13. What I Learned While Trying Street Photography
And why I will still try to build my street photography skills—even though I don’t really see myself as a street photographer
Five-year ago a social media post kicked off my street photography journey
In the summer of 2018, I had never paid attention to mirrorless cameras, I thought Fuji was a film company, and I didn’t know the term street photography.
All that started to change when I read a short mention of the Fuji X100F in one of Nick Carr’s social media posts. Nick is a location scout who writes about his adventures and the cool places he sees. He doesn’t typically mention camera gear but reading about his experience with his new camera I was immediately intrigued.
Nick wrote:
“The actual camera design was exactly what I wanted. Dedicated manual dials but just as easy to shoot in automatic. Being able to change these settings without looking at screens finally makes me feel like I'm using a camera and not a computer.”
and
“At the end of the day, one of the biggest reasons for buying this camera was that I found myself dreading having to lug my heavy brick of a camera/lens around my neck. If you don't enjoy being a photographer, what's the point?”
I felt like I was in the exact same boat. I was not taking my D300 with me often because of weight and size. Also, I knew how to use it really well but it just wasn’t fun to use anymore. So that August I sold my Nikon digital SLR and got a Fujifilm X100F.
Discovering street photography
In researching the X100F and learning about the camera I saw many people saying how great a camera it was for street photography. I saw that so many times I became intrigued and began to learn more about street photography.
As I learned I also realized that I already admired several street photographers—especially Walker Evans and Vivian Mayer. I also found many videos with advice on how to do street photography and began watching
My photography was mostly devoid of people
And this learning led me to think about my own photography and how devoid it was of people —mostly because I actively avoid having people in the frame. My norm was to find a shot, wait for people to leave the frame then snap the shutter.
At first I thought I did that because people didn’t fit my style of photography. Then over time I began to wonder if I gravitated towards this style of photography so I wouldn’t have to take pictures of strangers.
As I thought about my photography I remembered a few photos I had taken over the past years that did include people. As I went back to them I realized they were passable street photos—but more importantly, some of them were among my favorites.
I realized I should figure out how to include more people in my photos.
Learning how/Trying it out
So I watched a lot of street photography videos: how-to videos, how to set up your camera, how to conquer fear, tips for seeing moments that might make great photos, tips for composing, and on.
…and then I headed out.
At first, I shot while walking through the small uncrowded shopping streets near me. I got a few ok results but it felt odd to be shooting photos there.
Next I tried blocking out a few hours and heading to some more carefully selected locations. Particularly the local museum of modern art and the high-end food mall. Shooting in those locations felt more comfortable, I got some better photos, and I began to train my eye to watch for what was about to unfold.
Takeaways
When I am ready to try more street photography I feel like I now have a bit of a base and know some locations to head back to. But what I really gained from this experience were a few key takeaways.
I am awed by those who do it well
First, I now have a new appreciation for the street photographers of today and of the past. These photographers’ results make it look really easy when it’s actually lots and lots of practice and work.
Getting good at street photography will take many many hours of practice
I’ve been training my eye and shooting urban abstracts for 35 years. To get good at street photography I feel like I have to learn a whole new set of seeing and shooting skills.
Not every location works for me
I can shoot my urban abstracts just about anywhere but for street photography, the location has to feel right. It has to have enough people and stopping and lingering has to be part of the normal flow of the place. Places like museums and market halls worked well for me because they placed people not too far from me while they were engaged in other activities.
Success at street photography requires finding an area and working it for hours.
Street photography does not work for me when I am passing through an area. I need to spend a good amount of time in an area (at least two hours?) I need to get the rhythm of the place to begin to watch for and anticipate what scenes might unfold.
Street photography is hard to do with other people
I normally love shooting with friends or photo groups. But with street photography I found I had to focus. This meant it worked best when I was alone annd concentrating on nothing else.
Summary: Steet photography is not very compatible with my way of shooting
A lot of these takeaways mean that street photography is not compatible with my preferred ways of shooting. I like to walk with friends. I shoot while on the way from one place to another. And often I will take my camera on errrands and discover photos while out.
The one thing drawing me back to street photography is my family
While learning street photography I realized I enjoyed (what I am calling) ‘street photography at home’ (or sometimes I just call it ‘family as art’). Making beautiful or compelling or interesting (unposed) photos of my family and friends.
I have seen some people call this family documentary photography but the ‘documentary’ part takes away from the nature of what I am trying to capture. This video does a good job of capturing the idea and giving some good tips.
I think street photography skills will be helpful as I continue to try to find and capture the mundane—but beautiful—family moments.
So, I will probably find time to keep working on my street photography and hopefully I can then return home and use the same skills to go beyond snapshots.
Have you tried to learn street photography? Why? And what was your experience? Any other thoughts to help me along my journey?
Thanks for reading Random Capture! If it gives you a few moments of enjoyment, please comment, like, subscribe, or share. The endorphins I get when I see any of that happen keeps me writing and photographing.
Warmly,
Josh
I don't really do 'street photography' (in pretty much any sense of the word) but I do like to go out into town and make photo's :) I don't mind to include people but I want them to have a supporting role (so small in the frame, as a silhouette, face not showing etc) instead of being the main subject.
I think closest I get is something like this collection: https://ronaldsmeets.info/album/the-quiet-streets-of-crone/ - it's really more about the actual "streets" ;)
FWIW, I don't agree with those who classify street photography as a subset of "documentary." I know that some street photographers step across the border into documentary work. I definitely have. You walk into a story and there you are, documenting an event transpiring in front of your eyes.
But in my mind, street photography is about capturing a moment in time, devoid of context. Context can certainly enhance one's understanding of the photograph's "meaning" or the photographer's intention, but good street photography can stand on its own, apart from any larger social or political context. Documentary work establishes a time and place and meaning from the outset. Ddocumentary work can certainly incorporate street photography. But on its own, street photography is its own thing.