the most often asked question i get when mentoring an emerging photographer is, "how can i get closer to people?" ..they tell me how shy they are when it comes to putting a camera up to their eye to photograph a stranger on the street or in a bar or social gathering…
several times in my travels i have suffered from "room lockdown" ….unable to leave my hotel room, watching CNN, ordering room service, and fearful of going out on the street to learn the local "ballet" of street shooting…eventually i just must GO, but it is not always easy….and so it is with many students i have in my workshops…
the "art" of photographing complete strangers close up and personal who started their day not thinking they were going to be a photo subject, is indeed a skill to be learned and perfected….some photographers have a natural flair for this, but most find this an often unbearable challenge….
i once spent an entire week in Chile with a fisherman and his family….i met the fisherman by chance, as i do with most of my photo subjects…. he was on a beach early one morning and was fixing his nets…..i asked if i could take one picture….he agreed…this led to more pictures and me finally asking if it was possible to actually go out in the boat with him and fish…one thing led to another, and hours and hours and hours of fishing in bad light went by and i spent most of my time helping him haul in his nets…two days of this…..then meet the wife and kids for a family "gift picture"…..and then and then…but, what do you think this fisherman would have said if i had asked him upon our first meeting on the beach, "excuse me sir, do you mind if i spend an entire week with you and your family ??"
it is all in the approach… the handshake … the "body language" and voice….and the most important thing of all…eye contact….the "language" of eye contact is universal, international and cross cultural….your intent is most often mirrored in your eyes…..this is when you are "judged" by a complete stranger…..
for those of you who want photograph people in an intimate way, what do you do? how do you overcome your "shyness"? how do you make the photographs you want and yet leave everyone feeling good about the whole experience??
>>please send us a link to a picture of with your kilt and drum
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2700209#210575389-L-LB
>>can you shoot a bit while you are performing?? try it…
When playing gigs like weddings & special events like Bruce Fraser Tribute etc. I don’t have time till after we finish performing.
However when I play in a Pipe Band at Highland Games events, there is lots of time to photograph my buddies in other pipe bands from around the world.
After giving much thought to your suggestions, I realized today’s Pro Wrestling event I declined would have made for very interesting photos! (oops!)
Thanks for your suggestions and enjoy Brazil!
SF Jason
It’s slightly different everytime you go out. You have to adjust to the rules of the location. Sometimes it is eye contact and a smile and sometimes it’s something different. There is no clear recipe on what to do. One thing I know is that most of the time I’m not going to blend in so I’m not going to count on it. Camera is always out in my hand. There is no mistake if I raise it to my eye.
David – safe and pleasurable travels..
all this talk of getting close is staying very present with me as I am out photographing..I felt so very close today, maybe too close at times, and it seems this is the way I am being drawn, closer, closer.. I wonder some about the ramifications of losing boundries, for both photographer and subject..have you ever felt the same?
Smile, chat, be direct and don’t lie. Have prints with you. Don’t know, guess you have have to have a bit of charm at the end of the day… don’t forget to brush your teeth and wear nice shoes ;-)
(Btw, all non standard cameras help… medium formats make you look like a professional, small ‘point and shoot’ film cameras make you look inofensive, twin lens cameras just crack it, etc.)
Well, I make it sound quite technical, but it must be because as far as I have an excuse and it’s not a girl I fancy, I can start a conversation with anybody…
HERVE…
yes, i understand…and i was only on a ramble about the positive side of getting “in”…but, of course, i also work as the unobtrusive photographer as well…i do not put one style above the other…
surely , as you say, jonathan is a good example of the stealth street photographer….
SF JASON…
cool!!!
ERICA…
very good question…well, i have often likened what i do sometimes to “method acting” in the sense of melting into the “part”…becoming the part….being the scene….often to the edge …often close to slipping off….sometimes actually slipping off and only grabbing a tree branch before a long plunge down down down..somewhere between totally “losing it” and “total professionalism” is where i often live….safe is only safe…..life on the “edge” is the ultimate rush and from whence by best work cometh….
JONI….
for me i like to work quietly with a small camera or , very rarely, with a medium format and be very very obvious….but declared….clearly defined….this creates another type of environment and can be very compelling….
for example, i once set up a med format 6×9 at an Aussie bar…just so obtrusive…but i stood by my tripod at the bar, bought a couple of beers for the guys next to me and managed to eventually get some of the most candid possible bar pictures..the camera and tripod became a “fixture” and they totally relaxed because i was just there relaxing with them ….and they totally forgot the camera…and everything else too!!!
David, I like the idea of putting the tripod in the bar. Sometimes I make myself be the tripod. I claim a spot on the sidewalk and put the camera up to the eye and start shooting. People have to go around you – walk by the lens – whatever – but you just say to yourself this is where I am this is what I’m doing it’s my place – if people want to walk in front of the camera well that’s up to them, then I’m going to take their picture!
JE
David, yes !! “somewhere between totally “losing it” and “total professionalism” is where i often live.” You say method acting I say living as “a natural chameleon” (!!chameleon |kəˈmēlyən; -lēən|noun a small slow-moving Old World lizard with a prehensile tail, long extensible tongue, protruding eyes that rotate independently, and a highly developed ability to change color – to adapt to to the surroundings-)
the color change to fit in and eyes that rotate independently to see all sure come in handy, but it’s that slithering up and down the the edge and holding on with the tail that keep me from going too far..
thank you
Been lurking for a while but this subjects strikes a chord so wanted to write though I am tired now and not at my best. On photographing strangers I too feel nervous and am often, I think, too polite: I feel I am imposing too much on my subjects when I wish to photograph them and rush the shots even when I work up the courage to present the camera more forcefully in the great conversations and relationships I have nurtured. This happens especially on personal projects. Ironically when there is a piece of paper with a newspaper`s name on top that wants this shot and that shot by the end of the week I am braver – the need to get the job done making the nerves disappear more appologetically, and then, only then it is easy, sort of, but anyway easier.
To this end I try to trick myself that each personal shot is in reality a commission just to get the nerves out of the way but I can`t always do it.
Nice to here that even someone like yourself gets the same sort of feeling and the advice from all the people here is very enlightening. Thanks David and all; will be smiling my way around a personal shoot this Wednesday and making lots of eye contact to be sure.
Damon
the first step where you have to talk whit the people and you dont know what goint to happen is the more dificult,but when you start you most do tha the people trust in you , and then you can shoot and when you are in the place or whit the people whit a camere in fron of you imediately you change and you can see more and more and more. Tienes que envolverte ser parte de ellos y que ellos sean parte de ti.
sanchez
I think we have to challenge ourselves too. I am not doing it enough. And I mean, not challenging like just getting it humanely, fighting shyness, but strictly as a photographer, Like hanging for 4 hours at the same spot, shooting people, just mean it exactly as it is, and no shots of anyone further than 12ft!
I think the time we are negatively acknowledged (killing any chance of happenstance or candid), is when we pretend to be discreet when evrything about us, is screaming “I have a camera, but please do not pay attention to me”.
I believe this is actually projected from inside onto our physical behaviour, or vibes. If we catch our thoughts at that moment, they tell us that much. IMO
It’s like the race has started, and you are still in the blocks. you ARE the deer in the headlights. Self-portrait then maybe to save the day?….:-)
HERVE…
self portraiture is always therapeutic….
HELLO ALL…
running to plane headed for brazil…..probably off line until tomorrow noonish sao paolo time at the earliest….
now here is something i have noticed…why is it that when i am on the way to the airport, the weather is always spectacular and the light magic???? i have turned the taxi around a few times in my career when i just decided not to go after all…
keep chatting, back soonest….
ciao, david
p.s.. check out new student work(workshops) if you have time…more coming all week
I doesnt have to be that challenging. My next 2 projects will be about Hapkido and a Korean opera tenor. I got access to both easily through people I know. David had a similar experience in Seoul. In the Dress Cafe you photographed Soo jeong and people around her, right David? I remember you were very friendly with them, the girls were part of some photo club. So they werent perfect strangers. You were also going to do a wedding where you got access through Soo Jeong who knew the people. For me the Hapkido story has a different twist: its a class of foreigners (Canaidians, americans, a guy from Morocco, a girl from Mongolia, etc) doing a very Korean martial art. I also did a little wedding photo essay and the wedding was my wife’s friend’s. The Korean tenor is the cousin of my private tutoring student. I think there are interesting stories around us where we can have very ready access.
No doubt Rafal, but on the off days, it’s still good to practice the eye, and also one’s skills at working a crowd, a space.It will be useful in any assignment.
Maybe also, I am thinking of euro-american street photography. US is between (most of) Asia (the non-confromtational approach there is a bonus for stealth photography) and France (they strive on :-) confrontation!).
Rafal wrote: “I think there are interesting stories around us where we can have very ready access.”
So True…. So True
and yet easily overlooked as I have come to realize.
-sfjason
Herve,
Ive been rethinking the concept of street photography, which I was once a big proponent of. Now though, I think it isnt enough. I am lately thinking hard of doing projects. Somehow a long project is so much more satisfying than just getting a few good snaps on the street. Ive actually not gone street shooting since the summer and Im now focusing solely on series and long term projects.
one thing though, street photography is good practice for getting that composition or trying to catch that moment. So for me it was a good way to progress a bit from beginner status to maybe something a bit more. Now Im trying to put what I learned on the street and put it into longer stories. Its a challenge.
Found a short article on photographing people by William Albert Allard on the NG site:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ipc/pdf/IPC-People.pdf
“great photos are given, not taken.”
“You must project that you’re not there to make anyone look foolish”
Lately, I’m going through an opposite dilemma.. I’m in there close a lot of the times but I might be missing the better shot by not backing up… This is especially true when it comes to making portraits with permission.. I’ll often use a very wide lens set to min. distance (17mm @ ~18″) and focus by moving the camera.. I love the actual experience and connection by shooting in this manner but i’m not positive that the results are as good as they should be for viewers besides myself..
I’ll often shoot in a similar fashion for the non-permission shots except i’ll set the focus to 3-4 feet.. so in that regard, that’s one way to force yourself to get in there close — glue your focus to a short distance and you’ll have to wait until people are close or else you’ll end up with a bunch of out-of-focus pictures..
As far as how I actually do it, I don’t think I can come up with a decent explanation.. I’m a shy person by nature and I definitely wouldn’t consider myself to be the life of the party type of guy.. More like the fly on the wall people watcher type.. A camera gives people watching a new dimension and with the portrait type shots, i’m actually able to sometimes enjoy a decent conversation that would have never occurred if i weren’t making pictures.. I can’t always do these closeup shots and I’d say I have enough energy to do that style for about one hour per week.. It helps me to try and previsualize these close shots and then do what it takes to get the shots.. It also helps if i try to mentally prepare myself for a session hours or days before actually going out there.. just relaxing..
Once i begin a session (typically, 20-30 minute spurts – even if i’m out there shooting for 6 hours), I tend to forget about the nervousness and just try to enjoy these connections to people that I’ve never experienced without a camera.. When i start to feel mentally exhausted, i’ll take a break… I might call it a day or i might recharge for another go.. Don’t force it – that rarely works..
david!
like you said eye contact is very important, it tells a lot, but what i think is, that people have to see you beeing into what are you doing. i’m doing assignments for university of wales course in newport. we are learning basics at the moment. assignment is about person at work. one of places i’m shooting in is boxing gym. the trainer has son, who helps him to train. at the time i was walking around people, trying to find my frame i felt his eyes on me, i was doing my work and he was observer, he accepted the way i’m working, do you understand what i’m trying to say?
oh, do you think it is possible to see you here in newport as guest lecturer? it would be fantastic for us to have opportunity to meet you! do you remember chiara tocci from easter processions workshop in sicily? she stays next to me right now and we have good laught. we both, and i’m sure all of our friends here would like to talk with you! we can help in organize the meeting.
best regards
RAFAL..
you are right about the dress cafe on that day…nobody was a total stranger…but, the day before everyone i shot there was a total stranger…and even the one´s that were not total strangers on the day you mention , were total strangers the week before!!!
BARTEK….
please give Chiara my warmest regards….i will write you by e-mail my schedule and the possibility of doing something with you in newport..
HELLO ALL…
now in sao paolo….limited computer time….but off to photo fest in paraty tomorrow, so i should have some interesting material for you…
as usual, i ask your patience when i am òn the road`….
cheers, david
Hey Uncle,
I once had the privilege to work with a great reporter who taught me a lot about how to break the ice with the folk we report on, I mean this guy was ( and still is) something else…..wearing running shorts, a pink Lacoste sports shirt and riding boots topped off with a silk scarf and 6 ft 6 ” tall.. they guy may as well have been wearing a goddamn moonsuit!
But he had this way ,this way with people that made them invite him into their lives , homes , dramas .. almost like they couldnt believe someone like him was interested in someone like them!
People can spot a bullshitter and a faker from a mile off…so is best to be yourself and be very interested in the people you take pictures of…just saw your pics on the blokes with big hats …Do you agree the notion of the cowboy not only applies to bovine cutodians in cool hats? but also takes in the qualities so eloquently described in Willie Nelson’s ” My heros will allways be cowboys”?
Uncle Bob.
I am cooking up something fun for you old son!
Truth,
G
These would be my suggestions;
So much can be achieved without even speaking a word. Be entirely open. Be aware of your body language but not so much that you are tense. Don’t fold your arms. Don’t embrace yourself as so many of us do unawares. These are the barriers that strangers pull back from. Keep your body open and fluid and that applies most particularly to your face.
Also, pre-focus as much as possible so that you can minimize the amount of time the camera is at your face. It also helps to make plenty of shots without looking through the finder. This can extend your reach towards intimacy in a nonthreatening way with surprising results. If you’re an experienced photographer and you know you gear well, you’ll know what you can expect to get in the frame with a little practice. This approach can really add dynamism to your work and you’ll surprise yourself.
It’s a combination of things. It’s the dance. Be economical and quiet in your movements. Be as fluid as possible and people will welcome you into the fold.
Damon, good to see you here. I’m glad. You’re right, it’s good to know that Mr. Harvey himself gets the jitters. It’s reassuring somehow.
JEFF…
cool website!! nice skateboard stuff and portraits…i have no time now to look carefully, but will do so soonest…
GLENN…
you hit the nail right on the head…`people can spot a bullshitter a mile off…` being yourself is exactly the key…and i have a feeling we are both cowboys (ringers) at heart….
PAUL…
you too have it right…i suppose there are many ways of being `right`….certainly the word `dance`does apply and all of us must go with the particular beat of the music playing at the time…
DAMON…
i do it both ways, so i know what you mean…sometimes i have NG as a reason for shooting , but many many times it is just ME…people quickly forget the publication you are shooting for anyway…that is good for just a few minutes and maybe a press pay or whatever…ultimately, people must like YOU….
cheers, david
Twas mentioned above that we should not make people look bad but this is something I often do for various reasons. Much of the time I’m not setting out to but a situation may make someone look rather daft. This is part of the human condition after all. Some people just look unfortunate. I appreciate the comic value of absurd situations and realize for the most part that these persons are anonymous. Sometimes I think it is necessary to step back and watch people for the animals that we are. I often watch people through the same eyes that I would watch a flock of birds or a pack of dogs or a herd of elephants. The pack behavior, the animal antics of humankind. These are the eyes I look through as I meander through city streets. However, when I come upon an intriguing human story I linger a little, make connections and begin again to see the individual.
I still keep coming back to a previous comment on a previous post about being invisible. I like this idea. For the most part I play this game but on occasion will approach, introduce myself and demonstrate my intentions, though not always verbally, and often make friends.
Being a street photographer is so contradictory, isn’t it? So many approaches. So many states of mind. Sometimes we are driven by empathy. Sometimes cynicism. Always curiosity. I try to make street photography when I’m in a bad mood. I try to make street photography when I’m in good form. I try to make street photography when I’m depressed and when I’m elated. Each time it’s revealing. Not of humankind, necessarily, but of oneself.
I could write and write on street photography, the invisible observer of the herd and the intimate observer of the individual but I’d only go round and round in circles. It’s still such a mystery. People are so mysterious. It’s pure unadulterated chaos. Therein lies the magic of it all. The not knowing whether you’ll be beaten up or invited to dinner.
PAUL…
well, i have never been beaten up and have had many a pleasant dinner!!!
DAMON…
that should read press pass not press pay!!!
I read David’s recommendation to use one lens and camera so that using the camera will become second nature and fast. People sure loose patience quickly when someone is fumbling with a camera.
I’m a shy person. I find I can engage with people when I’m feeling comfortable and happy. Then a smile or eye contact or a few words puts people at ease. When I’m in that playful state of mind I feel like I belong.
It takes a certain amount of energy to be in this frame. When I don’t have that, a lot of the things mentioned on this page have helped make me feel like I belong there—getting into people’s personal space. Those are having a specific project, having permission to shoot from authorities (event organizers, business owners or permission from people), and also knowing I’m there to do a job—when it’s a paying gig—and I gotta deliver!
I’d really rather be the guy holding a camera and being obvious that I’m shooting than trying to be sneaky about it. Even if I get a good photo encache I find the camera takes a picture both ways and captures my state of mind too.
David, how does someone like Alec Soth get so close to people that they allow them to make the photos he does? I saw the Niagra series and it seems like wizardy. It must be nice to just hang-out with people an make photos over an extended period. I would like to try that. Grab shots can only take me so far in depth.
Great page, cheers.
that’s great, we are looking forward to hearing from you!
chiara sends you a bear hug, and a big GRAZIE
You’ve never been beaten up because you are a big man. I know because I met you back in 2000 under the influence of several beers at an ICP bash. I was with my dear friend Hilary Duffy and was knocking them back in relief at not having damaged Helmut Newton’s huge book whose pages I was assigned to turn for guests. Those white gloves I had to wear had me on the brink of insanity. I hate those things.
I’ve never been beaten up either, miraculously. Mind you, I can run very fast, even with lots of gear.
Why hasn’t Hilary uttered a word or two here, I wonder? I’m sure she’s lurking.
IAN G..
only alec soth knows for sure…but, knowing him, i can see that he is totally `non-threatening` in general and this is probably true when he is talking honeymoon couples into taking their clothes off…
and again, there are two ways to work…one; more or less unobtrusive (small camera, friendly, part of the scene or un-noticed) or two; big camera on tripod (not sneaky, totally declared, everybody knows what you are doing and they can take it or leave it)….the latter is alec´s way and actually my way too, even though the camera size is different…
PAUL…
you were the helmut newton page turner??? get that in your bio….that´s ok, i had to drive helmut from the airport to downtown washington once as an intern….i liked that man…i am sure you would turn his pages any time and i would have driven him anywhere..
i saw hillary not so long ago, but now i am trying to remember where…some opening or other photo function…
hillary where are you??? come out, come out…paul and i are waiting!!!
cheers, david
Cousin Glenn (come on Nephew, I aint as old as the hills y’all! ;)) )…
Old Son Dima is awaiting :))))))……
for the record, i guess, i should add this too: i have 3 cameras (not counting the cool polaroid that one of my students gave me), each with 1 lens, and i almost only ever carry 1 per shoot/day/moment, etc….
in a way, i’ve always felt this: my head was (and still is) cluttered enough with thoughts and impressions and senses and words and scents and hopes and fears and loves and lusts and sounds and tails and time and worry and dreams and dust and dirt and silence, a patch of something, awaiting, to ever, ever use more than 1 camera at a time or thing about multiple lenses or settings or flash vs. noflash, or holga vs 35mm, or lomo vs medformat or, yes damnit shoot that or no damnit wait, to concern myself with too much gear….so much shit inside my head and spreading body, that i prefer only 1 bag, 1 camera, 1 lense, a few rolls of trix and await to see: that’s nerve racking enough, and oh, yes, like this:
that’s it…..bob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Ec-cZGYAU
Jeff,
yes, the skateboard essay is impressive in an already quite impressive link. I hope it’s OK Can I ask you what kind of lighting equipment you use to stop the action as you did, while framing as if the guys were posing. Is processing also paramount in getting thi hyepr-realist “patina”?
Not sure if that is asking to give away one’s method, so pardon my curiosity if that is so.
hey Herve..
i guess this is going way off topic but…
i use five flashes – 2x sb800, sunpak555, 400w/s lumedyne action pack, and a viv285… all triggered via pocket wizards..
the main thing to realize about freezing motion with flashes is that they have to be brighter than the ambient by ~2stops or more.. once you get that kind of ratio going, the 1/250 xsync no longer matters and the speed of the flash will be the effective shutter speed..
the problem with that however is the greater the output of a thrystor style flash, the slower it’s duration… for the most part, i try to keep my flash output at 1/4 or less — they are around 1/3000 sec and faster at that point.. however, at such low outputs, they aren’t bright enough to overpower bright ambient so that’s why i carry so many of them.. i often have to double or triple them up and i never use more than three actual points of light.. the lumedyne is great in that it’s fastest at its highest output but i only have enough room in the bag to carry one (all of my gear has to fit in a backpack because i skate to most of these spots – i don’t have the luxury of driving around with a trunk full of gear)..
as far as processing goes, i keep it to a minimum..(aside from the obviously overcooked ones).. simple toning and contrast via the curves dialog.. once i convert to sRGB for web display, the pictures will often take on this overly saturated look but they are more toned down when printed or viewed with their original profile on a calibrated system.. the lighting i use gives these most of their pop..
and i don’t mind giving away my methods.. afterall, they are basically my regurgitated ways of those that came before me.. maybe you can chew them up some more and spit something else out of them…
Thanks, Jeff. a bit daunting at this point for me who knows nothing about artificial life except leaving it to chance, but a very valuable input from you (nothing is quite off-topic on david’s blog, esp. when he is away and “leaves us the key”!).
I think quite a bit of experience, feeling one’s way goes into this superb knowledge to make flash photography work for you. What you call regurgitating.
Much grateful for your reply.
errata: artificial light of course (not life)….
From the book “Image Makers, Image Takers” by Anne-Celine Jaeger (and Alec Soth’s own blog)
“Q: How did you overcome your fear of photographing people?
Alec Soth: I started out with kids because that was less threatening. I eventually worked my way up to every type of person. At first, I trembled every time I took a picture. My confidence grew, but it took a long time. I still get nervous today. When I shoot assignments I’m notorious amongst my assistants for sweating. It’s very embarrassing. I did a picture for the The New Yorker recently and I was drenched in sweat by the end and it was the middle of winter.”
I sincerely appreciate photographers’ honesty about this … makes me feel better, more confident, actually, to know everyone goes through this to one degree or another. If Alec Soth can move from sheer terror to nudes of newlyweds he’s met at Niagra … then I have no excuses ;))
There were two of us, myself and Harry Zernike who was a classmate.
Perhaps I will put that detail into my bio. It was a strange night.
It’s great to be back on the blog after a couple of days being consumed with whether my house in San Diego was going to burn down. Our neighborhood was evacuated but thankfully it looks like we’ve been spared.
We’re in the process of moving to Santa Fe but our home is in (Carlsbad) San Diego. I guess you could say we “pre-evacuated” without any belongings since we’re in Santa Fe now, heading back to San Diego next week.
It’s a huge disaster there and I feel so badly for everyone affected. I’m feeling lucky that I was away during the fires…but then again there would have been some great photo ops! Oh well…having my house okay makes up for missed shots.
Good that you and yours are safe, Cathy.
Thanks very much Erica.
David,
This thread could not have come at a better time for me. I have been in quite the rut lately and have had a major case of the “room lockdown” recently. It is so nice to know that I’m not the only one who has this issue. Let alone someone so succesful. The responses to your query have also inspired me. Because of this thread I decided to “bite the bullet” and throw away all thoughts of fear. In fact I did something I had not previously done. I walked up to someone’s house and just asked them if I could take their picture. And it worked. Amazing! I know it won’t work everytime but its a good sign when you finally are able to overcome a fear. Thanks again for the thread and thanks to all those who responded.
–Davis Archibald
David, it’s an evil pleasure to see everybody has the same problems! and you continue to show your ability to ask wicked questions. when I start working on a project I come to circumstance and find one or a group of friends (find them myself or just introduced to them be older friends) and mostly they will contact me to others in the area. I spend time with them show my interest to their lifestyle, my real feeling about them, I let them to know about me and my love for photography of everything, I start to take pictures of ordinary things and their questions will start: why you take pictures of this or that but it will pass and then I take more and more pix. but yes at last there is always the hard moment: eye contact, let them see my mind and heart and give the permission from them. it is not easy some days I just prefer to hide myself and stay home and reading Harry Potter instead go out and face it :)
I have a question about your camera hope you answer that: what kind of camera and lens do you use?
i just discovered this blog and i only wish i had found it sooner…reading the comments here make me feel as if i have found a long lost and needed support group. sometimes i feel as if i am the only street photographer that feels anxiety and struggles with shyness. most websites that i have come across rarely seem to have comments with some of the vulnerability revealed here…anyway, after buying a canon 30D in january of this year and taking an excellent photo class, i became infected with the street photography bug. It was at first a struggle to get past of some of my anxieties, but then after a few months, it started to get better. living in NYC, and shooting primarily in manhattan, one invariably encounters ALOT of really uptight and defensive people. my approach has varied from shooting from the hip to asking to the Gary Winogrand thing i saw in a video of holding your camera at shoulder height and just shooting as you walk along to other techniques. the biggest battle for me is that it is just hard to get past my anxiety. the reason that i keep on doing it is because when i get on a roll, relax and find interesting subjects to shoot, it is EXHILARATING…i have no interest whatsoever in shooting landscapes, fashion, product photography, studio portraits or nature. for me, it is all about street photography and nothing else excites me to do or to look at in photo books. As far as equipment goes, I was initially shooting with a 17-50mm 2.8 telephoto lens but felt that it may have been intimidating people, so now for streetwork, I use small prime lenses (24mm f/2.8 or 35mm f/2.0) Maybe it is all in my head, but when I use these smaller lenses, it seems that people don’t look at my camera as I walk around as much…
The link below is an interview with Henri Cartier Bresson made in 2000.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4074157481455007235
I still like prefer hiding behind a bush with a telephoto lens. There’s just something comforting about it, and then there’s almost always a can or a bottle you can redeem for a nickle nearby.