What is Street Photography?

Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions, and other settings.

Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society. Street photography often tends to be ironic and can be distanced from its subject matter, and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment. On the other hand, much street photography takes the opposite approach and provides a very literal and extremely personal rendering of the subject matter, giving the audience a more visceral experience of walks of life they might only be passingly familiar with. In the 20th century, street photographers have provided an exemplary and detailed record of street culture in Europe and North America, and elsewhere to a somewhat lesser extent.

Source of Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_photography

Any examples?

There's plenty of examples with a quick google image search. Here's some from the masters

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Garry Winogrand

And from KL

Che' Ahmad Azhar

and many more.

Is it legal?
It is usually not illegal, unless it is stated clearly that "No photography is allowed" or you are in some military base. Legality aside, use comment sense and respect your subjects.

Is it ethical?
Definitely not 100%. It's an argument between art and privacy. How many of the people being photographed would like their pictures to be posted in websites? But again, I think it also depends on the intentions of taking the photos and the culture of the place / country. It's something remains to be discussed.

Should you ask for permission?
If you ask for permission for the person to be photographed, it's no longer considered "street or candid photography"

What gears do I need?
Basically any camera would do though most prefer something lightweight and small as to not being weighted down by gear while staying inconspicuous.

Purpose of this thread?
To help forumers know more about street photography, to discuss about whether it is ethical or not, and to share the tips and techniques.

Edit: To attach photos from flickr.. click spoiler below. Please make sure size is limited to maximum of 1024 width.



This post has been edited by sniper on the roof: Sep 29 2014, 10:37 AM

V2 is up.. lipos some old stuff just to start things up.


IMG_1353 by vmwt, on Flickr


IMG_9655 by vmwt, on Flickr


bIMG_6116 by vmwt, on Flickr

Gratz on v2~

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Added on September 28, 2011, 9:34 amthis looks nice~

This post has been edited by littleprawn: Sep 28 2011, 09:34 AM

Badly compose... but thanks for posing by calbricks, on Flickr

this is one pic i wished he didnt notice me... sigh...
was composing n focusing, suddenly he smile and the peace sign, i also kan cheong...

Me No Sexy ... Why You Take Pichuh?



p/s - Thank you Sniper for creating the new thread.

Congratz V2 , more leng lui street pictures pls ... Sniper

sniper the king of the streets! congrats!

That's really up close and personal but I can't quite get what they were doing.

Oh jangan... later I get strike by lightning. Noob here.

If wanna see nice street style photos... check out tungtong's and paul swee's photostream here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tungtong/5077...157625029945799

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tungtong/4591...157624004465864

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulswee/2913...s-23880047@N05/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulswee/5495...s-23880047@N05/

This post has been edited by sniper on the roof: Sep 28 2011, 12:15 PM

Sell beetlenut la . They dowan to shave leg and wear short sexy skirt. For the sexy pics, everybody looking to you.

congrats on v2.

my last post hilang?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

street photo during my trip to taiwan

This post has been edited by tim55: Sep 28 2011, 05:02 PM

@yuhi: the photo would be nicer if the girl's face is not blocked by the erm, batang

my contribution for the day

lol @batang, yeah i think so too, spontaneous shot, pity the "batang" was there LOL!

Sniper, permission to dig up old pictures pleaseeeee

Street Pianist


This post has been edited by -kytz-: Sep 28 2011, 10:55 PM

nice one yuhi

Share 1 for today



yuhi: What u film u using?

he 20 photog tips not working already D:

thx tim55

Zircon: Ilford HP5 plus @iso400 (I think, not sure if I pushed this to iso 800), developed in ilford ID-11.

V2 already!! here's my spam contribution...




This has been taken by Mr Sniper before...

in taiwan also?

Yeah.. Jz came back few weeks ago

Same product, very different sales method

Really like this one. Got the players...the lighting... the concentration.... the onlookers and a bit of the background all in.

Hahahaha

P7010718 by vmwt, on Flickr

This post has been edited by sniper on the roof: Sep 29 2011, 09:49 AM

thanks for the feedback , sniper

This post has been edited by tim55: Sep 29 2011, 01:41 PM

I thought I saw a ghost!

omg..that's too fair. macam edited ... lol

I don`t really get what`s street photography is, yes I read all those things, and I`ve concluded that Street photo is a picture that record a daily life routine, or a picture that tells a story.
My first one.
dunno if this picture fits the story but here it is.
crappy lens.. kitlens...
Crappy skills...
crappy composition....xD I have lots to learn
do C&C

School life by leovyner, on Flickr



Lining up by leovyner, on Flickr



remembering who you are by leovyner, on Flickr

This post has been edited by leovyner: Oct 2 2011, 03:52 AM

--

This post has been edited by piscesguy: Oct 8 2011, 07:18 AM

leovyner: There are many definitions of street photography, its up to the photographer on how to interpret them. Each street photographer has its own style based on how he interprets the meaning of street photography. But basically, my interpretation of street photography is "recording everyday / unusual lifes of people in an area inside the city or suburb". It must not be staged, I won't ask permission for photos so its best to be stealthy and avoid standing out in the crowd to get photos! =)


Decisions

41960040 by jeremy1choo, on Flickr

This post has been edited by yuhi: Oct 2 2011, 09:34 AM

I thought of that too. well it`s us who photograph it, so it`s up to us what`s art or what`s not. xD
IMO, I`d better off taking "candid" than asking permission too.
thanks for the heads up.

IMO, I think you need to get closer to your subjects for #1 and #2. TBH I can't really make out/decide which is the subject in those photos.

I like #3 but there is too much blank space on the left and the composition on the right is a lil bit too tight

Good job! Keep it up

this sounds like a good place to start practicing my camera skills

I like the 2nd pic. It shows that the 2 kid is running with enjoyment towards the park. But as yuhi says, it could be better if the subject (kids) is more dominant/stronger

I think a more up close and personal shot would be much better, instead of "belakang shot"

A shot from the side to show their expressions can be good too

Just starting out, so plenty of belakang shots

Will try side shots next time to see how they turn out

actually I am making the kids as the subject but I wanted to include the shadows too...
so that`s how it turned out.
thanks for the heads up

Rush Hour

Leng lui with BIG ...... bag!!!




Comments appreciated. I think I'm loosing detail of the kuih in front (whiteout). Too noisy?

Hiroboi: Do you know how to do dodge and burn? It can help save under/over exposure in a photo and blown highlights =)

I see vege price has gone up.

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Added on October 3, 2011, 10:03 amOn another note.... this is worth a read/remind.

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/09/30/1...er-by-eric-kim/

I like this quote....



This post has been edited by sniper on the roof: Oct 3 2011, 10:03 AM

Yah I know the basic concept of dodge and burn. Pain in the ass to do with mouse la. I try to do globally i.e. with curves or mask or vignette ... but sometimes cannot larr . Do you have the Wacoal tablet thingy?

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Added on October 3, 2011, 11:23 am

p/s - Who the hell want to wait a year before send film for developing . This Gary Wino fella is not normal person la.

This post has been edited by HiroBoroi: Oct 3 2011, 11:23 AM

On another note... maybe he too poorfag for lab money.

boleh kah?



This post has been edited by idoblu: Oct 3 2011, 11:48 AM

Its really easy! At least when I use this method, here's the tutorial\

p.s. I roughly do it with mouse and add gaussian blur to the edges so that it doesn't look weird. Works wonders!

This post has been edited by yuhi: Oct 3 2011, 02:09 PM

Thanks for the tip. I will try it. I use Gimp .

Chicken tonight?


PA022055 by vmwt, on Flickr

aiyoh~ why they put the live chicken next to their cutting?? thats inhumane.

They also chop the fella behind... lets all be vegans.

Another shot... different stall


PA022036 by vmwt, on Flickr

Thanks for link.

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/09/30/1...er-by-eric-kim/

= )

ATM Rushing

My first post here. hope all seniors can give some advice.


1. Feel for Art


2. Chilling amidst the hustle and bustle

LOL Those are my graphic design course mates!!

They're my course mates

Edit : that's not ghost btw, that's albino.

'sup K.

This post has been edited by patienceGNR: Oct 7 2011, 04:54 PM

LOL, those are my colleagues. =D

This post has been edited by chikoboy: Oct 7 2011, 08:20 PM

Please C&C

Dude, can u respect her? just imagine, if that was your friends, sister, mother or even your girl friend, will you say the same thing to her? what will she feel that the words after hear you say? i not try to argue , just... u think she wan be like that? its born to be like that, and thats not funny at all...

Ok..I have regret to have said that..I m sorry to Ms. Albino.

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Added on October 8, 2011, 7:00 amOk dunlikethatlah. U r right. I feel sad now.

This post has been edited by piscesguy: Oct 8 2011, 07:00 AM

doesnt look tat albino to me
i tot fair white girls are pretty?

Comments appreciated . Is the side mirror distracting?

errm...u like her bag..

what camera (and/or lens) you all using? i using 35mm lens.. feels abit shy to take street photography.. it feels almost like point blank range at times..

Here is some from me

why u no crop ah?

Too much intrude inside pic . If I crop, become medium format pic. Square pic.

Stuntman In Action

'Keep Doing It' Series












This post has been edited by blur_mak: Oct 16 2011, 04:33 PM

@blur
nice.....

Whatever You're Selling ... I'm Not Buying!!



Comments appreciated. I really love the body language of the guy. He is definitely resisting with all his might the sweet talk. I think the hand blends into the post. Are the cars behind distracting? Any comments on the PP? Overdone?

The feel fine. Cars a bit distracting but it told us that it is probably a busy afternoon.

Hiro bro, you crop the left side?

Or it is taken this way.because if can i would prefer the car more on right handside, so i would allow more space on the left and crop out more on the right.

This is to allow the car to have a "space" to go. Follow the flow.

Just my 2 cents

Keep doing it series, nice.

Thank you for your comments. Yes I did crop a bit. I rotated the pic coz senget and trim off the edges a few pixels.

Looking again at the pic, I think I over sharpen the guy. His arm looks like have bintat bintat skin disease . Luckily the girl's skin smooth like baby's bottom . It was late evening and light was fading. Maybe f5.6 and 1/15 sec . So can see his left hand and face a bit blurr due to movement. <-- to justify the aggressive sharpening .

One thing about street photog is its just so random. You walk and walk and suddenly, you see something . When you snap, you just hope they don't react to you like making eye contact .

i love this pic...
u also snap random photographer behind the stuntman...

This post has been edited by lahAHMAD: Oct 20 2011, 02:05 PM

If candid then better before they realize your existence. Thats why i prefer 50mm on DX for street rather than 35mm.

Some nice article from yanidel about street photography

13 ways to shoot candis

5 popular types of Street Photography

personally i think im more of up close type of style

Thanks for sharing

Argument

oh, ni kat Bangkok ni~

All Canon photographers on the other side..

NIKON D40
50MM 1.8G

Picture is ORI, JPEG straight from camera.

Nice. Nice posture u captured.

The Passerby

hiro, any idea where to get the V for vendetta mask n cap?

I get mine from Madam Ambiga . But the one she gib, not fool proof one. Can still Kantoi.

p/s - Happy Deepavali.

a shop at petaling street there got sell all sort of mark for different occasion such as Halloween, Masquerade, etc and V Vendetta mask got sell there. Cap any black cowboy head will do.

Hope it helps.

This post has been edited by hidden830726: Oct 26 2011, 08:51 PM