Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Mjollnir on January 23, 2013, 09:25:48 am

Title: 1st attempt at street photography ever. Be gentle
Post by: Mjollnir on January 23, 2013, 09:25:48 am
My first street shot, taken some time ago, at the Hollywood Farmer's Market on Ivar.  One of only two I've ever taken, which is going to change, since I live in Hollywood, on Hollywood Blvd., and can't always get out to the Owens Valley, Yosemite, etc...

Processed from a .jpg from an old Panny FS7.  Man, did I love that camera.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8233/8408607170_54ed9472b0_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87368247@N00/8408607170/)
Hollywood Farmer's Market, Brother & Sister (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87368247@N00/8408607170/) by tanngrisnir3 (http://www.flickr.com/people/87368247@N00/), on Flickr
Title: Re: 1st attempt at street photography ever. Be gentle
Post by: RSL on January 23, 2013, 09:52:31 am
It's a really cute shot, No Real Name Given. It tells a story, which makes it documentary, and in this case quite good documentary. The thing that would make it a street shot would be a sense of ambiguity. Keep shooting, but more importantly get your hands on some books of photographs by the masters of street, people like Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau, Ronis, Brassaï, Erwitt, Riboud, Frank, Friedlander, etc., and study them. I'm not suggesting you try to copy what these they've done, that's impossible, but absorbing their work will give you a sense of what makes a street photograph different from a snapshot or reportage. I suspect that if you keep working at this you'll find it's more enjoyable than anything else you can do with a camera.
Title: Re: 1st attempt at street photography ever. Be gentle
Post by: Mjollnir on January 23, 2013, 05:48:02 pm
It's a really cute shot, No Real Name Given. It tells a story, which makes it documentary, and in this case quite good documentary. The thing that would make it a street shot would be a sense of ambiguity. Keep shooting, but more importantly get your hands on some books of photographs by the masters of street, people like Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau, Ronis, Brassaï, Erwitt, Riboud, Frank, Friedlander, etc., and study them. I'm not suggesting you try to copy what these they've done, that's impossible, but absorbing their work will give you a sense of what makes a street photograph different from a snapshot or reportage. I suspect that if you keep working at this you'll find it's more enjoyable than anything else you can do with a camera.

Thanks!  I was pleased with the random luck that the bagel matched the shoes, but you're right; it's not really street photography in the sense of those luminaries you mentioned.

It's more like 'photograph taken while around a lot of people who happened to be on the street'.