Street Photography – For the Purist words & photos by ... - deviantART

Forward by Michael Kaiser - Germany
Why is it so hard to define what Street Photography is about? Why do all attempts do describe this genre remain so oddly diffuse? Why is there no
25-pages-manual, something you can read and (hopefully) understand and off you go? You may be able to operate your gear well, you may have
done amazing macros, table-tops, architecture-shots and even portraits, you can and should read all of the following – and yet you may not have a
frigging clue afterwards, what Street Photography is about. Because it is something very personal. Because you have to leave your shell. Because
you have to – in some cases – expose yourself. Because you have to love people. Street Photography is about sympathy, not hate. It is about
community, even if it pictures solitude. It can be ironic, but never offending. When you are taking street shots you are commenting, much like a
journalist. And this gives you a good deal of responsibility.
Street Photography is easy. And it is difficult.
It is easy because you find your subjects virtually everywhere. You don’t need to go for the extraordinary. Far from it. The ordinary, everyday-thing
is our matter of interest. It is difficult because the line to taking snapshots is very thin. Snap-shooters produce pictures, but don’t take photos. Snapshooters
just direct their camera to whatever comes in sight and press the button. The gear is not important for this matter. A snap-shooter with a
Leica is still a snap-shooter.
Street Photographers work differently. Their photo has been created in their mind - long (seconds or milliseconds) before they release the shutter.
Street Photography is – we have all read this on dA, when submitting photos to this category – “about seeing and reacting”. Quite close to the core of
the matter. “Seeing” is the important part. Light, lines, fore- and background, movement, things and people that happen to interact for a second. If
you don’t see these moments, feel them, live in them, all the time, with or without camera, then Street Photography is probably not for you. The
“reacting” part is craft mainly.
Although photography is magic, you can train your photographic view. But don’t try to be someone else. Not even like Henri Cartier-Bresson (HCB)
or Eugène Atget or Martin Parr or Lee Friedlander or Rainer Pawellek or Chris Weeks. Idols are fine. Learn from them. But don’t imitate. Be
yourself. When you go out hunting on the street, it is you, with all that you know and feel. You react to people, people react to you. This is what
makes the really special photos special.
If you don’t feel well in public places, if you happen be the autistic type of guy, Street Photography is probably not for you. If you think that using a
300mm makes you a Street Photographer, you are dreaming. Get close, be part of the scenery, visible or unnoticed, but don’t behave like an intruder
or bully.
If you still carry the manual of your camera with you in your bag, come back when you are able to operate it blindfolded and/or from your hip. But
if you feel that your camera is an organic part of your body and the lens your third eye, go out and play.
HCB once said: “Photographers are like butterflies. They flutter from photo to photo.” Be a butterfly.
Michael (*micdt)