But I don´t know, maybe there are problems with the genre today - never was something I did, always too timid and aware of not being the fleetest foot in the park. But today, I guess that the 'model' reactions would be more aggressive (defensive?) too and I can´t say I´d blame them for maybe taking a swing at the photographer. It´s hard to imagine anyone being naïve enough today to imagine the intentions are good: at least presumptuous and possibly exploitative are thoughts that would cross my mind.
There may be some form of it that´s sympathetic - hard for me to think of any just now, Arbus? (just a joke - ignore) and I doubt that I´d really put HC-B into that classification either, nor Ronis, Doisneau - any of those political activists. In fact, it might be even worse an offence presenting the face of kinship... But, whether I really agree with their motivation, I certainly applaud their skills! And God, it must have been boring as hell sometimes just walking the streets looking for a political statement to happen!
Rob C
Rob, I'd certainly agree with Russell about the joy of street photography. There's nothing boring about it, though you spend an awful lot of time on the street for the very, very few really good shots you end up with.
But if you do it right you don't really need fleet feet.
First of all, at least 90 or 95 percent of the people I shoot on the street never know they were photographed. Take a look at the Street section of my web and you'll see what I mean. There are a lot of street shots in some of the other sections too, and it's pretty much the same thing. It's not that I'm being sneaky when I shoot these people. I just raise the camera and shoot. The situation presents itself immediately and there's no time to dawdle. That's one reason why I keep talking about the need for a photographer to recognize a situation and its geometry intuitively. For a street photographer especially, there's no time to check with the rules of composition.
The other thing that keeps you from needing fleet feet is your attitude. You absolutely
must have a positive attitude toward the people around you. They can feel it. You smile a lot. Sometimes, if someone sees me shoot, I smile and show him the picture. You can do that with digital and it's a big help. Another thing I often do is get an email address and email a copy to the subject. That makes the whole thing a joint effort.
Finally, if you shoot in the right places you don't need to worry at all about fleet feet. I love St. George street in St. Augustine, Florida. Everybody's on vacation and most people are carrying cameras and snapping away. Same thing with Epcot. If you want to learn street photography those are the places to start.
If you're on a public right of way and someone takes a swing at you, call a cop. You have every right to shoot a picture in a place like that. People who are in public places can have no expectation of privacy. I'm not suggesting pushing that idea and becoming obnoxious because of it. That runs counter to everything I said earlier, but don't take harassment lying down either.
I'd also agree with Russell that the vast majority of street photography is sympathetic. Sure, HCB had socialist leanings -- along with what perhaps was a majority of his peers -- but the only place I see that reflected in his pictures is in his shots of the Popular Front. Most of his work was apolitical, as is the work of most street photographers. As I've said before, a good street shot tells a story -- possibly not a story we can understand, but it's always clear there's a story there. That's what street photography is after.
