Democratic Street Photography
A friend forwarded the following article about the seemingly diminishing of street photography:
http://csmonitor.com/2005/0708/p12s01-alar.html
While it's true that galleries, museums and private collectors turn their back to SP, it's also undeniable that street photography, as digital imaging technology evolves, is becoming a more and more democratic form of photography. Seriously, who needs a strobe, a reflector or a model to do SP? All you need is one camera, one lens, or heck, forget about it, one cell phone to take street photos.
"There are a lot of young people [who] really want to do street photography," she says. Could the pendulum swing back to embrace the street ethos? "I'd like to think so," says Einzig. "I think people are hungry to feel that connection."
http://csmonitor.com/2005/0708/p12s01-alar.html
While it's true that galleries, museums and private collectors turn their back to SP, it's also undeniable that street photography, as digital imaging technology evolves, is becoming a more and more democratic form of photography. Seriously, who needs a strobe, a reflector or a model to do SP? All you need is one camera, one lens, or heck, forget about it, one cell phone to take street photos.
"There are a lot of young people [who] really want to do street photography," she says. Could the pendulum swing back to embrace the street ethos? "I'd like to think so," says Einzig. "I think people are hungry to feel that connection."
posted by Ken (The Runcible) at 8:27 AM
11 Comments:
"it was so uncool to do anything like street photography."
that's true, there is no any other type of photography like ST, it is so hard to get a good shoot.
In the future, I will shoot few and few pictures of ST, but I believe I will keep this trandition for testing camera, or for sometimes I really need release my energy.
"Anyon said...
...but I believe I will keep this trandition for testing camera..."
kick~~man, street photo is still on the top of my list. It's the way through which I learn photography--it may not be the best path though. It's a little sad to see sp is diminishing, 'cause I really think sp is in the essence of photography.
Just like how contemporary art migrated from classic fine art.
Photographers are getting conceptualized. Like those painters, who the hell is still using paint brush and "oil color on canvas"?
Well, we gotta wait and see... we can either choose to be old-school or avant-garde. Let's worry about that later, haha, and as what I heard " 属于美术最美好的时光无疑是过去了, 但是属于人类的美好时光才刚刚开始"
heh... well said nomap.
I don't know if one can still be avant-garde in photography - somehow Andy Grundberg had convinced me all genre of photography have been exhausted, all we're doing and going to do photographically have already been done by someone else - bleak picture but may very well be realistic.
But, like a bottle of fine wine, good photos only get better while days go by. That's our way of treasuring the moments that will never come back. Instead of creating art, I am more into making a personal journal through my camera.
Bingo, I second Ken - make the photography personalized.
To me, camera is just a equipment of selective memory. Actually I don't care what genre of photography I am in and which one is dying or which one is booming. I record what I see and want to see again. :)
I am not giving up, just fading out. Actually, during the summer I shoot SP every day after school for at lest 1 hour. But you know, the whole summer effort maybe only bring no more than 5 striking shoots to me.
5 shots a year, after 20 years you can have a huge retrospective show of 100 striking images, and you're only in your mid 40's... :-)
come on! who can keep the passion of SP for more than 20 years? I guess only Garry Winogrand can.
Let me ask Anyon a question first. You said you are going to take fewer and fewer SP shots. Then what topic(s) or style(s) are you working on now?
For me, SP accommodates such a wide area of topics and styles that it actually becomes "open topics and free of styles". Anything you shoot in the city, as long as it is not in the wild, is called SP.
Now, let me narrow the topics of SP down a litte bit. I restrict it to shoot people on the streets. This is what I am interested the most so far. The ability to find an interesting mode and to frame such an moment in an eye-catching manner have nothing to do with the digital technology. Even with such an ability, without the help of 天时,地利, no good shot is possible. So, I don't feel any threat for SP even people are now using cellphone to shoot.
A mindless shooter only gets meanlingless shots.
Quote "A mindless shooter only gets meanlingless shots." Definitely!
Back to the topic, the style. My point is that you can't develop a style if it is not in your blood. So do what YOU intend to do. I hope I can shoot 'mixed' objects: some you called SP, some portraits, some landscape, some townscape, and some macro maybe, but for the style, I will follow my heart. I don't want to build a 'personal style' and make it a label stuck on me all the time.
Heard, heard! No label, no rules. Be a schizophreniac! :-)
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