I don’t want to fully open the Street Photography “Definition” can of worms today but I thought we might open the lid slightly & slowly and take a peek inside !
The accepted SP description is both confusing and not really definitive , my takeaway from the definition is that SP is a reactive , spontaneous form of photography that is made in public spaces with artistic intent as apposed to making planned pictures to document scenes for historical purposes .
“INTENT” appears to be the key word here and the source of much ambiguity , it might be true to say that one persons “Street” pic is another persons document , in fact just to confuse things a little more, photographers should consider the existence of “Street” pictures that are made with artistic intent and unintentionally possess historical value too , this Street Photography definition really is a greasy, slippery pig !
In my view the most important thing is that photographers have at least a fundamental idea of what their personal values of Street Photography are , I’m frequently surprised by “Street Photographs” created by others that are created with a different set of values to my own but that is how it is , no problem ! I’m much more interested in the creative value of the pictures than the politics of process , some of the worlds largest Documentry / News Agencies became especially agile in the re-branding of their historical documentary archives into world class “Street Photography” when SP was on trend , the fact that this “Doc / news” photography was created by photographers working to a brief while on assignment was conveniently forgotten as a new market emerged ?
The one certainty in my mind is that this “Definition” hill is not one that I am prepared to die on and would encourage others to invest their emotional energies into establishing personal manifestoes of what Street Photography means to them rather than fight definition battles , the foundations of integrity , truth and creativity are not a bad place to start , photography that connects you to your everyday life creatively and emotionally might not be a bad destination …
What do you want your Street Photography to be ?
Like I said initially , I only want to lift the lid slightly on the SP definition today and hopefully provoke thought & debate , on a personal level I quite like the fact that the “Slippery Pig” escapes now and then and forces us to “Look Again” and ask new visual questions , I don’t want to join the Photography Police or put the creative cuffs on anyone , how you describe your photography is down to you , conversely how others view your work is down to them , we are all grown ups here …
The purists are important players within what is the broad church of Street Photography although I’m not sure that “definition evangelism” is a worthy pursuit , a strong sense of direction and personal values will serve most togs very well but I would be loathed to carve my values in stone as its a ever changing world out there …
I value authenticity in Street Photography above everything , this local super market car park picture has more relevance to my life than one hundred disingenuous views of Times Square …
Holiday snaps are great for those who are passing through and want to shoot within the SP style but good Street Photography is more than a style or a aesthetic , great Street Photography is a creative voice that connects the photographer with his / her life , time and place …
No balloons , no shadows , no colour , is this doc photography or Street Photography for the grown ups ?
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If your blessed with a bit more time feel free to visit highlights from my Another Day Off project , The State Of Britain series or The Testing Times pictures , they represent the most turbulent years in modern British history and ten years of my life…
Forty of my Foto What I Took Blogs are still available too …