2019

Street Photography

CAR15004770 - Cezary Car Research Paper 5/23/2019

Plan and Proposal

I am going to write an essay about topic that might seem boring however, it is more interesting that it seems at first sight. The main topic of this essay will be Street Photography. One of the biggest genres in the photography industry. But before I will start writing it, I will have to prepare a plan to make sure the essay will look good. Also, it will help me with writing because I will know what I want to write in what part of the essay. As I do not know a lot about history of the street photography. I will have to do a research about who was the inventor of the street photography and find a few resources that could tell me about controversial topics in this genre. I will have to use a Harvard Referencing System and submit the assignment in a pdf. I will need to hurry with making this assignment because I have only one month to do it (deadline 26 April 2019). As I never done such a big essay this one will be a challenge.

Cezary Car Essay Plan

Topic: Street Photography Introduction (250) • Why I choose this topic • What is street photography Main body (1000) • Research areas o History (When was the first photo taken and by who) o Consent (Why you should ask for a consent before taking a photo) o Exploit (Photography should show more of a real life ) o Shock value (Why some of the photography might be controversial ) o Real-life Photographers (Ones of my favourite street photographers and analysis of their photos) o Street Photography is mainly a hobby? (Is street photography relevant? Why you should do street photography) o Street Photography=Photojournalism (Difference between street photography and photojournalism)

Conclusion (250) • Overall summing up of your findings and my opinion on street photography.

Bibliography

Cezary Car Street Photography

As I am doing photography, I decided to use Street Photography as my topic for this essay. You may ask, why I choose it? As a beginner photographer, I always was bias towards this kind of genre. Although there are examples of landscape or portraiture that I do enjoy it is street photography and photojournalism that take up most of my interest. Mainly because of how interesting it is. Street photography can be beautiful and controversial in the same time. Photographers can take different approaches while making those types of photos. That’s the real beauty of this genre.

What is street photography? Street Photography might be quite an overwhelming experience. Everyone have their own definition about what this genre is. Trying to define street photography is almost as hard as trying to define what different types of taste (sweet, salty or sour). You cannot fully describe it, but you know it when you see it. Street photography is just a type of art that is documenting our everyday life. Most of the people thinks that street photography, are just photos of people however, it is more than that. It might be as well a photo of graffiti on the wall, empty street, dark alleys or even trash on the street.

History

Street photography is a tradition that dates to the invention of photography. Since its birth in the first half of the 19th century, street photography has transformed into an art form in its own right. What we take photos of in the 21st century is same thing what the people in the 19th century took photographs of. Things like streets, landscapes, people, animals, etc. The first known photograph ever taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépc. Therefore, the first photographs ever taken were generally done in the streets. So, the start of photography was the start of street photography.

Cezary Car Nicéphore Niépce’s earliest surviving camera photograph, View from the Window at Le Gras (Saint- Loup-de-Varennes, France). Could be easily interpreted as a “street photograph”.

(Niépce’s, 1826)

Consent

Consent is an extension of privacy. A lot of street photographers have to deal with the consent issue by approaching their subject after the fact and checking things over with them. Even if It is a lot easier to ask for forgiveness than permission in my opinion photographers should ask for a consent before taking a photo. People are weird creatures. I think that many issues of consent have been rendered irrelevant. However, you will never know in what mood they are. The person you took photo of might have a really bad day or other reason why she or he doesn’t want to be photographed. Remember to always ask for consent.

The artists’ intention does play a role when there is a specific idea being communicated in an image which might not reflect reality. I think that the best form of street photography is one that tells stories of hope and beauty rather than highlight ugliness or to make a mockery of someone.

Exploits

Another connotation of street photography is that it invades privacy. It is “exploits” the subject. This is especially prevalent in discussions regarding homeless people, who are unable to have the same level of privacy as the more fortunate. I can see how this would concern people, especially when it comes to profiting from such images. For homelessness specifically,

Cezary Car I think that refusing to document such a pressing and damaging societal issue is the equivalent of hiding or erasing it from public discourse. This shouldn’t happen.

Main reason why a lot of photographer are choosing not to document such scenes in everyday street photography, is not wanting to exploit the subject. We cannot pretend that these issues in society do not exist, and making images is the best way of keeping these topics not only at the front of street photography discussions but general discussions as well. People should know what happens around them and might make this world a little bit better.

(HIONOS, n.d.)

Cezary Car Shock value

Occasionally a picture will be identified as having only one central intention. Is to shock the audience with its content. Controversial photos are always interesting to talk about. However, the discussion usually takes place around the value of the shock itself rather than the content of the image and the issues it may be dealing with. There always has been and will be an audience for controversial work. I think that people are drawn to creating and consuming that kind of work in street photography in the same way that actual photojournalism is drawn to the more violent or scary stories. I think that street photography is full of all kinds of pieces of life and that controversial work receives attention since it’s controversial.

Real-life Photographers

Those two are one of my favourite real-life Photographers. I chose them to show the slight difference between their approach to street photography. I want to show that you can brake the rules and make something more by using your own creativity. How do you capture a good street photograph? If you look carefully at the street photographs you soon realize that the best of them are snapshots. Street photography is not that complicated as people thinks. All you have to do is to go outside and use your creativity to capture the life of people around you.

Clay Benskin (@clay_benskin)

Cezary Car

(Benskin, n.d.)

On both photos we can see people taking their time in the subway to get from the point a to the point b. On both of photos the first thing that caught my eyes are face, expression of the people that the photographer took photos of. Both are in black and white to add a serious tone to the picture. That is what I like in street photography. It is that we can see things as there are. Not a beautiful scenery or studio with the sets but people living their own lives. The every day life of a normal person.

Libby Holmsen (@libby_holmsen)

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(Holmsen, n.d.)

Those pictures are slightly different from the pictures that Clay Benskin took. Those pictures are more natural colours and seems more symmetric. We do not see those “expressions” like in the pictures above them however, her photos have their own charm. They are not overwhelming in any way and there is not much happening on those photos. However, It is the simplicity of those pictures that wants me to watch more of her pictures.

Street Photography is mainly a hobby?

Why is Street photography relevant? Street photography is one of the largest genres of photography. I don’t have any real commercial values expect for an artistic print of beautiful moment. The main purpose of street photography is to catch moments of real life in the public. It can have elements of landscape photography, geometry, portraiture, etc.

Does it matter? Of course, it is. It does showcase one's ability to capture the moment and emotions. It might be not really for the professional photographers. However, for a beginner it will do more. It helps improve one’s own skills. Street photography can teach people about things like lighting, geometry in a scene. And also to embrace the artistic side of photography

Cezary Car also for the amateur and hobbyist this is a way to share a moment that they captured by applying their own creative vision to the scene. (Phoblographer, n.d.)

Street Photography=Photojournalism

Street photography isn’t the same thing as photojournalism. However, people really often mistake those two. Both are documentary photography, but the street photography needs to involve a story in the picture. A good street photographs do not need to make you understand the story of the picture. A bit of mystery may add to the images impact. However, the story needs to be there even if the meaning is hidden. On the other hand, photojournalism seeks to tell an understandable story, and ambiguity is ruled out.

Conclusion

So, what is a street photography? Street photography is the one of the most powerful art forms. It shows us what people are really like and a way of learning what we were like. It might be peaceful or controversial. Beautiful in their own way. It may not be profitable but with it you can improve your skills and learn something more about the places or people that are around you. There are a lot of street photographers that want to tell a story with their photos. All of them might be different at first sight but there is a thing that connect them all together. It is the passion and creativity that all of them put into their photos. Back then in 19th century anyone would think that in the future everyone would take a picture whenever they want. Photography is still evolving same as people and the way we start to look at everything around us. At the end I just want to add that street photography is one of the best things that could happen to people. I am sure that without its photography would look a lot different than it looks now.

Cezary Car Bibliography

Bibliography Anon., n.d. [Online] Available at: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2013/03/04/timeless-insights-you-can-learn- from-the-history-of-street-photography/

Benskin, C., n.d. Instagram. [Online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/clay_benskin/?hl=en

HIONOS, n.d. M.G .HIONOS Photography. [Online] Available at: Flickr.com

Holmsen, L., n.d. Instagram. [Online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/libby_holmsen/?hl=en

Niépce’s, N., 1826. View From the Window at Le Gras. Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France: s.n.

Phoblographer, T., n.d. Is Street Photography Still Important in the Art World?. [Online] Available at: https://www.thephoblographer.com/2015/11/13/is-street-photography-still- important-in-the-art-world/

Zahid, I. (n.d.). What is Street Photography? A Rookie's Guide to Developing Street Cred. [online] ExpertPhotography. Available at: https://expertphotography.com/what-is-street-photography/ [Accessed 23 May 2019]. • Basics of the street photography and different styles of shooting. What a good street photo should look like and meaning behind them.

Maher, J. (2017). What is Street Photography? [online] New York Fine Art Photography and Portraiture Services. Available at: https://www.jamesmaherphotography.com/street_photography/what-is-street- photography/ [Accessed 23 May 2019].

• What is street photography, consent and exploits. How to get rid of being scared to be seen.

Photography Life. (2019). Understanding Street Photography - A Beginner's Guide. [online] Available at: https://photographylife.com/what-is-street-photography [Accessed 23 May 2019]. • Look on different opinions and Information on Shock Value. Are all street photography just a Candid?

Kim, E. (2019). The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide for Street Photography. [online] ERIC KIM. Available at: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/the-ultimate-beginners-guide-for-street-photography/ [Accessed 23 May 2019].

Cezary Car • How to conquer your fears of shooting street photography. What to look at when taking photos on the street also what equipment you should have.

Goodden, N. (2015). Street Photography Ethics and Respect. [online] Urban Photography | Street Photography | London. Available at: https://www.nicholasgooddenphotography.co.uk/london- blog/respect-ethics-street-photography [Accessed 23 May 2019]. • I have used this side to learn about other people’s opinion on the ethics of street photographers and It gave me some tips on what good photographer should be like.

Kim, E. (n.d.). The History of Street Photography. [online] ERIC KIM. Available at: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2013/03/04/timeless-insights-you-can-learn-from-the-history-of- street-photography/ [Accessed 23 May 2019]. • I have used this blog to learn more about history of street photography and photography itself. On this side I found dates and pictures of the first picture ever taken. I have learned about who was the first person that took first street photo and how street photography evolved.

Cezary Car