STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

(Gray, 2019)

In our lesson on visual thinking we were told that we will be focusing on street photography and I wanted to know more about it. Personally, I never did street photography or possibly I did and didn’t realise I was. When I hear the words ‘street photography’ the first thing that pops into my head are teenagers and skateboards. I also wrote down skatepark as a note and idea to work on. But what is street photography about and how do you do it?

Street photography is, as Elizabeth Gray (2019) describes it, one of the hardest types of photography. It’s when a photo shows everyday life and it doesn’t only happen in the street. But this is not just a point and shoot situation, Gray says that even street photography has sort of guidelines. Some points she mentions to do in street photography are for example shoot people from the back, shoot from a distance, capture silhouettes, learn how to approach people, etc.

(Kim, 2012)

Another article I stumbled on was of the photographer Eric Kim, who I became fond of when I researched street photography. He says “[t]he most important thing in street photography is to capture emotion, humanity and soul.” (Kim n.d.) These things can’t only be captured when you have people in a photo because I think even a building or object can show emotion and have a soul. Kim suggests similar things as Gray like the decisive moment and elements.

In conclusion I think street photography is a very open subject to play with. You do not have a limit on subjects and location. I think everyone can create their own thing in street photography and truly express themselves.

Citations:

Gray, E. (2019). Complete Guide to Street Photography for Beginners. [online] Photographylife.com. Available at: https://photographylife.com/what-is-street-photography#do-street-photos-need-people [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].

Kim, E. (n.d.). The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide for Street Photography. [online] ERIC KIM. Available at: https://erickimphotography.com/blog/the-ultimate-beginners-guide-for-street-photography/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].

Image Citation:

Gray, E. (2019). Corporate Boarder. [image] Available at: https://photographybyelizabethgray.com/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].

Kim, E. (2012). Tokyo. [image] Available at: https://erickimphotography.com/blog/the-ultimate-beginners-guide-for-street-photography/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].