We need to reflect a lot before photographing and never when photographing
We need to grasp the good subject and situation, not to generate them
the best is simplicity, the natural, the living detail
ours is a work of great responsibility
The photojournalist through the newspapers exposes his point of view to many people
the danger is that in the text tendentious juxtapositions are made that alter the truth
Hi friends, welcome to this new video that we opened today with the images of Henri Cartier Bresson
walking around the street taking pictures
but even more important are his words that define what street photographer is and what is street photography
this video is dedicated to those who want to enter the world of street photography
but also to those who already do street photography and who have doubts about its aspects
today we will not talk about the history of street photography
but we will try to identify the most important characteristics that characterize it
Unlike other photographic genres such as portrait photography, landscape photography, architectural photography, etc.
street photography is a bit more complex
which resulted in discussions or doubts over time
in fact some of you identify some street photos while others do not street
so it's time to clarify what are the key features of street photography
Today we will try to identify what are the characteristic elements of street photography
and in my opinion they are simply two and we will see at the end of the video
we will try to answer some doubts, not with my personal opinion
but looking at the pictures of the great masters of street photography
Meanwhile, we give a general definition of street photography
and as the name says, its main setting is the street
Is this sufficient to define street photography or are there other elements to analyze?
Obviously yes! and we will analyze it in this video
However, before saying what street photography is, let's analyze some of the questions I've read on the web
The first question we will clarify is the most recurrent one:
only a photo set in an urban context is to be considered street
or even a picture taken in an extra-urban context is considered as street photo?
In my opinion, even a photo taken in an extra-urban context (not in a big city)
such as at the seaside, in the countryside, etc., can be identified as a street photo
This is not just me, but let's see what the great masters of street photography have achieved
For example, Elliott Erwitt in this photo that made him famous all over the world
has immortalized these two lovers not in an urban context but certainly suburban
Even Cartier Bresson used an extra-urban context to take this very famous photo
as well as Robert Doisneau
The second question we want to answer is this:
a picture is considered only street if taken on the street, or even if taken inside a building?
In my opinion, even a photo taken inside a building can be considered a photo street
Obviously I do not just say it, but also the great masters of street photography say it through their photos
Here, Cartier Bresson took this photo clearly inside a building because an internal stairway is visible
as well as Erwitt
but also the great Robert Frank
Another open question on street photography is this:
is it considered a photo street if the face of the subjects is not clearly visible?
Many say that if the face is not clearly visible, even their emotions are not clearly perceptible
so these can not be considered street photos.
In my opinion, even if a subject is depicted, for example, from behind, we can define that a photo street
Even here, great photographers help us
in fact many of them have realized this kind of photography
This photo is by Henri Cartier Bresson
but also Elliott Erwitt
Robert Frank
and Robert Doisneau
Finally, let's take a last look at the choice of color or black and white
Many say that street photos must be in black and white
In reality, we see that there are discordant opinions on this choice
There are certainly artists like Cartier Bresson who only produced black and white
and many others have done this by artistic choice
Instead there are others such as Erwitt who took pictures both in black and white and in color
Still others have chosen black and white for economic reasons because a black and white film cost less than one in color
It must also be said that the very first street photographers were shooting in black and white because the color film did not exist yet
So ultimately we can say that the choice of black and white or color makes the photographer for artistic choices
and not for a law that identifies black and white for street photography
So we tried to clarify some doubts that maybe some of you had
or to all those who might have before starting to do street photography
Let us now try to establish what are the secure characteristics of street photography
the one that followed all the great photographers like Cartier Bresson, Erwitt, etc.
The characteristics of a photo street are essentially two
The first characteristic is human presence
This is a fundamental element
In every street photo there must be human presence
just as the great masters did
The second characteristic is spontaneity
That is, the subjects must be caught in a moment of naturalness
The photographer must not interfere on the realization of the photograph nor on the subjects photographed
As we have seen, all the great masters have followed this fundamental rule
The reason is that street photography is the exaltation of emotions
it is necessary to exalt the emotions of the photographed subjects
so they must be caught in the naturalness of the moment
If you remember the initial clip where you see Cartier Bresson walking down the street to take pictures
we note that it is always taken from the shoulders, never in the face
the reason is that he himself asked not to be recognizable to those who filmed or photographed him
this, not because he particularly cared about his privacy, but because he feared to be recognized on the street in the future
this would have altered the emotions of the subjects he wanted to photograph
This is another lesson that Cartier Bresson gives us
In fact, the photographer must be transparent, not visible and present within the scene
because this alters the emotions of the subjects we want to photograph
So we tried to answer some questions and define the characteristics of street photography
As we have seen, the settings can be different: the street, inside a building, an extra-urban setting
we can capture faces or not
The important thing, however, is to follow those two simple rules that we have identified before
they were followed by all the great photographers who gave life to this photographic genre
I hope that with this video we have made clear why on the web they say many different things
so I ask you what you think of street photography and if the analysis we have done is correct
because I tried not to give my personal interpretation, but I simply looked at what some great masters of street photography have done
to identify the true characteristics of street photography
Now I greet you all and I'll meet you at the next video. Good street to everyone! Bye!
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