Is it just me
Written by duckrabbitor has street photography gone supernova?
Author — duckrabbit
duckrabbit is a production company formed by radio producer/journalist Benjamin Chesterton and photographer David White. We specialize in digital storytelling.
Discussion (12 Comments)
If you are talking about it being a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova, then the answer is yes. It is now officially HIP to shoot street photography.
Bang on Christopher
What’s Duckrabbit trying to do now- a FOX News on street photography? Wow, I just caught up with the C Morris response(s) on your July 4 post! Being on the front line, I guess I can understand why one would be pretty defensive and justifiably emotional about said topic- people do risk and lose their lives doing it. Personally, I think I (and I would hope most) took the post as it was meant to be- an observation that focus needed to be kept in front the lens, and that things could very well degenerate into a “reality show” (instead of photojournalism) when that focus shifted elsewhere. If anything, I view this blog as more of a Democracy Now!than a FOX News.
As for street photography- had no idea of its new found stellar status, if so, it will probably reach its zenith come the Vivian Maier documentary, before once again residing to its everyday, mundane curbside in the “art world.”
Stan,
from my heart, your comment is very much appreciated.
I think you and most people knew exactly what I was trying to say. Its the same thing I always say. Lets keep (as much as possible) the most important story in the frame.
There definitely seems to be a renaissance in interest around Street Photography, both from a viewer/practitioner perspective. The publication ‘Street Photography Now’ from last year, the Vivian Maier story, the London Street Photography Festival, the rise in the profile of iN PUBLiC, the release of the Fuji x100 are all welcome shots in the arm. It surely won’t be long before we have a Gary Winogrand et al retrospective at one of the museums here in London (hope so anyway).
Ref the July 4th post, I was surprised by Christopher Anderson in so much that he was openly criticizing you whilst simultaneously admitting that he hadn’t read the posts properly.
Thanks for your comment Craig. How about Street Photography for the Tate?
We have to remember Christopher lost a friend. I should/could/would of just let the argument go.
Benjamin
I got involved in a current thread over the last few days on a well-known photo forum, entitled:
‘Have you ever been called a SICKO doing street photography?’
A respondent posted an image of a seriously distressed woman, with the following comment
“I happened upon a young lady in the street who was behaving very strangely. So I took her picture. She was very upset about it so I took another…the latter was the better shot.”
In response to the dismay this apparently callous behaviour and distressing image elicited from other commentators, the photographer replied with (amongst other remarks):
“I didn’t cause her to be there or do whatever she did to get there. She was simply there and I took the shot. My camera had the effect of exaggerating her reaction.”
and
“Someone wailing and weaving through traffic in a full blown crack high is an anomaly to me and society in general. Anomolies are worth capturing in my view. Her reaction to my camera was exaggerated based on her reality at the time…”
This type of exploitative approach to photographing people is quite common in my experience. And I find it distressing. The assumption that the individual was on a crack high rather pissed me off, having worked with people with disabilities for many many years I’m aware that there are many other causes of strange behaviour and one should be mindful of that.
So yes I think there is an explosion of interst in ‘street’ photography. But sadly with some rare exceptions its all about acquisition, online back pats and bragging rights. Very little of the vast heap of stuff generated seems concerned with the humanity being confronted, the story behind the subject, nor the ethical implications of one’s actions.
Too much of this flood of work is about the stuff going on in front of the lens and shows precious little evidence of very much going on behind the lens (say about 6 inches back).
And then there is the luscious and beautifully fertile oasis that one comes across from time to time, Citysnaps is one such site. Check this out:
http://www.citysnaps.net/
The work of Brad (Evans) is insightful and often compellingly beautiful, and he seems like a committed and humane individual who loves both art and people, but not in that order. And it shows. Stuff to aspire to.
Great comment John, thanks for sharing.
I wrote something I think in xmas of 2009 that 2010 and 2011 were going to be great years for street, but I guess I’m a bit of an insider in the genre. It has definitively gone very big, but I find that a lot of it has been driven by the Street Photography Now book, which has left some big gaps in terms of photographers and approaches to consider. 85% of street photography is candid and apersonal (lots of people, but no relation to them) by nature. It simply is what diferentiates most street photography from photojournalism or documentary photography, although every now and then you’ll get the people who push the boundaries of the genre while still being somewhat comfortably within it (for example, all these google street view projects are finely tuned cocktails of street, documentary and art to me).
Another way to put it is “why has street-photography been off the radar for so long ?”. And also: “is the question of a photography genre being hype (or not) very relevant ?”.
I believe the current status of SP is very due to the fact that it now has an organized network, relays and a dedicated ecosystem. And by the way the discovery of Vivian Maier’s work owes a lot to it.
As for “being concerned with the humanity being the lens” (to quote John) I don’t think empathy necessarily makes great pictures. There is few of that in Winogrand’s work for example.
Good comment thank Jacques. So another way of looking at it is that social networks have helped a re-birth of street photograpy or just put people together.