I dunno, I've always operated on the principle that a closed mind is little better than no mind at all, and the longer I live, the less sure I am of a lot of things, especially what constitutes a pure street picture. The only claim I ever make about my own is that they were taken IN the street.
I still feel there are a few street people who hang out on this forum and who would be interested in checking out this link which is why I posted it here in the first place.
I like your response, it gives me the feeling you are open to discussion and I won't find myself stuck in an endless loop with a poster who can't see the forest through the trees.. because they're his trees.
Street photography, perhaps due to it's overall lack of popularity, hasn't garnered the same following and has been allowed to languish by the road side without the attention it deserves. I've had people show me a portfolio full of road shops and tell me this is his street photography. I had more than several show me a book for of closely cropped 'face' shots, mostly showing old or defective individuals in one way or the other. And all types of variations you can dream up. Are they all right or all wrong?
I hesitate to book street photography workshops because each incoming student seems to have a different take on the subject. For instance. does the shot need show an actual human to qualify as having a subject? Others say they must be candid. I don't like "rules" when trying to work in a creative mindset. After all, the best works I've seen or by those who push the rules and it's in the 'crossing of the line' that indeed makes them special.
When someone says street photography, for some reason I personally go back to my old style investigative type photography which reveals life beneath the surface. So who's right?
In short, I don't care who is right and I'd prefer no one is. That would only result in more copycats and more people out there making rules.
I come to liken Landscape and Street in almost the same way. We take landscapes to show the beauty (even in violence) and interactions with nature (to include seasons, wind, light, and rain). Street I think is much the same except the interactions 'add' people to the mix. Their emotions, reactions, interactions and even their destinies.
And I find many if not most photographers are frauds. After leaving nearly 25 years in Asia I know just enough to truly understand how little I know. Yet, I can't count the times I've seen some show up, write down some information (they usually buy 3-4 photo books from photographers just like them), take pictures of every beggar, poor person, old looking person, or people living differently than they're used to themselves. Now they're experts! They treat and worse think about these people the way you would a subject in a zoo.
The long neck Karen's are an example of the exotic look which sells photographs. The photographer sits on a bus for 6-7 hours, gets out and takes pictures for 2 hours, and then heads back to their comfortable hotel room where they'll talk about the beautiful and exotic.. but they'll never mention (because they didn't take the time to find out) that these women are deformed from the time of birth to serve in these little dog and pony shows. Painful times not unlike the Japanese women of the past being made to break their feet to fit into shoes so "society" doesn't reject them and they'll be suitable for marriage. And when their young attractive looks wear thin they'll be shunned and made to live a very pitiful life as a deformed and un-liked member of society. How come I've never read about that? Yet I know it to be true because I don't even unpack my camera until I've been there a few weeks.
Do the photographers shooting pictures of elephants know how these beasts are treated just to be part of the show? Do they know the beggars dragging themselves through the tepid streets (whom they stopped and gave a few baht) in truth work for the local mafia who collects most of their money leaving them without enough even for basic foods? It's true, the local Thai mafia 'manage' these bevggars as a type of agent. And normal healthy children are often taken in by the mafia to work scams and failing at that they become beggars themselves. A cute 4-5 year old realizes X number of baht per evening, but by 8-9 society doesn't feel as generous towards their plight.. So the mafia gives them one. A deformed arm, face, legs, whatever new sick thing they can do to helps them bring in more money so the deformity is provided free of charge.
Street photography is about revealing truth. Sometimes beautiful, comical, and other types of truth.
