Good day fellow street photographers. Every few weeks I am bringing up a question just for general interest and amusement discussion between us.

 

Been thinking for a while for this one but its exactly what it says. Its what do you do to get your pictures. Do you walk slowly till you become a boring part of the scene that no one pays attention to. Do you walk long distances trying to cover as much space as possible. Do you avoid confrontation or don't care about it. And so on ...

 

Its not about what you photograph, its what do you do to get the photo.

Hi Abdulmuhsen,

interesting question (so far all the questions you post about Street photography).

I love street photographs and I had to take a distance since you posted this, I wanted to think before answering and perhaps I am ready to tell you now.

I shoot in the streets for many years, either as a photojournalist in the past,

or as an amateur at present. I have to point out here that I am nearly 17 years away from the front line of photojournalism, now shooting only for pleasure.

As many other photographers, I mostly shoot at my comfort zone where I know the rules. Usually walking around the city at a slow pace looking around, probably taking a coffee, trying to "empty" the charge from other thoughts.

I don't shoot straight away, I try to feel the "mood" of the day first.

In my experience, my best shots were taken when I wasn't thinking about anything. Not even what is the subject. This is a bit difficult to explain, I can only compare it to the automatic reaction of a driver who needs to brake. You don't think about breaking, it comes naturally when you feel a danger.

Now this, maybe experience, I dare say a state of mind, is not there every time, I have to be in a "good day" to achieve it and only if I am inside my comfort zone. Something triggers my senses, something disturbs me and the shooting is automatic.

About confrontation, I had many of them when shooting demonstrations or sports, I was beaten some times by angry football fans and had many quarrels with the police and films ceased, but I don't recall having any confrontations in all my years of shooting street subjects. Usually, a smile smooths everything and in the rare cases someone sees my intentions and gives me the message, I respect it and don't shoot.

My experiences in Europe and Turkey are pretty much the same after getting accustomed for some time.

I presume it would be different to shoot in countries with other cultures like yours so I would be interested to know how you shoot in your country.

For me, Street shooting is a study of social behaviour, apart from been a creative photographic experience and I truly enjoy it much more than shooting any other subject.

Gianni

 

Nice you brought this out, since everybody is different this should bring many different approaches to the table.

 

My approach is to walk, to walk a lot. I always liked to walk since I was a kid so, since I live in a huge city (London) I usually take public transport to reach an area which I think that could give me some potential and walk for hours around it, but at my own pace, which usually is much slower than the rest of the people. I'm not constantly walking though, sometimes I stop a specific place and wait for something. If I find myself moving inside a crowd then I try to move to some of the neighbouring areas/streets, crowds in my opining rarely give a nice street shot unless you can play with the light... and in England "playing with the light" is a luxury as most of the time it's pretty dull. When walking at a slower pace than the rest of the people and/or staying in some area for while people usually don't pay attention to you.

 

Then, if I find a situation that I think has some potential then I try to shoot it from different angles and distances. Since I don't "hit and go" this sometimes leads to them noticing me, although in the 2 years that I've been improving my "street shooting" it just lead me to just one confrontation. I don't like head shots so most of the time people just don't care what I'm doing.

 

Getting a bit deeper into the "comfort zone" topic that Gianni Giatillis pointed out, I also noticed that during last months I've been shooting around similar areas and same themes. So now I try to change the area I go to see what I can get... crowds give the opportunity to get closer to the people and find something interesting so sometimes I try it too, but generally I try to put myself away of the main stream of people.

 

Recently I spent a bit more than two weeks in Rio de Janeiro, a city in a complete different country to England but with a culture that wasn't too different of mine. The first 3 days I walked around the city without any camera to get used to the streets and the people (the fact I also speak Portuguese helped a lot). Must admit that was really challenging to get in some areas but it helped me to see things in a different way, changing the approach a little bit and I'm still experimenting with it.

I asked the question and I never had a prepared answer. What fun would it be if I had everything prepared ahead of time.

 

Thanks Gianni and Alonso for your posts. My turn now.

 

Gianni I do understand what you mean by taking a shot without thinking about it. Thats how I take most of my shots. Something feels right then click it. It has to do with how the subconscious analyzes stuff. Its like shopping for a sofa. You can see and think of its size and colour, consciously you can only handle a few variables. Then you walk into another shop and you see something and it just feels right, thats you subconscious, it can do more calculations than your conscious level can.

 

Or so I've been told and read a few years ago.

 

Anyway. I'm more of an introversive personality. I tend to be quiet and reserved, most of the time. I avoid conflicts. I'd rather meld and disappear. If I am planning on shooting an area I'll spend hours walking around slowly. I'll shoot through the viewfinder and from the hip. I do have to admit that a few months ago my approach has changed somewhat and its due to a camera.

 

For a few decades I've been a Nikonian. My current Nikon is D800 and for street it draws too much attention if you want to get close and remain hidden at the same time. Every time I press the shutter its like the camera shouting "taking pictures." End of the day my neck and shoulder hurt. I even contemplated using teles to avoid detection, to just capture moments unobtrusively.

 

So I stumbled across X100s. I loved the quiet mode. I can't hear a shutter. I'm more bolder now. I'd walk up to my targets, click and move away, they haven't even noticed me. I'm literally 2-3 feet away. If I get spotted a quick thank you, nod of the head and I'm done. Sometimes I show them the picture and ask if they want me to email it to them.

 

Once I'm back home I need to upload some shots from the local markets and souks. I've never had issues there but I've noticed a general trend where people tend to be less nicer the larger the city gets.

I am a hunter - enough said :-) .

Mind if I post this here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62JZqs1iHUM

 

Found that short video recently I think that could fit the thread.

 

ps: probably we should have a kind of "sticky" thread in which we could share videos, interviews and things like that...?

Thanks Alonso for the clip. Very interesting and useful. I do walk around the streets on lookout. But, I see myself has a connector. For that moment the connection made between me, camera and subject. It could be a person or a building etc.

 

Interesting...me it's a patient wanderer with good shoes :) I don't like that much to point and shoot, I prefer to wait and see what happen, especially when I "have" a good background, I don't like at all photographs not having a decent background. Cheers.

Nothing beats a good walk. Finding a good background sure helps but I might be a little too impatient, I can only wait an hour or two ..

Hi once again, me I can walk all day but when I "find" a good place I wait and then I wait and then I wait again... :)

I am a slow walker and search for personal interactions means communications. I think a good street scene can be captured if i am as the photographer be a part of it. I feel that when i am visible and interact people get used to me as the big man with the huge camera and after a certain time they do not recognize me as a camera man. So i feel being together will help me to get closer to the people and to have a better sneak into their live. For capturing true emotions and feelings i think it is necessary to do so. Especially for portraiture.

I must say that I can point out two approaches: the cautious and the direct one. I love to be cautious and get no attention from the people at the streets, but I also love to get really close to my subjects, and obviously, I do get noticed in a great percentage of times, so I need to ask permission, or just smile, or gently nod my head to thank the people I’ve just photographed. Anyhow, the best shots for me are when I can scout, take my time, get comfortable on the environment, and get really close yet not noticed.