]

...

[andybarton]

Originally Posted by WPalank

Ron,
Can you flip this to the appropriate Forum? What would that be?
I'm sure Maurizio wouldn't mind if it was in the M8 Forum.

This is a general query, nothing M8 specific

[earleygallery]

To borrow a sportswear brands slogan, just do it.

I don't generally approach people, I don't usually want them to pose, I want to capture the scene as it is. I try not to be too obvious, intrusive or indeed furtive.

Occasionally I will ask first, if I sense that the person may object or if its just difficult to get the shot (situation, lighting etc).

I've only ever had one objectionable person and I wasn't even taking their photo at the time (I was on a beach and framing a shot, actually waiting for said person to clear off!).

[bill]

Interesting question.

I seldom ask. I like the "found" aspect to the scenes I shoot. People are seldom the subject, but often the point of interest. A person posing, to me, is the subject of an "environmental portrait" and that isn't what I like to do.

I tend to dress appropriate to the location/occasion. I prefer to work with small, discreet cameras (for which read screw- and m-mount) and I try not to draw undue attention to myself through my actions. My behavior is heavily modified by the event/location. In an ordinary street, I work more discreetly than in a fairground, or carnival or the like.

When I do ask, I tend to the smile/nod/lift of the camera approach. If someone bounds up to me and asks to take my photo it would unsettle me, so I treat people with gentle courtesy because that is the way I would like to be treated (this isn't about photography, btw - someone rattling a collecting tin in my face or making a smart comment to get me to stop is likely to get extremely short shrift. Someone who stands patiently is more likely to get my money)
.
If I sense somebody really does not want to be photographed, I will seldom try. The only time in recent memory that I had a negative reaction was in Berlin, when a guy making fretwork charms out of coins on the Unter Den Linden angrily waved me off. C'est la vie. The attitude I take is that he has chosen to ply his trade on the street. If he is really so disturbed by people taking his photo he should chose a different way of making a living, or get used to it.

Whilst I am on that tack, I am sure that this thread will also veer into "invasion of privacy" territory, so I shall make my views on that matter clear from the outset. If you are in a public place, you have no right to privacy. You have a right to courtesy, and common politeness, but that is not the same thing. I can - and will - take your picture if doing so gives me the shot I want.

Regards,

Bill

[cocker]

Originally Posted by bill

Whilst I am on that tack, I am sure that this thread will also veer into "invasion of privacy" territory, so I shall make my views on that matter clear from the outset. If you are in a public place, you have no right to privacy. You have a right to courtesy, and common politeness, but that is not the same thing. I can - and will - take your picture if doing so gives me the shot I want.

Regards,

Bill

Round of applause from me Bill. I entirely agree and we should all be saying this - not just amongst ourselves but also to the "powers" that would, these days, try to prevent us.

[stnami]

. as long as you don't stop me from smoking my gaspers as you enter the space I occupy, it's ok to snap the photo.................

I can - and will - take your picture if doing so gives me the shot I want.

... there are a fair few public spaces where that will land you either pushing up daisies or staring at a ceiling, your play here!

[delander]

Originally Posted by bill

Interesting question.
Whilst I am on that tack, I am sure that this thread will also veer into "invasion of privacy" territory, so I shall make my views on that matter clear from the outset. If you are in a public place, you have no right to privacy. You have a right to courtesy, and common politeness, but that is not the same thing. I can - and will - take your picture if doing so gives me the shot I want.

Regards,

Bill

Well I dont mind my photograph being taken, but I object strongly to that self-centered attitude and if somebody said something like that to me I would want to know the purpose of the photograph. You are saying that if you dont wish to be photgraphed dont go out. How insensitive can you get.

There is a bit of give and take needed here.

Jeff

[lct]

Originally Posted by bill

...I can - and will - take your picture if doing so gives me the shot I want...

You mean without my consent?
Hehe! Try this my friend and i introduce to you a good friend of mine.