Table of Contents
Intro
Until a few years ago, street photography was not so popular. The rise of social networks has made it easier to connect people who wanted to practice this kind of photography and therefore to more easily develop tips and tricks on how to approach subjects, on the equipment to use … etc. And this has allowed this practice to be greatly democratized and to become accessible to everyone. However, street photography has always been the ugly duckling of photography: adored by some, decried by others because it upsets the codes of photography, it is sometimes difficult to orient yourself in this practice without being lost, and without ending up wondering if you’ve chosen the right kind of photography. The problem is that sometimes you do not choose street photography, it is street photography who chooses you, and this has several advantages and several disadvantages, in our relationship to ourselves, to our entourage, but also to the practice of photography in general and our creativity. Street photography has, in my opinion, many more advantages than disadvantages, which is why with hindsight, I do not regret for a single second to practice it. I share a lot of love with it, but also a lot of hate, and it is because it resonates a lot of emotions in me that I mainly chose it.
Be more connected to your environment
I have already been able to expose it in previous articles. What is very different between street photography and, let’s say, the practice of studio photography, is that you’re going on an adventure every time you decide to take a photo trip. You hardly control anything and you let yourself be guided by your intuition. It is the city that decides what it wants to show you and many times you will be amazed by all it has to offer. I think one of the advantages of street photography is to develop an almost carnal relationship with your environment. For a moment you will be fully focused on what is happening around you as if you were part of the city. You will go according to the movements of crowds, the direction of the light … etc. You will lose all contact with time space, as if you were in a trance state. It is rare today to see the possibility of “disconnecting” in this way. We are all caught up in a millimeter life, punctuated by routine, the cell phone and the over-stimulation of technology. Taking a break to reconnect with your environment, through the photographic tool, is to reconnect with reality, with what makes the very essence of your existence. It is also to make a link with others but also reconnect with yourself even when it is so difficult to give ourselves time. Today, it is so easy to let yourself be absorbed by your cell phones, for example, you just have to look around you and you will see the number of people constantly absorbed by their screen. There is no more eye contact, everyone lives in an airtight bubble. Street photography helps break that barrier and connect you to the vibrations of the city, so you can feel alive.
Meet great people
This often goes hand in hand with reconnecting with your environment, but not in all street photography situations because some people have a more distant approach and do not necessarily seek a relationship with the other. When I speak of “the other”, I speak of the other as a stranger, as different from you, as an individuality that is fundamentally different from who you are. Today, we are more easily attracted by what resembles us, such as Narcissus who looks at his reflection in the water, we are worried about what difference can bring while it is what makes all the richness of human relationships. When you go to the streets, you are going to have an unexplained sensitivity for certain people that you are going to meet. These are the people you are going to want to photograph.
For me, street photography is a way to get in touch with “the other”. It’s just easier when there is a request to take a photo, in my opinion. This is why I invite street photographers to interact with the people they want to photograph, rather than being in an attitude of withdrawal. Street photography will thus allow you to make wonderful encounters and open your field of opportunity. In the era of covid 19 where everyone avoids each other, everyone fears their neighbor as a potential contaminant, it seems essential to me to perpetuate our way of relating to others because it is the nature of being human: we are a social animal, and photography is a tool of that.
Learn more about your city
There isn’t a single day that I don’t discover something new about the city where I practice street photography. I speak of “our city” because it is certainly the one in which you will shoot the most, especially nowadays when travel is very difficult. But of course, this advantage is also valid for other cities: you will develop an in-depth knowledge of the streets you are going to walk: you will know the atmosphere that emerges depending on the time of day, you will discover unknown corners, shops, bars, restaurants … etc. that you never even imagined. There are neighborhoods that I would never have thought of going to if I hadn’t been guided by street photography.
Some often appear to be of no interest, far from any tourist attractions or “trendy” activities, but it is often these places that are the most inspiring because there is an ordinary life that we’re not used to seeing anymore. I have sometimes advised shooting again and again in the same place in order to develop a precise knowledge of a particular place as part of a photographic project, but I can only invite you, at the same time, to lose yourself in the city, to take a starting point that you do not know: enter the first bus and let yourself be carried to the terminus, this will be your starting point for the day and you will certainly encounter unexpected situations, meet invisible communities, a rhythm of exotic life, and you will have the impression of discovering another city. The same goes for travel: put away your tour guide and go on an adventure, so you will know the city like no one else.
Sharpen your sense of observation and curiosity
In order to show others what could not have been seen without your photograph, you will have to sharpen your sense of observation and curiosity: you will have to follow your instincts, listen to the opportunities available to you in order to create new ones. Take a new look at your environment: observe what is happening at the top of buildings, in certain underground areas. Put yourself in the shoes of an explorer and follow the light because it is the basic element without which we cannot take a photograph. Listen to the city, and follow its movement. Street photography is sometimes a (moderate) risk-taking that will take you out of your comfort zone and will allow you to find yourself in caucous situations, to make unexpected encounters. Be open-minded, curious, and it will be rewarding in your photos. Through your sense of observation and curiosity, not only will you enrich yourself intellectually and socially, but in addition, you will enrich the future viewer with your image.
Be respected by a part of the photography community
As a street photographer, you will earn a lot of credit by being part of the photographer’s community. For certain reasons: photographers who have already tried this type of practice know how difficult it is: to deal with the random, the uncheckable, to have enough courage to face certain situations, to photograph strangers, be closer to the action … etc. This is not something that can be learned in a matter of hours, even for those with very advanced technical skills. Street photography stirs up the guts and some are just not done or not ready for it. There are very, very good photographers who would not be able to do street photography for these reasons, it is a separate field that requires very specific skills which, in my opinion, go beyond photography alone. Some will therefore have a lot of respect for your work because they will know what it takes to be able to acquire certain pictures..
Have exhibition opportunities in your city
Photographing a city is also a way of highlighting it, of enhancing it, of bearing witness to the life that takes place there: events, tourism, environment, town planning, social life … etc. All this will show through in your photographs because the streets are the central element, the scene in which the different actions that you will capture will take place. For this, street photography can be of great interest to people who want to show a city “seen from inside”, beyond the clichés, and thus to give an impression of reality and immersion. Your photos may, for example, be noticed by municipal committees who may be sensitive to your work and what you show through your photos: there may be a social, political, humanist dimension in street photography. You will therefore be likely to have exhibition opportunities or publications in galleries or local newspapers.
Go beyond your limits
As I mentioned above, in my opinion, street photography is practiced with our guts and that is why it is of interest. You have to have sportsmanship, almost competitive when you practice street photography: you have to go beyond your fears, beyond your limits to be able to achieve your goals. Street photography requires a lot of patience and perseverance. It is often very rewarding to look back at the work that you have done and how it may have evolved.
Although the process is usually very slow, after many years it can be personally rewarding. Street photography will allow you to consolidate your social skills, to go to the front of the other and to the front of yourself, to confront complex, eccentric, uncomfortable situations, and not to stop at them. In street photography we learn a lot from failures, it must allow us to become better.
Become better in photography, in general
I think street photography allows you to become better at photography in general. Because there is not just one type of street photography, it can sometimes even border on other types of photography: a portrait in the context of street portraits, urban, architectural, environmental photography, documentary photography, action, sport … etc. Street photography will allow you to become better at these areas, and practicing these other genres of photography will allow you to become better at street photography.
In addition, the practice of street photography will require you to know perfectly and at your fingertips the equipment you are going to use: you will have to be efficient, change the parameters quickly in order to obtain the desired results. In this, you will have a better knowledge of your photographic equipment but also of photographic techniques such as the focusing zone, the rule of f16, the layering, the use of long exposures … etc.
Deal with frequent frustration and inconsistent results
To start the list of downsides to street photography, I think dealing with frustration is one of the biggest. As I could say, street photography requires a lot of patience, perseverance. You are not going to control many factors like other photographers can in other areas of photography. You will therefore often come back home, disappointed with the pictures you have obtained. The road to success is particularly long and fruitless.
Developing and mastering the right techniques will not be able to be done in a few hours. Rome was not built in a day. Go home, after many hours of shooting, and having only one or two valid shots is really demoralizing when you start. However, everyone has been there, even the best. You will need to be consistent in your way of practicing this practice in order to have better results. Arm yourself with patience, it will pay off sooner or later. You are like a gold digger and the street is your river ….
It’s not really rewarding in the eye of others
Some photographers will respect you, but a large portion will deride your work. Because street photography deviates from the standard criteria of photography, some consider it a poor form of art, like secondary photography. Indeed, some compositions will be abstract, some scenes will be blurry or lack sharpness, people’s flaws are highlighted rather than erased … etc. Street photography must make it possible to account for reality, in its beauty but also its ugliness, so that one may appear disturbing, and the other may appear attractive.
Sometimes street photography does not speak, does not touch the viewer, he sees everyday banalities, nothing extraordinary, it tells him nothing. Art does not affect everyone in the same way, the sensibilities are plural and individual. Some people will marvel more at a landscape photo rather than at the front of a store with trash cans spread out on the sidewalk (and that is understandable …). Street photography does not often give the “WAHOU” effect that many other photographs can have. They do not often correspond to Instagram standards (even if there are more and more fashionable street photos that reproduce very regular patterns) and you will often have little interest from those around you who will not necessarily display your photos on the wall of their living room …
People will not understand what you’re doing
There is nothing more annoying than having to justify practicing your art. I think this is particularly the case in the practice of street photography. People are not going to understand why you take pictures of people, in their ordinary life, without artifice. This will put you in awkward situations, especially if you haven’t taken the time to answer this question for yourself before. Some will take you for a voyeur, for a pervert, for someone who wants to make fun, who wants to take advantage of a situation …. etc. Today there are more and more cameras, everyone has one in their pocket, spends their time showing themselves on social networks, but when, you take a photo for its artistic value, it could be a problem because your subject will not understand the meaning.
It’s intimidating and not really relaxing
To be honest, if you are looking for a discipline that should allow you to be calm and relaxed to soothe you, I think street photography is not the best area … Street photography can be very intimidating, especially at first. But I must admit that it will still be very difficult to tame this feeling, even after many years of practice. You will always have a little adrenaline rush when it comes to capturing a candid photo because you will always be a little afraid of the reaction of the other person. This feeling of perpetual “stress” can be quite annoying (but it can also be very pleasant!)…
