Interesting take on street photography

Looking at census data from the 13 years to 2012, Houston has a much higher crime rate than New York City. The idea of New York as a dangerous city comes from the 80s and early 90s. It really isn't a dangerous place these days.

shaylou said:
Don't believe everything you read especially if it's over 7 years out of date. Trust me, New York is a lot different then Houston.
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Said the man who has apparently not been to New York.

Anyway, let's go back to the topic; I think I saw it over there somewhere in the distance. :pompous:
 
shaylou said:
I wouldn't try it without someone who knew the place. It's too big to just wonder around not to mention dangerous.
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That's the exact opposite of what I've heard from every single person I've spoken to who's been there in the last 10 years.

Hopefully next week I'll be booking my flights for a 3 week US trip in November, starting with a week in New York on my own with cameras. Damn, hope I make it through alive!
 
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Jayst84 said:
I assume he was meaning, travel through the South (heading east) and up the East Coast to NYC. Then head west and travel through the Midwest, etc back to Houston.



People's perceptions are funny things aren't they?

Thanks that is what i ment,travelling thought the south (y)
http://biSPAM/1rDa1B6
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Jayst84 said:
Looking at census data from the 13 years to 2012, Houston has a much higher crime rate than New York City. The idea of New York as a dangerous city comes from the 80s and early 90s. It really isn't a dangerous place these days.



Said the man who has apparently not been to New York.

Anyway, let's go back to the topic; I think I saw it over there somewhere in the distance. :pompous:
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Said the man that doesn't even live in the country and doesn't realize I have family from there. Why do you need to be such a smart ass?:bat:
 
He probably has his camera on auto. Seriously, I don't see how doing that every day for a billion years would make you much better as a photographer. Maybe it would. Seems to be putting more emphasis on quantity than quality in terms of both the pictures and the supposed relationships he's forging.

Strikes me as some sort of rich or middle class kid slumming it for a year or so. Shame for the people who need to put up with him creeping around and pestering them, but, then, I'm possibly anti-social.
 
shaylou said:
Said the man that doesn't even live in the country and doesn't realize I have family from there. Why do you need to be such a smart ass?:bat:
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I'm not, I'm basing opinion on facts. You seem to be basing yours on hearsay and conjecture.

I've been to New York (albeit briefly), you apparently haven't. What's your point?
 
Gortch said:
He probably has his camera on auto. Seriously, I don't see how doing that every day for a billion years would make you much better as a photographer. Maybe it would. Seems to be putting more emphasis on quantity than quality in terms of both the pictures and the supposed relationships he's forging.

Strikes me as some sort of rich or middle class kid slumming it for a year or so. Shame for the people who need to put up with him creeping around and pestering them, but, then, I'm possibly anti-social.
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Sorry but if your so anti-social,why are you even bothering to join an forum :confused:
 
Gortch said:
He probably has his camera on auto. Seriously, I don't see how doing that every day for a billion years would make you much better as a photographer. Maybe it would. Seems to be putting more emphasis on quantity than quality in terms of both the pictures and the supposed relationships he's forging.

Strikes me as some sort of rich or middle class kid slumming it for a year or so. Shame for the people who need to put up with him creeping around and pestering them, but, then, I'm possibly anti-social.
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Oh dear, where on earth did you dream that one up. Pure conjecture at it's best. Probably best if you called for a taxi......
 
Jayst84 said:
I'm not, I'm basing opinion on facts. You seem to be basing yours on hearsay and conjecture.

I've been to New York (albeit briefly), you apparently haven't. What's your point?
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I said my point. Your being a smart ass . What part of that do you not understand?

I live in a big city and always have for 48 years. I know where to go and where not to go in order to be safe here. I would not know that in NY and getting lost in a big city in the U.S with expensive equipment on you could turn bad very fast.

I cannot believe I'm debating this point with the person that doesn't even live in the country.

Have a great day...


Sent from my iPhone using Talk Photography Forums
 
@Jayst84 right I have been to NY and ending up on wrong train to wrong part of town with lots of bad looking people around. Being a small guy and hands full with luggage nothing happened.

Also been to houston and thought it had some nice places to shoot.

In other words I'm with the smartass.

@shaylou every single place on the planet has its bad areas but in mainstay NY you are pretty safe. I would say your more likely to get robbed in london than NY. 10x more police on the streets.
 
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surely if hes interacting with the subjects on the street, its not street photography? Getting someone to pose on the street, is definitely not street photography.
 
Carlh said:
surely if hes interacting with the subjects on the street, its not street photography? Getting someone to pose on the street, is definitely not street photography.
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I'd guess it would be called street portraiture but again for me if you go that route I'd expect more in the way of interesting poses, compositions and lighting than I see from his work.
 
Carlh said:
surely if hes interacting with the subjects on the street, its not street photography? Getting someone to pose on the street, is definitely not street photography.
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I think street photographer is used in an lose term,in that when your outside on the street with your camera and the subject is of people most people call it street photographer :)
 
simonblue said:
Sorry but if your so anti-social,why are you even bothering to join an forum :confused:
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Don't be sorry. If you aren't really sorry which I guess you aren't, why say you are?

Where in the anti-social instruction booklet does it say we shouldn't join forums? And where in my post did I say I was "so" anti-social? Nowhere? So every facet of your comment in terms of substance was based on delusions? Well, glad we cleared that up.
 
Jayst84 said:
/sigh

No worries Shayne. I was just pointing out a few facts to other people who may be reading your post so they weren't misinformed. (y)
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Yeah facts! The guy who Googled an artical and passed through is all about the facts. I'm glad you could clear up all the missleading things the guy that has lived here for almost 50 years said with all of your experiance and wisdom about the states. (y)
 
shaylou said:
Yeah facts! The guy who Googled an artical and passed through is all about the facts. I'm glad you could clear up all the missleading things the guy that has lived here for almost 50 years said with all of your experiance and wisdom about the states. (y)
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I'll believe census data before I believe someone who thinks living 1500 miles from New York gives him local knowledge of the city. :thumbs:
 
Gortch said:
He probably has his camera on auto. Seriously, I don't see how doing that every day for a billion years would make you much better as a photographer. Maybe it would. Seems to be putting more emphasis on quantity than quality in terms of both the pictures and the supposed relationships he's forging.

Strikes me as some sort of rich or middle class kid slumming it for a year or so. Shame for the people who need to put up with him creeping around and pestering them, but, then, I'm possibly anti-social.
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On auto mode? So what if it works for him, it's the image that's important not what you use or how you get it. Too may people get hung up with buying the latest and greatest, or getting snobbish about they know there camera or can use it better than the other person. It's the image that's important, Ive never been to an exhibition and heard people discussing the equipment or the settings rather than the image ;)

As for the idea, why not. It's an interesting project, he's prepared to put his time and effort into the idea and his work has reached an international community and is being discussed. That's better than me or many others of us on he.

Pestering people? Looks more like he's picking out the eccentric people, which makes for interesting images. Does lookmlike hes pestering them, rather that they appreciate the interest. After all why else dresslike that if they didnt want to stand out and be different? The idea of similar poses, comparisons is an idea that's been used several,times in photography over many years.

So, in summary, photography is a subjective subject, not everyone is going to appreciate the same stuff, do this the same way, but there are lessons for us all in everyone's approach, even if it's 'I wouldn't do it that way'
 
shaylou said:
Yeah facts! The guy who Googled an artical and passed through is all about the facts. I'm glad you could clear up all the missleading things the guy that has lived here for almost 50 years said with all of your experiance and wisdom about the states. (y)
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You live 1500 miles from New York and have never been there. Would it really make sense for anyone to rely on secondhand, speculative opinions regarding New York rather than actual facts?

Although I know there are some unsafe areas in and around the city, I've been to Manhattan many times and I've never felt particularly unsafe. These are only my personal experiences though, so I can't speak for everyone.

That all said, New York is the last place I usually want to go when visiting the USA on a holiday.
 
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How often is New York shown in Street photography over the years though. There's a huge list of photographer s producing work from there
Joel Meyerowitz,Bruce Gilden, Mary Ellen Mark, Elliot Erwitt, Jeff Mermelstein, Richard Sandler, Bruce Davidson, Walker Evans... the list goes on and on.

As such I think it would be on my list of places to go - seems to be full of characters...
 
Whether his camera is on auto or not is surely less of an issue than that his compositional skills and ability to pick out poses/lighting seem to be.

To me this just seem like another case of competent but not exceptional work given publicity due to a rather gimmicky association with "everyday" tech, at least it wasn't taken with an iphone.
 
Moreorless said:
To me this just seem like another case of competent but not exceptional work given publicity due to a rather gimmicky association with "everyday" tech, at least it wasn't taken with an iphone.
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Nothing wrong with iPhone photography, there been some interesting stuff taken with it. Over 50% of all images are now taken with camera phones. I've seen photojournalists use them in Syria, Egypt and even in the London riots to get the images. The was an award winning series 'the person opposite' taken on iPhone on the tube.

I think it's an interesting project of street portraits, but also some social interaction. How many times do we hear on here that photographers are assumed to be sneaking around, or sneaking candid images. On top of that in big cities, nobody speaks, very one keeps to themselves, and even above there's discussions of fear when walking about with a camera.

Heres a photographer, interacting with people, socialising, then seaking permission for an image. Look beyond the individual image and at the bigger picture and as a body of work it's interesting.

The video is nicely shot also.
 
Byker28i said:
Nothing wrong with iPhone photography, there been some interesting stuff taken with it. Over 50% of all images are now taken with camera phones. I've seen photojournalists use them in Syria, Egypt and even in the London riots to get the images. The was an award winning series 'the person opposite' taken on iPhone on the tube.

I think it's an interesting project of street portraits, but also some social interaction. How many times do we hear on here that photographers are assumed to be sneaking around, or sneaking candid images. On top of that in big cities, nobody speaks, very one keeps to themselves, and even above there's discussions of fear when walking about with a camera.

Heres a photographer, interacting with people, socialising, then seaking permission for an image. Look beyond the individual image and at the bigger picture and as a body of work it's interesting.

The video is nicely shot also.
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There can be situations where iphones are useful tools but I don't think it would be pushing it to say that they also often tie into a rather casual style of photography for most users, not just lacking in technical know how but also in artistic effort.

He's hardly the first person to take posed portraits on the street is he? I'm guessing a lot of photographers who don't shoot for such posed pictures also interact with their subjects a good deal.

The two issues this plays into for me are firstly as I said I think the media preffer to push stories involving tech the everyday person uses. Secondly I think more so than anywhere else high levels of popularity on the net often goes hand in hand with casual interest, the unambitious but easily consumable tends to rise to the top even faster than elsewhere in modern culture.
 
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I think we're looking at different stuff then. I've not seen the media push it as such, but have seen it breaking into main stream photography. Some of the capabilities of camera phones are stunning in the right conditions.

Winner of the terry oneil photography prize this year was Richard gray, shooting on an iPhone

But as I've said above and many times before, its not the hang up about the kit, it's the image.
 
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skysh4rk said:
You live 1500 miles from New York and have never been there. Would it really make sense for anyone to rely on secondhand, speculative opinions regarding New York rather than actual facts?

That is a fare question. I have been there but unlike others I didn't think passing through really was worth mentioning. I flew in for a business meeting and flew out that afternoon. I have family that lives there as we speak and this conversation has come up many times. My nephew lives there and is always trying to get me to come visit but he travels for work so often our schedules never seem to line up. Also I live in a very big city in the U.S were the person making all the smart remarks aimed at me doesn't even live in the same country.

Although I know there are some unsafe areas in and around the city,

That was my point. I get lost easily so going to a big city by myself and getting lost could end up bad. That's all I meant be my statement. I know there are bad and good areas in big cities here. I have lived here my whole life.


That all said, New York is the last place I usually want to go when visiting the USA on a holiday.
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I'm curious why New York would be so far down on your list of places to visit?
 
shaylou said:
I'm curious why New York would be so far down on your list of places to visit?
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I've had some amazing times in New York, but I think that the USA offers and is about so much more than just that one very expensive city.
 
Pookeyhead said:
I don't understand the hate. He's passionate about what he does, and he's getting some success as a reward for that. Good luck to him I say. Personally I don't see what's wrong with his composition. He's used social media to full advantage.. as much as they're using him... I'm sure he understands the reciprocity there.

Some people just like to hate others for being successful.

He's not the best street phtographer I've ever seen, but at least it's real street phtography! He interfaces with people... tells stories... gets involved. That's what makes great street photography, not sniped candids with a long lens.
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Real?

Real Street photography is taking a shot without u influence the subject but watching what stories evolve around you.

Easy to just approach strangers and ask to take there pic.
 
skysh4rk said:
I've had some amazing times in New York, but I think that the USA offers and is about so much more than just that one very expensive city.
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Every person I know who's been to to new York all say it's just a larger version of London where I live.

Go visit somewhere our of your comfort zone if you was born and live in a large city like London etc
 
jonneymendoza said:
Easy to just approach strangers and ask to take there pic.
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No it's not... which is why so many snipe with long lenses... because they're scared of approaching people. Street doesn't mean candid at all. Look at William Klein's work.. almost everyone in there knows they're being photographed... you saying Klein's work is not real street photography? The very man who defines the genre?

real? (sic)
 
Pookeyhead said:
No it's not... which is why so many snipe with long lenses... because they're scared of approaching people. Street doesn't mean candid at all. Look at William Klein's work.. almost everyone in there knows they're being photographed... you saying Klein's work is not real street photography? The very man who defines the genre?

real? (sic)
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I do a 100 Strangers project. Similar to the photographer in question. And at Shoreditch you do get interesting characters to shoot just like in new York
 
jonneymendoza said:
I do a 100 Strangers project. Similar to the photographer in question. And at Shoreditch you do get interesting characters to shoot just like in new York
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I never said YOU snipe with long lenses. Also... your above statement, by your own definition, is not real street photography then? :)
 
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_photography

Street photography is an art photography that features the human condition within public places and does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. The subject of the photograph might be absent of people and can be object or environment where the image projects a decidedly human character in facsimile or aesthetic. The origin of the term 'Street' refers to a time rather than a place, a time when women achieved greater freedom, when workers were rewarded with leisure time and when society left the privacy of their sitting rooms, people engaged with each other and their surroundings more publicly and therein the opportunity for the photographer.


Framing and timing are key aspects of the craft, with the aim of creating images at a decisive or poignant moment. Much of what is now widely regarded, stylistically and subjectively, as definitive street photography was made in the era spanning the end of the 19th Century through to the late 1970s; a period which saw the emergence of portable cameras. The advent of digital photography, combined with the exponential growth of photo-sharing via the internet, has greatly expanded an awareness of the genre and its practitioners.


Do you know what, that doesn't define what kit is used ;)
 
So right Dave. I mean short lenses and black and white was all they had, or was fashionable when the genre was first defined, but this doesn't mean we shouldn't use colour today so why would it mean use a short lens.

These bold words are the more important part of Street Photography for me.

Street photography is an art photography that features the human condition within public places and does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. The subject of the photograph might be absent of people and can be object or environment where the image projects a decidedly human character in facsimile or aesthetic. The origin of the term 'Street' refers to a time rather than a place, a time when women achieved greater freedom, when workers were rewarded with leisure time and when society left the privacy of their sitting rooms, people engaged with each other and their surroundings more publicly and therein the opportunity for the photographer.

Framing and timing are key aspects of the craft, with the aim of creating images at a decisive or poignant moment. Much of what is now widely regarded, stylistically and subjectively, as definitive street photography was made in the era spanning the end of the 19th Century through to the late 1970s; a period which saw the emergence of portable cameras. The advent of digital photography, combined with the exponential growth of photo-sharing via the internet, has greatly expanded an awareness of the genre and its practitioners.
 
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