The Final Module: Street photography .

According to the brief, Street Photography is

'a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches and other settings' .

In other words, you are taking photographs of people going about their everyday business, and in order for the pictures to be 'candid', you are taking them without their knowledge or consent !  Immediately, I started to wonder, well, what happens if they notice what you are up to - and object? And I also realised that I would probably have to overcome feeling uncomfortable about doing this if I was to get any images that I actually liked and that were of any interest.

There was a planned trip to Paris, in order to take street photography images - I covered the trip in 3 previous blogs, but had decided that the images obtained belonged in a 'blog' of their own. Prior to the trip, in order to get some practise, and in order to give myself a chance to get over the feeling of being uncomfortable, I had several 'dummy run sessions'.

The first one was just a couple of hours spent roaming Wrexham and snapping away - it soon became apparent that this street photography is NOT easy!  I tried being surreptitious, sneaking photographs by pressing the shutter as the camera just hung around my neck - cue a lot of out of focus pictures, from some very odd angles! So, I summoned up my courage and started being just a little bit more obvious - which resulted in one elderly lady taking offence and raising her walking stick at me in a fairly aggressive manner!

OK - maybe I needed more practise elsewhere before I took pictures in my home town!

So, myself, Gemma and Dave organised a day trip to Chester - and I had slightly more success here, being fairly happy with several of the images I obtained.

I like the composition of this picture, and how it showed two friends, just relaxing in a coffee bar.

In this one, I liked the patterns and rhythm of the lines of the bench, which draw your eyes towards the couple.

 This one I liked because it captured a moment of communication between people.

 I liked the expression on this gentleman's face, and his positioning within the frame










However, this trip left me realising that even more practise was needed !

So, Gemma and I arranged a further trip to Manchester for the day.

I really enjoyed this day - but have to confess that was due more to the company and photographic opportunities other than street photography, that I encountered.

I was particularly interested in the 'big wheel' and its reflections, and spent ages taking photographs of it from all angles - but that most definitely isn't street photography, so back on subject . . .








Manchester brought two particular problems of Street photography into sharp focus.


First was the problem with the people you were trying to photograph deciding to interact with you - which knocks the point about it being 'candid' right on the head. On one occasion on this day, the results of this were funny and entertaining - as I was snapping away, a very camp voice sounded out, informing me that he was 'sick of f&^%ing paparazi' ! Turning, I found a group of 3 people, all looking at me - a boy and girl couple were laughing and looking embarrassed, and a young man was shielding his face with his hand and insisting 'No photographs, no publicity' - as it seemed like he actually was egging me to take his photograph, I obliged - and I really like the photographs I got out of it, they were good fun . . .

But the interaction stopped them being street photography.

On a very much less funny note, on another occasion, during that day, seeing Gemma and I taking photographs provoked one member of the public to make a pretty obscene suggestion about what he would quite like us to photograph . .

Which in turn leads to the second problem - people who decide to object - forcibly.  At one point I had stopped and was taking a photograph of people walking towards me crossing the road - I took several shots, one after another, until I heard a sound from behind me - I turned and Gemma was stood there, looking quite shaken. One of the group who I had photographed had decided to react to it by punching Gemma's camera - now this guy was big, quite intimidating, and thank God it was the camera he punched, and not Gemma herself.  But, it was a clear demonstration that this form of photography can - and obviously does on occasion - create a displeased reaction from the very subject you are photographing. Caution is very much advised, I guess - and while you are looking out for suitable subjects, you had better keep an eye out for anyone who looks like they might object !

However, I did get several photographs that I liked from this days adventures.

It was the interaction between these two that I liked in this shot .

 I liked the similar stances of the group of young men - all slouched, all hands in pockets - I also thought the fact that they were behind the woman in the front of the image almost made it look like they were a stereotypical gang creeping up on her - even though there was obviously nothing like that intended, it just shows how an image can convey a situation that is far from the truth.

 

I liked the shadows, and the composition of these two ladies having a sit down and a chat .

Amidst all the hustle and the fairly large crowds, this lady was sat quietly, tucking into a banana.








An awful lot of the photographs I got that day were out of focus - it was obvious I was rushing them in order to 'grab' the picture quickly, and avoid detection !

I also snapped some shots along the coast, on a family day out .

So, on to Paris. We had been told that there was a very much more relaxed attitude here, that would allow us to take photographs far more freely - however, I still felt that there were problems with interaction from people who spotted what we were up to - though admittedly on a much lesser scale then we found in Chester or Manchester.  And I began to be aware of how many different styles of photograph you could find.

I really enjoyed the snaps I got of tourists, posing for their friends/family  . . .

Pictures that captured solitary people amidst the hustle going on around them . . .

Interaction . . .

And some that just captured the realism of the environment

In the end, over 3 days, I ended up with around 50 shots that I liked - and rather than stick to a theme, chose the 12 I liked best as individual shots, that I liked for a variety of reasons - I also chose a mix of monochrome and colour, letting the choice come down to just what I felt looked best for each photograph.

This was one of those snapping the snapper pictures - she was posing so that the glass pyramid at the Louvre would appear to be held between her hands - but take the glass pyramid away and just focus on the people, and the effect is quite funny.

I just liked this one showing the gorgeously garish carousel being cleaned

It was the expression on this man's face that I liked about this photograph, as well as the general composition of it.

I like the solitude of this guy, looked like he was just strolling along, deep in thought.

The two uses of a mobile - in the front, one woman is texting with a very serious face - and in the back, another is posing for her friend to take a picture with her phone - I just liked the contrast it showed.

This was one of the photographs I got in the red light district - it just shows how openly the sex industry works in this area, and the black and white of the image sort of emphasises the 'grittiness' of it.

 Its the suggestion of a story behind this picture that I liked - they seem to be a couple, but why are they sitting apart? is it a case of after many years, they don't need to sit close together or have they had a row, and are not talking?

I like the way the lines of the bridge draw your eyes along the benches where the people are sitting.

I liked the humour in this one - don't think that the little boys father is aware that his son is walking behind him with his toy gun firing at Dad's backside !

This one was just cute!

Again, its the potential for a story behind this one - in this case, a romance maybe?

This is my favourite of all the pictures I got - I had just been sitting looking at the wall art, when this lady walked into the frame - and she just 'matched' the painting.









I am not sure if I can say in all honesty if I enjoyed this unit - even at completion, I wasn't comfortable with taking 'sneaky' pictures of people, without their consent. I tried everything from pretending to be looking at images on the camera whilst actually taking photographs, to openly pointing and snapping - and still I couldn't make myself relax and enjoy as I usually do with a camera in my hands. However, it did make me notice more of what was going on around me, and certainly encouraged me to try for better images, in terms of content and technical clarity, even under pressure.


Next: The Last Module: Still Life .