POST 6 : Street Portraiture; An escape

The feeling of someone secretly accusing you of a pervert, a mugger or an ill minded person has been felt around the streets by many people. Maybe not most of the people but it was still there. A walk around in a reasonably dark place bringing a camera and one would truly feel the pre-judgement of people about your future acts or what you are.

In the past posts, Problems with street photography was discussed. Discovering about Street portraiture was a mind blowing experience. Is street portraiture an escape from the problems that street photography brings ?

Eric kim, an international street photographer, has been asked what is street portraiture. He also had a hard time defining this type of photography .

Eric Kim

"When I think of street portraiture, I would say that it is included under the general category of street photography–but it is its own sub-sect. Therefore the two are not mutually exclusive. Furthermore, I would further categorize street portraiture in two sections as well: posed vs candid." - Eric Kim
[http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2011/03/street-portraits-vs-street-photography-whats-the-difference/]

Therefore street portraiture is somehow scripted or less natural looking. When shooting with a model and telling the model to act natural, to forget about the camera, one worry less in having issues regarding privacy. although the strength of both styles are merely the same but it would still vary depending on the photographer.

Going deeper into street portraiture, there is one way of shooting that is afar from street photography.
 Danny Santos takes portraits of strangers and only the stranger's face to be specific.

"Shooting street portraits of strangers is a very daunting task. Often when you see a stranger you want to photograph, you find yourself between a rock and a hard place:  you can’t seem to ask them for their photo, yet you know you just have to." -  Danny Santos
[ http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2011/05/how-to-shoot-street-portraits-with-permission-by-danny-santos/ ]


Danny asks for permission to shoot a stranger, it is because he wants to get that unusual look that a person gives. He has a routine or a set of tips to use when confronting a stranger and how to take a portrait of them. Here are few:

1.  Get used to the fear… coz it won’t go away
2. Keep it simple
3. Be honest

to learn more about Danny's tips and style of shooting, Click here
Although this is very different from the style of shooting street photography, this still happens in the streets with strangers. the only difference is Danny asks for permission. 

To sum things up, street portraiture may be an escape from the privacy issues that street photography have. But street portraiture has variations that may not resemble street photography. Some street portraiture has a set up or unnatural scene acting to be candid, and some actually needs the cooperation of the subject as if one must ask permission which is totally opposite from street photography. Street portraiture may be called an escape, but for some photographers, it is merely an alternative.






All images are from Eric Kim's Blog: http://erickimphotography.com/blog

POST 5: Rights as a street photographer

http://www.bjp-online.com

Watching television programs were the only resort to a hard day's work. When the internet was slowly getting popular, episodes of random videos were produced. It was either by amateurs or soon to be movie makers. Nonetheless, they were inspired, they had the motivation and skill to work. But some of them had issues, some were told to acquire permits before filming or taking photographs. But the smart ones stroke back and presented their rights.

(c) Oliver Laurent

In the past few years, street photographers have been encountering problems with the public. One of the known events was the protest of the campaign group in London called 'I', a photographer, Not a terrorist!'. Olivier Laurent wrote the article about the protest of the said campaign group.

"Increasingly, amateur and professional photographers are being prevented by privately employed security guards from taking pictures in public places and semi-public places." .

This was probably one of the most common problems encountered by street photographers. There is another article related to this dilemma. It was also written by Olivier Laurent, entitled : Security guards have no right to prevent street photography," says Home Office .

"More than a year after Home Secretary Theresa May launched a review of the UK's counter-terrorims and security powers, a new set of guidelines have been published for security guards, who, in an increasing number of cases, have been accused of preventing professional photographers from working in public places."

It may be after this launching of the new guidelines for security guards did the number of reports against street photographers increase. If a photographer has to adapt to these new guidelines, he would hide himself from the people and others would suspect this as perversion or voyeurism.
To see these guidelines, Click here [PDF]


One may still experience problems due to the public concerns. But one must know his or her rights. here are some that will help a photographer work in public without any problems with the people.

• When in public spaces where you are lawfully present you have the right to photograph anything that is in plain view. This includes any government property, the police or any federal agencies. Not to mention other persons as well.
• Police officers may not generally confiscate or demand to view your photographs or video without a warrant. They are not allowed to view the photographs or whatever a device may contain unless it has evidence related to a crime .
• Police may not delete your photographs or video under any circumstances.

www.csmonitor.com

To view more of these , visit http://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-photographers

If any problem occurs and a security guard confiscates or attempts to confiscate any device, these rights are useful . Because of these rights , photographers are now more comfortable when out in the public

In conclusion, There will always be issues regarding privacy. If the person photographed doesn't like to be the subject of the composition, then he or she has the rights to say so. These laws, guidelines and rights wouldn't really matter if the photographer doesn't have any respect to the public. Respecting one's personal space is the key to a peaceful photograph. 

Post 4 : Issues with street photography.

www.bjp-online.com

Ever had the experience where the internet was down and  have nothing else to do so an invitation to friends to the mall. And then after the first hour, someone takes out a camera and takes pictures. But then on friend takes a "stolen" shot of another one but this friend gets mad and insists of deleting the photograph. Assuming that everybody has one of those experience , the question was raised.

Of course there are some noticeable and seemingly unnoticeable issues when it comes to photography. Most of these issues are related to privacy. An example would be Voyeurism, according to Google, it means : "a perversion in which a person receives sexual gratification from seeing the genitalia of others or witnessing others' sexual behavior". The definition of voyeurism may seem to be harsh, exaggerated when it is related to street photography.

There are other issues that regards to street photography that doesn't seem to have a violent term. the website: http://everydayaperture.com/law/ stated a few problems and laws in relation to street photography, here are two them.

(c) Eric Kim

1.)  If you want to take my picture, you’ll need to get my permission first
2.) It’s against the law to take photographs of kids on the street

To view more of these, click the link above.

The first issue is somehow correct. It's their face, their eyes, their skin, one has to ask for permission to borrow or to make a copy of it. but there is this vivid memory where a guy commented on an article about invading some one's privacy, the commenter stated that if a person is at the public, therefore no body has rights to be angry when someone else takes a photograph of them.

A lot of people agreed with the commenter.


Thomas Leuthard had an interview about street photography. The Interviewer asked a question, "How do you manage a situation when they feel you are a disturbance?"

" Somehow you are always a disturbance when you are approaching people with your camera. You may be able to pretend to shoot something else. You may can hide in the masses of people. Sometime people really don’t see you, but most often they do." , said Thomas.

Thomas Leuthard's Interview

Disturbance is another issue with street photography and the subject. Imagine an innocent lady drinking coffee outside the coffee shop, and then a photographer comes too close and takes the lady's photograph. wouldn't that be disturbing? The photographer may have ruined the lady's morning.

This article is discussing the issues with street photography. Tips would be very useful if it was included here. Well here is Kai Wong's 50 do's and dont's in street photography.

If the video failed to load, click here

There may be issues about street photography, it's inevitable. But dealing with these issues may be fine with the help of some tips. Maybe, JUST maybe the best tip is to blend in and forget about the issues.

POST 3: Why street photography ?

photo.tuts.com

Questioning a person's point of view of something is sometimes harsh. One may enjoy a different hobby than another but why even ask for reasons on why they are so different ? One has a different perspective than the other, isn't that enough?


So why street photography? There are so many reasons why street photography is unique, why many people prefer this type of photography. here are a few reasons :

• Street photography is Unplanned
• Street photography may or may not involve people
• Street photography doesn’t always have to have a purpose, but each image must aim to say something.

This is from an article about what is street photography, and it also stated why many people enjoy this. To read the article and learn more, click here .

(c) Kai Wong

Now, many people may seem to think black and white when they hear about street photography. It maybe the cause of the strong effect of the colors. But street photographs can be in color, it doesn't have to be black and white.

For a street photographers perspective about "why street photography" , Eric Kim has answered a few. He has 3 question that his teacher taught him and it was called the "3 why principle". as Shown below in BOLD text are his 3 why questions and below each questions in italic are his answers.

1. Why did I take photographs?
"Becaus I enjoyed it" 

2. Why did i enjoy taking photographs?
"Because it forced me to get off the computer, out of the house, and to capture “the beauty in the mundane”. "

3.Why did I strive to capture “the beauty in the mundane”?
" To have others appreciate the small things in their everyday life "

He was very passionate about street photography and also looked for the answer to the question "why street photography?" . Here is the full article about Eric Kim's "why do we shoot street photography?" which includes the 3 why princple.

(c)rdeguzman

Summarizing every information that has been given, It is still hard to answer the question "why street photography?". To some, it has already been answered but to to others who has yet to find the answer, maybe it can only be found when one has looked deeply into the art of street photography. Street photography doesn't have rules or a lot of processing, it is simply Street photographs. The reason why one should go with street photography is maybe as simple as it is satisfying to the one's eyes.

POST 2: Understanding street photography

from:http://www.thephotoargus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/sp1.jpg

Looking for a story ? One that is unique? Outside, on the streets there are tons of stories. Just walking around and viewing the wonders of the world, one can begin making a story. One can observe an object or a random person and think about how they had similar paths to their destination at one point. But preserving this story is sometimes hard to do. One's friend would ask for pictures just for proof that something happened. Then questions arise, How ? Why ? When?

Recently, a post was made about photography and this one is about street photography. Ever wondered what is street photography ? Let this blog post tell you about it.
On the world wide web, there are tons of results about what is street photography. here is one, from wikipedia,  "Street photography is a type of photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings.
Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society. Street photography often tends to be ironic and can be distanced from its subject matter, and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment." .

Though Wikipedia is not a reliable source, it has still provided some information about street photography. There is another one that actually makes sense about defining what street photography is. Eric Kim is a well known street photographer and has his own blog. He stated, "There is not one definition which defines street photography. Depending on who you ask or where you find your information, you will come upon conflicting responses. Some street photographers will say that it is about capturing the emotion and expressions of people, while others may put a higher emphasis on the urban environment.". As expected from Eric , he knows well about what he does best. here is a link to his blog: [ http://erickimphotography.com/blog/ ]

To further asses the question "what is street photography", one must understand what photography is. street photography cannot be defined. There are characteristics on how to tell if the image was categorized as street photography but it doesn't mean that it's how you define street photography. Street photography can only be defined by the photographer and there are too many of them to be asked. But for the people who doesn't practice photography, Street photography is basically telling a story .




Eric Kim: what is street photography