POST 8 : Problems with street photography

uncyclopedia.wikia.com

People often say, "The past is the past" or "Forget the past" but they don't realize how many things the past can teach for a better future or a more relaxed present. As a photographer, the past is the ultimate guide in getting a great photo. A scene repeats itself , a bird or an insect will always pass by a certain area in intervals. The past is an important tool for the future.

Garry Winogrand [ boerner.net]

The same aspect goes for determining problems with photography, particularly street photography. The world was once walked by a great man named Garry Winogrand, who is well known in taking street photographs. Without him, street photographers today wouldn't notice how offensive or misused.

The article written by Sean O'hagan which is entitled " Why street photography is facing a moment of truth" . The article sort of compared the street photography in the 60's until the 70's and street photography in the modern times . The article considered surveillance as a type of street photography as it captures the moments happening on the streets or alleys and giving people less privacy. BUT from the past blog posts, mentioned there are some rights that says that this surveillance is not suppose to be an issue. It states that a photographer may photograph anything at anytime as long as it is public including people.

"Today, photography – and street photography in particular – is a contested sphere in which all our collective anxieties converge: terrorism, paedophilia, intrusion, surveillance. We insist on the right to privacy and, simultaneously, snap anything and everyone we see and everything we do – in public and in private – on mobile phones and digital cameras." - Sean O'hagan , Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com

In the article, there is a scene mentioned where the Home office minister responded to a query from a photographer. The minister thoroughly explained how these surveillance works and also that it is not the people that they are watching but instead they are looking over the local officers and such. Here is a part from the response from The Home office minister:

"It is for the Chief Constable to ensure that officers and police community support officers are acting appropriately with regards to photography in public places, and any queries regarding this should be addressed to the Chief Constable"


The article has a lot of information about these kind of facts. It gives the reader both positive and negative influences regarding street photography. If you want to read more about Sean Hagan's article, here is The Link

by Gary Winogrand

When talking about problems with street photography, It is not only the act of taking pictures of the public for a living but it is also related to the government installing CCTV cameras all over the place. Both examples may cause disturbance and uncomfortable reactions because the public knows that there is someone watching them and that would not be acceptable at some point. These things are not really the problem, but sometimes it is how the public react to this kind of practice. As a few may say, "It is only a problem when somebody makes a problem out of it".