Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

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phuketrichard
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Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by phuketrichard »

MY take and i agree with this article;

its harder and harder to pursue my art and even though many think it is not, i do.
t took root in New York in the 60s and 70s with compelling images of street life that captured the heart of the city. But anxieties about privacy, terrorism, and paedophilia have conspired to make the art of street photography ever more difficult. Sean O'Hagan recalls the movement's heyday and charts today's pioneers

......"When I'm photographing, I see life," he once said. "That's what I deal with. I don't have pictures in my head… I don't worry about how the picture is going to look. I let that take care of itself… It's not about making a nice picture. That anyone can do."

.....It would be even more difficult to take street photographs the way the more gentle practitioners of the form did. Both Britain's Roger Mayne, working in the 1950s and 1960s, and America's Helen Levitt, who famously began shooting in colour in New York in the early 60s, often photographed children at play in the streets and never thought twice about it. Neither did the children's parents or guardians. That is not the case any more. We live in an age of anxieties, both big and small, real and imagined.
Today, photography – and street photography in particular – is a contested sphere in which all our collective anxieties converge: terrorism, paedophilia, intrusion, surveillance. We insist on the right to privacy and, simultaneously, snap anything and everyone we see and everything we do – in public and in private – on mobile phones and digital cameras.

....Back in 2008, Home Office minister Tony McNulty, responding to a query from a photographer, wrote: "There is no legal restriction on photography in public places, and there is no presumption of privacy for individuals in a public place.

...To be a street photographer today, you need, as Martin Parr recently put it, "obsession, dedication and balls"
What is Street photography?


.."It's essentially a way of working wherein you have to be utterly open to what happens on the street," says McLaren, "So, no props, no models, and you always use available light. Then, it's down to a mixture of happenstance, luck and skill."
for Vlad the bold part::
"I'd agree with all that but I'd also add that there should be no post-production like Photoshop or whatever and, just as importantly, no pre-production. In fact, I never make any form of communication with anyone I am photographing before I take a picture. You are looking in at something without being a part of it. That's very important.
i am sure many will agree to disagree on this subject
Image
...So, I try to be very clear about what I am doing, to myself, and the people I am photographing. I kind of mingle with the camera, I don't sneak around shooting without trying to be seen. I tell them what I am doing and that it might appear in a magazine or a book or whatever and people tend to be OK with that on the whole. It's a gamble but it usually pays off."
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign ... are_btn_fb
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TheGrinchSR
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by TheGrinchSR »

I find street photography incredibly stressful in the West... where if a child even walks through the shot, you're suddenly surrounded by a group of angry people accusing you of being some sort of deviant.

Here in South East Asia most people seem to be delighted that you're pointing a camera at them. I got some great photos at the Siem Reap water festival... and nobody moaned at all. (My favourite is two coppers with their backs to the crowds talking bollocks and smoking cigarettes at a bridge).
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by flying chicken »

Whomever deleted my post in the first response to this thread -- I demand explanation. Put it back on; it speaks some truth .

Let me put it another way. If some creeps go around taking pictures of your naked children call it 'art' and posted it publicly on his website. Honestly, what is your stance on this?
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by TheGrinchSR »

flying chicken wrote:Whomever deleted my post in the first response to this thread -- I demand explanation. Put it back on; it speaks some truth .

Let me put it another way. If some creeps go around taking pictures of your naked children call it 'art' and posted it publicly on his website. Honestly, what is your stance on this?
When I first got to Cambodia, I photographed a bunch of kids jumping in the river naked. I put it up on Facebook out of over 200 people on my feed (most of them parents), not one single person thought it was obscene or perverted. When I was a kid, my parents often used to show nude pictures of me and my brother to friends and family. There's nothing wrong with nude children. There's nothing sexual about kids being kids. It takes a certain kind of demented thinking to make it otherwise.
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flying chicken
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by flying chicken »

Hence I demanded my first post to this thread to be brought back to understand my context!

Others taking photos of such nature to show friends and family back home or what not of that certain country everyday's lives. The case with him is it's business. Photos he publicly posted on his website is acceptable to the general public, but what concerned me is ones that aren't shared and can only be viewed with his secret circle of friends.

Maybe Cam Nivag can do an experiement by having his sis hanging with Phucket alone for a couple of days or the nymphets he acquainted with at the Walkabout.
Last edited by flying chicken on Wed Jun 24, 2015 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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vladimir
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by vladimir »

Two things I think need to be addresses, and let's not forget, Richard, that just because something is lawful definitely does not mean it's moral or ethical.

1. Parents need to know who's taking the picture, and how it will be used.

2. If you're making money from the pictures you take of people, perhaps it's a good idea to give some back. If you want to photograph a model, you have to pay.

Richard, what is to stop you communicating with them AFTER you take the photo? Mmm?
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TheGrinchSR
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by TheGrinchSR »

If someone is in public it's both ethical and legal to photograph them. It's probably not ethical to cash in on someone's image without a release form however.

Parents have no specific right to know that their child is being photographed. Though, I will if a child's parents are on hand - seek their permission first, I have a wonderful shot of a little girl holding a balloon by the river in Siem Reap, her family just kind of surrounded me during the boat races. I asked to take that picture because they were there. If a kid's parents aren't there - it's still OK to take their photo.

I don't shoot people for commercial purposes. In fact, while I do use some of my images commercially, I don't shoot anything other than buildings and places of interest most of the time. But if you see a great human interest shot - taking the shot is fine. I tend to agree that it's nice to approach someone afterwards and tell them about the picture if you can but it's not essential either.

People have become incredibly prissy about photography. Yet, in the UK (for example) they're only too happy to left every motherfucker and his mum video their kids with CCTV on every building and street corner.
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by Username Taken »

flying chicken wrote:Whomever deleted my post in the first response to this thread -- I demand explanation. Put it back on; it speaks some truth .

Let me put it another way. If some creeps go around taking pictures of your naked children call it 'art' and posted it publicly on his website. Honestly, what is your stance on this?
I deleted your post because it did not speak any truth, you were just launching a personal attack on the OP and his family.

Keep it up and you can take another break from CEO.
flying chicken
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by flying chicken »

UT, it is an observational truth. I was awaiting for his response to see if he denies it.

GrinchSR you punk, why dont you go join your partner in crime travelling to Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and other impoverish countries you both can think of and take naked pictures of children for a living.

Orangedragon strongly opposed his thread in the taking naked photo of children thread; he seemed to hold on grudges ever since; many also voiced the same concern in that thread too. Phucket is angry at OD because OD doesnt condone people go around taking photos of naked children *for a living*. Yet the creep still obsessed with this topic a year later!
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phuketrichard
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Re: Why street photography is facing a moment of truth

Post by phuketrichard »

vladimir wrote:Two things I think need to be addresses, and let's not forget, Richard, that just because something is lawful definitely does not mean it's moral or ethical.

1. Parents need to know who's taking the picture, and how it will be used.

2. If you're making money from the pictures you take of people, perhaps it's a good idea to give some back. If you want to photograph a model, you have to pay.

Richard, what is to stop you communicating with them AFTER you take the photo? Mmm?
1. please tell me how one finds out who the parents are of the kids on the streets and how does one even ask if one does NOT speak the language?

2. Many of my pics i take and have copies made ( like the Dump series i did) and take an pass them out to the kids,
EVERY TIME they loved them. If i take photos of kids ( there are a few shot with their parents nearby an the kids are unclothed) I wont post them but there on my site. i have given them pics and they appreciated it. Give back? u have no idea what street photography is about, but its not about paying for street shots, If u look up the previous post i made to you ( https://cambodiaexpatsonline.com/general ... 54-90.html
it answers your question.
As to making money.... lol give me a break, my $$ comes from advertising an commercial work NOT what i enjoy shooting

FC
as to ur post ...."can only be viewed with his secret circle of friend"
I have no secret circle;

my photos are on my site, nothing hidden and no one has ever made any negative comments ( except u and G&T on k440)
if u ( or anyone) finds my photos in any manner sexual, then there is something wrong with you. Do you find the photo posted, offensive?
cause it is typical of what i shoot

I supposed ur also against certain words being spoken as well?
Phucket is angry at OD
total bullshit, i have nothing against OD , he has his opinion, i have mine

i ONLY posted this cause it is relative to today nothing to do with before ( the article was just written) and the future of street photography

How do u feel about street cams on every corner tracking ur every move?

Why cant u and vlad discuss this without getting personal?
Last edited by phuketrichard on Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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