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Street Photography "Getting Caught " open


mikeleng

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I was at Lincoln Center one June day in 2007 to exchange tickets for a different performance of the NYC Ballet when I came across this group of schoolgirls being chaperoned by two mothers, one of whom had them pose for her photo.  I took a shot, and one mother verbally accosted me while some of the girls were amused, one seemed to be flirtatious, and one (whom I assumed was the daughter of the vocal mother) was not amused.

 

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4 hours ago, stuny said:

I was at Lincoln Center one June day in 2007 to exchange tickets for a different performance of the NYC Ballet when I came across this group of schoolgirls being chaperoned by two mothers, one of whom had them pose for her photo.  I took a shot, and one mother verbally accosted me while some of the girls were amused, one seemed to be flirtatious, and one (whom I assumed was the daughter of the vocal mother) was not amused.

 

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I'm sure you charmed your way out of of it Stuart, great pic by the way

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8 hours ago, stuny said:

I was at Lincoln Center one June day in 2007 to exchange tickets for a different performance of the NYC Ballet when I came across this group of schoolgirls being chaperoned by two mothers, one of whom had them pose for her photo.  I took a shot, and one mother verbally accosted me while some of the girls were amused, one seemed to be flirtatious, and one (whom I assumed was the daughter of the vocal mother) was not amused.

 

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As a working photographer, this kind of thing used to really piss me off. I'd get everything set up and ready to shoot, then somebody would pop in and I'd end up with a photo in which half the people were looking at me and the other half looking at the intruder with a camera. I've embarrassed quite a number of people over the years by calling them out on the spot for doing that.

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Sometimes it's good to be seen. It's easier to get close at public events where people expect to be photographed. I rarely ask permission first, but it usually works out OK. Sometimes people get upset, but if someone objects, I always show them the photo and delete it if they ask.

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Occasionally, someone will catch the photographer but they don't want to let on. If you look closely, you can tell the guy has spotted my camera going up but doesn't want to be obvious about it. He's definitely checking me out from the corner of his eye.

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51 minutes ago, fotografr said:

As a working photographer, this kind of thing used to really piss me off. I'd get everything set up and ready to shoot, then somebody would pop in and I'd end up with a photo in which half the people were looking at me and the other half looking at the intruder with a camera. I've embarrassed quite a number of people over the years by calling them out on the spot for doing that.

I totally get that. In a past life I used to photograph a lot of weddings. The 'Cecil B. DeMille' shot (as I called it) when all formal participants are included in the big shot outside the church, I had specific ways of arranging the group that emphasized each individuals 'importance'. I considered it part of my trademark (at the time) and was noted for it. Shooting Hasselblad, as I did at the time, I needed to frequently change film. At that point, I would always walk into the picture and talk to the group, part to hold their attention, but also to protect my 'copyright' of the grouping by obscuring it from amateur shooters who were (understandably) trying to distract my group. At the end I would always 'rearrange' the group before stepping out and inviting guests and others to shoot their hearts out, but not with my arrangement. It seemed to be agreeable for most people.

If I see a working photographer these days, I always respect their 'space', but don't hesitate to grab a sly shot when 'ordinary' people are shooting selfies etc.

 

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Right after posting my comment about Stuart's photo, I recalled doing the same thing to another photographer once. The guy was on a rooftop and had a large group assembled and they were all asked to look up at him. I thought it would make an interesting photo so I clicked off a couple of frames. When I looked at them later, I saw that everybody was looking up except for one woman who was looking directly at me. Oops!

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2 hours ago, fotografr said:

Right after posting my comment about Stuart's photo, I recalled doing the same thing to another photographer once. The guy was on a rooftop and had a large group assembled and they were all asked to look up at him. I thought it would make an interesting photo so I clicked off a couple of frames. When I looked at them later, I saw that everybody was looking up except for one woman who was looking directly at me. Oops!

That could have been me, on the roof! Did a bit of that. Once, with a crowd of 250 to arrange in a group, I was on a hotel 'Juliet' balcony, hanging out, literally, to avoid including the hotel superstructure in the pic and a local TV station had a crew who were supposed to film the group, but instead put to air vision of me hanging from the balcony. I had a lot of trouble getting all 250 to concentrate on my camera instead of the TV camera.

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1 hour ago, erl said:

That could have been me, on the roof! Did a bit of that. Once, with a crowd of 250 to arrange in a group, I was on a hotel 'Juliet' balcony, hanging out, literally, to avoid including the hotel superstructure in the pic and a local TV station had a crew who were supposed to film the group, but instead put to air vision of me hanging from the balcony. I had a lot of trouble getting all 250 to concentrate on my camera instead of the TV camera.

Even harder with some jerk on the ground distracting the group. 🥴

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Check out @lambda on the thread ‘What do we photograph on the street’. That’s the way to do it in my opinion.

‘Street photography’ is interesting if you catch something worth capturing, or if there’s a story partly untold allowing the viewer to complete the visual narrative. Anything else becomes repetitive and boring. I used to photograph on the street at least once a week and would be pleased with myself if I captured eye contact. I now look back and think to myself what the hell was I doing. 
 

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3 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

 @lambda

‘Street photography’ is interesting if you catch something worth capturing, or if there’s a story partly untold allowing the viewer to complete the visual narrative. Anything else becomes repetitive and boring. I used to photograph on the street at least once a week and would be pleased with myself if I captured eye contact. I now look back and think to myself what the hell was I doing. 
 

I'm pretty much on agreement with you on this. I went through a period of several years when I'd walk around the downtown area looking for people doing interesting things. I always tried to be obvious about it as opposed to the "hidden camera," or shoot from the hip techniques. I find it very difficult to do that now because it seems people in general have become more distrustful and suspicious and often react angrily. Perhaps it's a symptom of our polarized society. 

In addition to lambda, who you mentioned, others who do amazing street shooting in my opinion are colint544, Adam Smith, Globetrotter, Tuna. Louis is kind of in a category all his own. It's clear he engages people he's photographing and also seems to live in an area where people are eager to jump in front of a lens.

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6 minutes ago, fotografr said:

I'm pretty much on agreement with you on this. I went through a period of several years when I'd walk around the downtown area looking for people doing interesting things. I always tried to be obvious about it as opposed to the "hidden camera," or shoot from the hip techniques. I find it very difficult to do that now because it seems people in general have become more distrustful and suspicious and often react angrily. Perhaps it's a symptom of our polarized society. 

I used to shoot from the hip on occasions but the resulting images always portray this timid approach, so stopped doing it. I have a degree of empathy with the public distrust, suspicion and sometimes anger. How many of us wannabe HC-Bs, Helen Levetts etc would be pleased to have a camera pushed in their face? The sort of street photography that appeals to me now is the style of Saul Leiter, being indistinct, of colour and almost abstract in nature. But each to their own.

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4 minutes ago, Steve Ricoh said:

The sort of street photography that appeals to me now is the style of Saul Leiter, being indistinct, of colour and almost abstract in nature. But each to their own.

I love that guy's work. A few years ago I saw an exhibition of his images at the Milwaukee Art Center. Some of those photographs are still clearly imprinted in my mind. 

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I'm with you on this topic of being seen, but i've never been spoken to because of what some people might see as " an intrusion  " I'm always on the look out for a busy place, and occasionally if I like the look of a certain character I won't hesitate .I do shoot with a wide lens 28mm most of the time (Digilux 2), and I do like to include other aspects of the area to make the photograph more interesting .The photograph below does have children in which sometimes I will not take, but on this occasion I couldn't resist, she almost apologised for the child's behaviour . I smiled at her and walked away not feeling guilty .

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I loved the look and concentration of this woman just outside of the main branch of the NY Public Library.  Just as I framed and focused she spotted me.

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Two vaguely amused, one not quite so...

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MP, 28mm Elmarit-M ASPH, Acros 100.

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"You lookin' at me?"

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5 hours ago, Keith (M) said:

Two vaguely amused, one not quite so...

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MP, 28mm Elmarit-M ASPH, Acros 100.

I like it Keith, the two of them seem amused by what you have done, I like it for that reason

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3 hours ago, tuna said:

"You lookin' at me?"

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I'm glad you had the guts to take it, I like it for a lot of reasons, the two women and the bikes forcing your eyes to him, and his stare is priceless .

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