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Street photography is an approach to photography rather than a location, although the streets are the usual place that it happens.

“When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn’t believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

Alternatively it is refered to as no rules photography. The plethera of equipment (tripods, lenses,filters,lights etc etc) associated with “serious” photography is left at home, or better still in the camera store. Its just too heavy and bulky to cart around, takes way too long to set up and by the time it is set up the moment is gone.
Street photography is shooting from the hip.

Likewise the rules of photograph, the f stops, the shutter speeds, the rule of thirds etc etc are left in their dust jackets on Amazon shelves. By the time all the technical considerations are taken into account, the birdy is in another country.
Thank Canon, Nikon, Fuji et al for point & shoots.

It is just the camera and the photographer with their enthusiasm, intuition and open mind.

Street photography can be and often is: Out of focus; a tilted horizon; a soft focus.

Street photographers are optimists, for them the glass is always half full. They go out on a photo shoot with no plan in mind secure in the knowledge that this wide world of ours will provide. A subject, a situation, a scene will present itself all they have to have is the presence of mind to capture it when it does.

Street photography can be and often is: Odd things in the foreground; no central focus; odd crops.

Street photographers see the usual, the every day with fresh eyes. The reflection in a rain puddle, the colours in a crowd, the balance of a negative space. Their minds are open to all the stimuli that they see and they curse the days when they leave their camera at home.

Street photography can be and often is: very busy; a tilted perspective; upside down.

Street photographers are not only on the streets, they are at weddings,school concerts, next to you on the train. They look a lot like tourists, its their favourite cover but they are one without the big flash. It was left at home, the available light will do.

Street photography can be and often is: under exposed; blurred; suffering from vertigo.

Street photography is, what all photography is, a snap shot.
What shines through is the photographer, his/her interpretation of the scene, what they see in the situation, their reaction to the stimuli, the art they see in the every day.
Technicians take technically correct and often pretty pictures.
Visual artists, whatever their medium, create images that stimulate the mind, the heart and validate the human condition in all its guises. Because, after all, pretty is in the eye of the beholder and consequently very subjective, whereas art speaks to all who are prepared to listen.

Henry Bateman is an artist/photographer who finds his inspiration on the streets he wanders. His work can be seen at http://www.pissedpoet.com and this article with pictures at http://www.pissedpoet.com/street_photo.html

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In the zone is a term used by street photographers when they are tuned into their surroundings and the pictures are coming easily.

It isn’t unique to street photography, it can happen in any field of endeavour. You are in the zone when you are so engrossed in an activity that space and time seem to stand still. What seems like minutes to you can be hours in the real world. It is that place where you are doing rather than thinking about doing, there is no thought about the how, it is just happening.

Intuition is in the driver’s seat, training, knowledge, experience and rational thought are at the back of the bus. More than likely playing strip poker or engaged in some other childish pursuit.

It is the street photographer’s nirvana. They are one with the street. They are part of and at the same time removed from the activity that is happening. They are the objective viewer of the dance they are dancing. Their presence is integral to the action and accepted by the other participants without influencing the proceedings. There are no photo faces; it’s almost as if the photographer is invisible.

Canadian street photographer John Brownlow talks about going blank, he surveys the scene through his camera until he goes blank and that is when he presses the shutter.

With painting, writing or gaming it can last for considerable amounts of time, with street photography it tends to be fleeting but can happen several times in a shoot. It is the dynamic of the street, the ever changing kaleidoscope of activity, and the nature of photography, the captured moment in time, that make it so.

But it is in those moments that the inspirational pics happen. Although this is not apparent until later, when looking through the results of your walk, because rational thought was losing their shirt at the back of the bus.

When a street photographer takes their camera for a walk, being in the zone is their destination.

Henry bateman is an artist/photographer who finds his inspiration in the streets he wanders. His work can be seen at http://www.pissedpoet.com and this article with pictures at http://www.pissedpoet.com/zone.html

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