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