Is street photography dead in the Western world?

[yanidel]

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I just had a look at the top 100 images of the 35mm LFI competition.

LFI Gallery - 35mm Weitwinkel/35mm Wide Angle

 

A lot of amazing shots there, congratulations to some of the members here that have been selected. Yet I am surprised by the fact that such a large majority of these shots are from Cuba, Latin America, Africa or Asia. There are so few street shots from Europe or North America.

 

Has our Western world become so uninteresting or is everybody scared of being sued ? In other words, if it is not allowed to post pictures without permission in most of the Western World, isn't it a bit "easy and kind of coward" to do so with people that we know won't have the means to defend their rights ?

[dcoombs]

Maybe it's because in the western world you can be accused of terrorism when taking street photos.

 

Doug

[noah_addis]

Maybe you should ask the judges?

 

I have a few pics in there (from Brazil), but I had also submitted some photos from Wall Street.

[bill]

Only sick people ride in ambulances - don't ride in an ambulance and you won't get sick.

 

In other words - this is not a representative sample.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[adan]

I would say (and it is of course an over-generalization) that the developing world has more visually interesting street-life than the western world. On average. Sure, there are many exceptions - NYC, South Beach (Miami), etc. But even in NYC I've walked 2 blocks in the "Village" on a weekday morning and seen - nobody.

 

In a lot of the U.S., "street life" now often takes place inside shopping malls, which are private property and usually have severe restrictions on photography. And western (or at least U.S.) city/suburban streets are often a bit sterile in both modern architecture, and in a lot of the "traffic" being cars, not pedestrians. We just spend more time in cars, or in our nice, climate-controlled, secure homes and workplaces.

 

In developing world streets, there is a lot of "vernacular" architecture, wild paint jobs, and a greater proportion of the population spend their time out on the street and visible. I lived two years in Puerto Rico (about like Cuba in many places) and it was more "photographable," square mile vs. square mile, than, say, Denver. (There are lots of pictures here, too - but it takes a little more effort to find them).

 

There is also the attraction of the "exotic" - different complexions, different clothing styles, different trees, those mid-20th-century cars instead of "have-to-look-at-the-emblem-to-tell-Lexus-from-Infiniti" modern lookalikes. No doubt that draws the eye and interest - and thus bias - of "western" judges.

[Guest Bernd Banken]

Streetphotography in it's purest meaning has not so much to do with making pics from unknown persons in pittoresc areas.

 

Therefore it's so damn difficult to get keepers.

[AlbertoDeRoma]

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I can't comment authoritatively on the legal issues (although I believe that in the US it's legal to take photos of people in public places and - as long as it's considered 'art' and not commercial - it can be posted.)

 

As a budding street photographer, I believe that the bigger challenge is the horrific amount of 'visual pollution' on most of the streets in my areas. Signs, billboards, parking meters, etc., and cars - cars everywhere!. The other challenge is the homogenized look of most of our streets and downtown with lots of bland and familiar Starbucks, Border books, McDonalds, etc. Not to mention the homogenized look of the people in the street - lots of logo wear.

 

I am not complaining - just stating the facts. What this means for "western world" street photography is that we have to look and try harder to capture that 'moment' - that combination of interesting people/action/background.

 

It also means that our sense of aesthetic and expectations from street photography might have to change. If street photography is meant to capture reality - perhaps a romanticized or dramatized version of it - perhaps the photo of two people wearing Dockers and a Polo logo shirt, talking and sipping coffee at a Starbucks while checking their Blackberries is street photography in the Western World.

 

Great topic, BTW.

 

Alberto

[yanidel]

Personally, I think the US is such a photogenic place, especially small towns. There are a lot of colors (especially clothing that do not match ) and every corner is full of contradictions ... but I guess you might have to come from the outside to see them.

[stunsworth]

As a budding street photographer, I believe that the bigger challenge is the horrific amount of 'visual pollution' on most of the streets in my areas. Signs, billboards, parking meters, etc., and cars - cars everywhere!.

 

In 20 years time all that street clutter will much better, more like a period piece.

[Guest Bernd Banken]

here my favourit link for street...:

 

 

iN-PUBLiC | David Gibson

[Guest Bernd Banken]

Personally, I think the US is such a photogenic place, especially small towns. There are a lot of colors (especially clothing that do not match ) and every corner is full of contradictions ... but I guess you might have to come from the outside to see them.

 

 

it's possible everywhere but you have to be at the place at that moment...

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[alun]

No, it isn't dead but it probably is getting more difficult. Widespread suspicion, anti-terror laws, the inherent difficulties and low 'hit rate' of street photography -- all add to the reason why so many don't do it. And then there is another reason too -- Willy Ronis said, I recall, in an interview somewhere, that he thought the single thing that made street photography damn near impossible is....traffic. Cars in front of everything, cars everywhere....

 

But I also echo what another poster has said -- LFI isn't representative in what it showcases.

[NB23]

I just had a look at the top 100 images of the 35mm LFI competition.

LFI Gallery - 35mm Weitwinkel/35mm Wide Angle

 

A lot of amazing shots there, congratulations to some of the members here that have been selected. Yet I am surprised by the fact that such a large majority of these shots are from Cuba, Latin America, Africa or Asia. There are so few street shots from Europe or North America.

 

Has our Western world become so uninteresting or is everybody scared of being sued ? In other words, if it is not allowed to post pictures without permission in most of the Western World, isn't it a bit "easy and kind of coward" to do so with people that we know won't have the means to defend their rights ?

 

I haven't even participated, nor looked at the images. Kinda bored of the whole "streetshooting" festivals going on.

 

But I will have to add that Street photography is just a fancy name for tourist photography. And if you ask me, Tourist photography, in teh western world, will never be dead

[stunsworth]

But I will have to add that Street photography is just a fancy name for tourist photography

 

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[NB23]

The prolem, with the western world, as another guy said, is that it's become BORING. NYC is empty, everybodie's in those shopping malls.

 

One has to find new ways of shooting the street without getting in a fight with someone. It's either that, or you're stuck shooting people walking here and there, without a point.

 

While thinking about this, I looked at some of my shots with a 35 lux and here's what I came up with: quite impersonal, IMO. Maybe it reflects the new western world? Probably...

 

 

 

[stunsworth]

The prolem, with the western world, as another guy said, is that it's become BORING.

 

More over familiar than boring IMHO. I struggle, but I put it down to not having the vision to see the photographs. I would guess that someone from outside of the States would go to NYC and find it anything but empty.

[yanidel]

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. Street photography does not always have to be done with a goal, but be a simple description of the times we live in. With the good and the bad.

 

 

[Guest stnami]

Steve Trent Parke has moved on from the streets and doing other work these days ........

[NB23]

More over familiar than boring IMHO. I struggle, but I put it down to not having the vision to see the photographs. I would guess that someone from outside of the States would go to NYC and find it anything but empty.

 

No, it's not a vision problem. A good photographer will always see an opportunity in everything. And there is the majority who can't do street shooting to save their lives (same as in everything in life). But we're bombarded with meaningless shots shots of people walking left to right, to down and up the streets while in other parts of the world, street photography consists of shooting openly. In the Western Countries, a photographer is supposed to be unnoticed or someone will "call the police". This happens way too much. The other day I took a picture of a "No parking" sign and a guy wanted to call the police. I laughed at the poor guy. But still, this is a serious illness, a mirror of the society today.

 

There is a social problem in the western world. It's all been said before so I won't go there. To answer the OP, altough I think that "street photography" will always exist, it is mostly touristic photography (or bad street photography), the new reality of the western world is making it harder and harder for photographers to shoot real social interactions and social conditions. It's a pitty but it's the truth.

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[gwelland]

 

 

I don't think that there's any shortage of subject matter or opportunity for street shooting. I'm sure that forty or fifty years ago people complained about the lack of subject matter etc too.

 

I think that part of the problem is that in many cities in the west you risk being branded a pedophile deviant or pervert if you put yourself in a position to take a shot like this. Ditto the perceived 'guy with a camera is a terrorist' point of view of the uneducated, paranoid, petty minded and self important.