Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Street Photography
picture could have been taken by a vegetarian who hates fish. The fruit lady in Costa Rica would
possibly not like her picture taken like this from behind. And the young lady on the steps has no more
expression than the plurality of dogs in most of the pictures. Strangely enough, sometimes I felt these
photos demonstrate "Dogs in Street Photography" instead of individuals in daily life.
BUT: I do like three of the pictures, actually Phil at his best. The nuns and monks along with that
American (?) tourist with a funny hat behind the lady with a cell phone in Jerusalem, the twin
newspapers in Tokyo subway and, best of all, the man reading newspaper in Dublin. If this one were in
black and white, we would have missed the colour of his tie!
-- George D. Gianni, November 30, 2000
I'd like to add that I too take a lot of random photos on a daily basis. I started with Canon EOS cameras
then switched to the Canon Digital Powershot 20 and now also use the Canon G1 with telephoto lens.
Digital makes it so much cheaper and incites me to more experimentation. I mount the G1 on my car
window mount from Bogen and use the remote to shoot while I'm driving. The car in essence is the
viewfinder and I find myself circling the block or making uturns for better light or shooting angles. (No
accidents or near misses yet!) The remote allows me to zoom and shift shooting modes and the G1
accepts the EOS external flashes! Give it a try! It also works in a daypack or briefcase.
-- t. bomba, December 2, 2000
This is turning into an interesting discussion. I can see both sides. I remember before I got into
photography a young lady "mugged" me with her camera. I was fishing for musky, and looked the part.
She was trying to be a street photographer, trying to take a candid shot, and I caught her. I scolded her,
too, and when she defended herself with, "well, you're in a public place", I really scolded her. But now
that I have picked up an interest in photography, and have looked at images, I like seeing candid shots of
people. And I like it when the people don't seem to notice the camera (hence the word candid, I guess).
Not that a candid shot requires anonymity, but many of the best street shots I have seen appeared to be
taken candidly and anonymously. Just my opinion, which has changed over the years. Getting to know
your subject first sometimes helps, but sometimes random shots of strangers yeilds good results, too.
-- Mike Morgan, December 3, 2000
For another perspective on street photography (actually subway photog.) see http://www.davebeckerman.
com/ and click on the article "Photography on the subway." I like his writing and love his photos.
In addition, Jeff Spirer, a regular of this phot.net community, has some excellent stuff at www.spirer.
com.
No offense to Phil, but the work of those guys is what I think of when I think of street photography. As
mentioned by others, I favor the B&W aesthetic for this type of photography.
http://www.photo.net/photo/street-photography (11 of 31)7/3/2005 2:18:44 AM