Independent Research

Looking and Seeking

Street Photography

1. What is street photography?

Street photography is a type of photography which documents shots of public places like in shopping centers, trains, parks and simply just anywhere out in public. The whole aim for street photography is to capture realness and not produce a photo which looks staged; photography which looks staged can not be classified as a genre of Street. Most street photography can either be ironic or humorous as its capturing society which often doesn't want to be represented as to sad or serious. Some people mistake street photography and photojournalism as being the same but there very different: the aim for photojournalism is to create photos which document a journal, photos are taken to visually capture a story. Whereas the purpose for street is just to capture natural everyday shots without a reason or to adapt to an article.

2. What is the 'decisive moment'?

The 'decisive moment' is a phrase which was created by 'father of journalism' Henri Cartier Bresson. He defined it as 'the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.' What Henri Cartier Bresson means is that theirs a single instant in which the meaning of an event was most clearly graphically represented. The photographers responsibility is to capture that responsibility.

3. What does the term 'juxtaposition' mean?
Juxtaposition is a term in photography which means placing two objects side by side or in shot but contradicting itself which leaves the observer to interpretate the meaning themselves. Juxtaposition is what makes street photography and most photographs of that genre will show an interesting message that seems to be contradictory.

4. What do you think are the ethical considerations for Street Photography?

Personal privacy is an issue often discussed in street photography as some argue that photographers don't have the right to just randomly take photos of people in public without permission. Especially the issue of homeless people being photographed, often people argued that homeless people are apart of a thought of street photography and the question is why should they photographed without permission just because they live in the streets aka the photographers location. I think street photographers without a doubt have to ask everybody who's visible in the shot for there permission to take photos of them.

5. Do's and don'ts for street photography
Do's:
be respectful when taking photographs, people are more likely going to be excepting you taking photos of them if your nice and not rude.
make sure you ask everyone who may just slightly be in the photograph for permission as some people don't like there photo being taken and you can get in trouble for taking pictures of people without asking.

Don'ts:
taking photos of children as some parents may find that inappropriate, if you have to ask the parents permission before.
leave any photographic equipment out of your reach and attention as taking photos in public can be risky as your around a lot of people who could easily take possessions as your not in an area where you leave your stuff around and on the other side keep hold of all your stuff. I good idea would be going with someone whilst taking street photography.

Examples of street photography

This photo was taken by famous street photographer Eric Kim. I came across this photographer whilst researching street photography and I really liked his genuine love for this genre. This is what he said about his discovery of street photography 'my heart was palpitating and the second I brought my camera to my eye, he looked directly at me and I instinctively clicked. My heart froze, but I made my first street photograph, without even realizing it'. I specifically like this photo as I think its filled with emotion. I like how the main focus' in the image are the three people which all show a real emotion; nothing about this image looks staged and it does seem like its representing normal everyday life.

Inspirational Photographer

Ansel Adams

http://www.anseladams.com/

 These are all examples of some of Ansel Adams famous photographs. I really like Ansel Adams work for one particular reason; the lack of professional equipment he had to use but still could create such phenomenal images. Nearly all his images were taken on a 8x10 large format camera which shows that photography is all about technique not technology. I also really like Ansel Adams photography style being landscape. The locations he choose were really interesting and I feel some of his image location look enchanting and mysterious due to the way he took his images, including time of day, what locations he choose and other photography techniques.

Favorite Images

Annie Leibovitz is one of my all time famous photographers purely because of her amazing portrait and fashion photography. Shes photographed some of the worlds most famous people and created some breathtaking pieces. Annie does have a reputation for being a controversial photographer especially after her 2008 Vanity Fair shoot with Miley Cyrus where she photographed at the time 15 year old Miley Cyrus topless with just a satin sheet around her. Annie commented on this saying 'the photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little make-up, and I think it is very beautiful'.






One of my favorite Annie Leibovitz photographs

This is one of favorite photographs by Annie Leibovitz, simply because I love the magical and mythical look of the photo. The pure realness of it also intrigues me as the mermaid theme is done so well that it looks real. Annie Leibovitz is famous for using lighting to create different moods within photos. With this particular shot she used powerful, strong lighting to impact the image and make it look more magical. I also really like the beauty of this as every element looks so beautiful from the models to the scenery. The models especially look so effortlessly picturesque and flawless as if there real mermaids which I think is good because I personally feel it makes this image look as if it was taken in the moment like Street Photography which is a very hard to do; take an extremely edited photo and make it look real.