Is street photography dead in the Western world?

[glenerrolrd]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

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.

 

Yanidel ...

 

I have shot on this corner many times and you can get all the street photography opportunities you could want within walking distance (its market street in SF). The blending of the tourists with the residents makes it easy ..if somewhat less authentic.

 

I am interested in you color approach for street work. It looks like a desaturated color preset ..which I think looks great . It allows the eye to focus on the content (like black and white) yet provides some addition depth due to the color shading.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[JE]

Yanidel ...

 

I have shot on this corner many times and you can get all the street photography opportunities you could want within walking distance (its market street in SF). The blending of the tourists with the residents makes it easy ..if somewhat less authentic.

 

Maybe your orientation is a little off, spending time on Jupiter and all...the above image is Michigan Ave in Chicago.

 

Jon

[Fernmelder]

Well, I had some photos in there from may hometown and Berlin, both in Germany. But the judges maybe like more stuff from richer people who use high end stuff and can travel to far off destinations. Has something to do with the economical culture of the brand maybe. Or it is a trend?

Some of mine were from demonstrations, and it is interesting that the competition in the German edition of LFI was announced with an old photo from a - demonstration.

[AlbertoDeRoma]

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.

 

Yanidel,

 

I can't really disagree with what you are saying about variety and interesting color combinations and contradictions. Earlier on, however, I made a point about cars - cars everywhere - intruding in and spoiling pictures. I find that the picture you posted would have been even stronger without the black truck. Somehow, the truck competes for my eyes' attention with the lady holding a plant. Like others have commented, I really like your style and how you apply desaturation ... but that truck detracts from the picture for me.

 

I there was a plug-in to remove cars easily and seamlessly, I'd pay big $ for it, because I have many shots (a random example below) where the presence of cars 'ruins it' for me.

 

Alberto

 

[glenerrolrd]

Maybe your orientation is a little off, spending time on Jupiter and all...the above image is Michigan Ave in Chicago.

 

Jon

 

Jon You are right ..it looks just like market street at first glance but I know the spot in Chicago as well.

[NB23]

Yes, Running shoes and Cars ruin so many shots. They're the most unphotogenic things.

[AlbertoDeRoma]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Yes, Running shoes and Cars ruin so many shots. They're the most unphotogenic things.

 

Running shoes? I had never thought about them - now there's something else to watch out for :-).

 

Alberto

[noah_addis]

It's interesting--if you look at much of the contemporary photography being done in the states now, it's moved away from traditional street photography to some extent. There is a lot of work that does focus on the 'new' urban and suburban lifestyle and current vernacular architecture. It's often large-format color photos focusing on the mundane aspects of everyday life. Many photographers have moved away from the decisive moment into something supposedly more conceptual. The current trend here follows the work of the early color photographers like Eggleston, Shore and Sternfeld.

 

Personally, I don't consider myself a street photographer though many of my documentary projects do involve what would be considered street photography.

 

There is plenty of good street photography still being done in the US and the west.

 

I have a lot of experience entering large photo contests, and I've been to some judgings. You need to realize that the judges are looking at thousands of photos in a very short time. So an interesting and subtle image taken in a familiar-looking place may not stand out as much as a simple image taken in an exotic-looking place.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[noah_addis]

...I find that the picture you posted would have been even stronger without the black truck. Somehow, the truck competes for my eyes' attention with the lady holding a plant. Like others have commented, I really like your style and how you apply desaturation ... but that truck detracts from the picture for me.

 

Wow, I think the truck makes the image. Maybe something about the absurdity and excess of having a large 4x4 in a city, combined with the other content...

 

I think--at least if you're looking at your work as a serious documentation of contemporary society--that we should embrace cars and running shoes and other signs of our culture. Don't get me wrong, you don't need to WEAR the running shoes. Though they may help you make a quick getaway from angry unwilling subjects.

 

Look at how important the car was in Frank's The Americans. Though I'll admit, I think the cars looked better back then. But I'm sure if he were doing that work now there would be lots of SUVs in Wal-Mart parking lots in his photos...unfortunately, it's a sign of the times.

[marke]

Completely agree, Noah.

 

Wow, I think the truck makes the image. Maybe something about the absurdity and excess of having a large 4x4 in a city, combined with the other content...

 

I think--at least if you're looking at your work as a serious documentation of contemporary society--that we should embrace cars and running shoes and other signs of our culture. Don't get me wrong, you don't need to WEAR the running shoes. Though they may help you make a quick getaway from angry unwilling subjects.

 

Look at how important the car was in Frank's The Americans. Though I'll admit, I think the cars looked better back then. But I'm sure if he were doing that work now there would be lots of SUVs in Wal-Mart parking lots in his photos...unfortunately, it's a sign of the times.

[Bo_Lorentzen]

+1 for cars and running shoes.

 

+1 for Yanidel's "its there" line of thought

 

Cars, running shooes and nasty spandex on people who should not be permitted to wear it, its all part of down-town Los Angeles, and it is part of where I live, sometimes the problem is that I have seen so many cars that its hard to get excited about one more, but the reality is that they do belong.

 

My father and grand father photographed very seriously, and I don't think this discussion is anything new, its just different things we find to be in the way of our shots.

 

As for why judges don't pick western world street photography... they have already seen it and find it boring even when its really good, the unusual is always more interesting. I don't agree with the judging, but understand how it works... more or less.

 

.

[yanidel]

Earlier on, however, I made a point about cars - cars everywhere - intruding in and spoiling pictures. I find that the picture you posted would have been even stronger without the black truck. Somehow, the truck competes for my eyes' attention with the lady holding a plant. Like others have commented, I really like your style and how you apply desaturation ... but that truck detracts from the picture for me.

 

Alberto

 

Alberto,

 

As Noah said below, the truck is IMO what makes the shot more interesting and why I included it in the pictures. And I think your comment is a good way to illustrate part of the answer of my initial post. I believe you live in the US so to you a truck is a truck, but to many European, those huge trucks are an anomaly as they burn so much gas and are so useless in the city. In Paris, it is mainly Mini's, Smart's and mainly small cars. So n the end, the message was the contradiction/irony of a person fighting to move a small tree in a place full of concrete, skycrapers and non environment friendly vehicles. I don't know if it makes sense to you now? So to come back to my initial question maybe, the jury of LFI is mainly Westerners that do not see anymore the contradictions/complexity of their World, they are more impressed pictures of environments they now less well, or maybe it is just intellectual laziness ...

 

As for cars in general in shots, it is annoying yet sometimes they add to it. What I find the real disturbance are backpacks with they crazy colors, we luckily do not see too many running shoes here and a lot of people dress in a way that makes great shots IMO.

[yanidel]

Earlier on, however, I made a point about cars - cars everywhere - intruding in and spoiling pictures. I find that the picture you posted would have been even stronger without the black truck. Somehow, the truck competes for my eyes' attention with the lady holding a plant. Like others have commented, I really like your style and how you apply desaturation ... but that truck detracts from the picture for me.

 

Alberto

Alberto,

 

As Noah said above, the truck is IMO what makes the shot more interesting and why I included it in the picture. And I think your comment is a good way to illustrate part of the answer of my initial post. I believe you live in the US so to you a truck is a truck, but to many Europeans, those huge trucks are an anomaly as they burn so much gas and are so useless in the city. In Paris, it is mainly Mini's, Smart's and mainly small cars. So in the end, the message was the contradiction/irony of a person fighting to move a small tree in a place full of concrete, skycrapers and non environment friendly vehicles. I don't know if it makes sense to you explained like this ?

So to come back to my initial question maybe the jury of LFI is mainly Westerners that do not see anymore the contradictions/complexity of their World, they are more impressed pictures of environments they now less well, or maybe it is just intellectual laziness ...

 

As for cars in general in shots, it is annoying yet sometimes they add to it. What I find the real disturbance are backpacks with they crazy colors, we luckily do not see too many running shoes here and a lot of people dress in a way that makes great shots IMO.

[marke]

Sometimes running shoes get in the way, sometimes they don't.

(okay, so technically they are Converse basketeball shoes)

 

Milwaukee's only female bicycle messenger

 

 

Sometimes cars get in the way, sometimes they don't.

 

[gwelland]

Nice examples Mark.

 

As Bo mentioned, the issue of current styles, fads and environments being objectionable is something every generation goes through. However, if you look back it's an important part of social history. (and boy do I regret much of the fashion and hairstyles of the seventies!)

[NB23]

Mark, that car shot is very, very good.

[nhabedi]

It's interesting--if you look at much of the contemporary photography being done in the states now, it's moved away from traditional street photography to some extent. There is a lot of work that does focus on the 'new' urban and suburban lifestyle and current vernacular architecture. It's often large-format color photos focusing on the mundane aspects of everyday life. Many photographers have moved away from the decisive moment into something supposedly more conceptual. The current trend here follows the work of the early color photographers like Eggleston, Shore and Sternfeld.

 

I wouldn't include Eggleston in this list for two reasons:

 

One, in a way he's a street photographer par excellence as he simply roams the streets and takes a picture whenever he sees something he thinks he should snap. He rarely shoots - as Bernd put it - unknown people in picturesque places, but there's no rule saying that you have to. (And as far as "picturesque" or "exotic" is concerned, Eggleston shoots pretty much the same pictures no matter whether he's in Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, or in his home town Memphis.)

 

Two, if there's one photographer who is not conceptual, than it's probably Eggleston. I don't know any other artist who so steadfastly denies that there's any "concept" in his work or that there's anything to interpret in there.

 

What is true is that Eggleston is not a decisive moment photographer, but who said that you have to be one as a street photographer? Was Robert Frank for example a decisive moment photographer? In my opinion he wasn't.

 

What is also true is that only very few of Eggleston's "street" photos show persons. But, again, where's the rule which said that street photos must show persons?

 

Only a few days ago, the book Street Seen by Lisa Hostetler was published which I can really recommend. It includes a very interesting and intelligent essay about what she calls the "psychological gesture" in American (street) photography and she specifically looks at Model, Croner, Faurer, Leiter, Frank, and Klein and their work in the 40s and 50s. I think in a certain sense Eggleston is one of the heirs of these street photographers.

 

And, while we're at it, I also think that a lot of what "went wrong" with street photography in the Western world in the last decades is that the "Winogrand school" won. In my opinion, Winogrand is in many respects the opposite of the "subjective" photographers mentioned above, and far too many people misinterpreted his photos (and his success) as a license to just fire away on a crowded street and declare at least one shot per roll a piece of art.

 

To bring this back to the original question of this thread: It is unfortunate that due to some kind of mass hysteria photographers on the street are treated like terrorists. It is kind of understandable, though, that nowadays - in the age of cell phone cameras, Flickr, and YouTube - people show allergic reactions to being photographed in public without being asked. This probably means the end of Winogrand-style and HCB-style photography (unless you want to fly to, say, Cuba to get your shots), but it doesn't have to be the end of street photography. Artists like Eggleston or Leiter provided signposts for where street photography could move in the future.

 

Oh, and I wouldn't care too much about the outcome of photo competitions...

 

Sorry for being so long-winded...

[yanidel]

To bring this back to the original question of this thread: It is unfortunate that due to some kind of mass hysteria photographers on the street are treated like terrorists. It is kind of understandable, though, that nowadays - in the age of cell phone cameras, Flickr, and YouTube - people show allergic reactions to being photographed in public without being asked. This probably means the end of Winogrand-style and HCB-style photography (unless you want to fly to, say, Cuba to get your shots), but it doesn't have to be the end of street photography. Artists like Eggleston or Leiter provided signposts for where street photography could move in the future.

Relating to people's reaction nowadays, I think we are also part of the paranoia. I am pretty sure that some people must have gotten pissed at HCB in his times given some of the situations, but I guess that we all fall in the "good all times" trap and think everybody was nice back then and happy to have their pictures taken.

Dealing with people's reaction is part of street photography, if one is not ready to learn to manage that, than he should do something else IMO. We steal pictures and moments so if someone reacts to it, I think we ought at least to try to give something back : a smile, an explanation. 95% of the times, everything goes fine but there is that 5% of times when it gets a bit harsher. Theses occurences must also be dealt with and so far luckily, it never ended in physical fight for me.

Nevertheless, I do find it sometimes mentally tiring and some days, I just skip the shots where interaction has a high probability to happen.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[NB23]

Yanidel,

 

This is a rare instance where, I think, the car works (the Truck in your imag) for so many reasons.

[nhabedi]

I am pretty sure that some people must have gotten pissed at HCB in his times given some of the situations, but I guess that we all fall in the "good all times" trap and think everybody was nice back then and happy to have their pictures taken.

 

I don't disagree, but still there's a significant difference: At that time, if people realized at all that they were photographed, the chances of themselves or someone they knew seeing those pictures published somewhere were very slim. Today, someone can take your picture and upload it to Flickr before you've turned your head.

 

And for the same reason I'm reluctant to take "HCB shots": If I really take a photo I like, then I'm probably tempted to not only print it and show it to a couple of friends, but I might also wish to show it on a forum like this one or on my blog. That means that potentially millions of people on the world can see the picture. I know that I myself wouldn't be very happy about this if I were the photo's subject and thus I'm hesitant to do this to others without asking.

 

Yes, you can ask people first before you take photos and I've sometimes done that, but the photos will obviously be very different and it's a kind of photography I'm usually not very much interested in.