Another debate, when shooting street photography, is whether to be obvious or discreet. Sometimes, the answer is determined by legal considerations. For example, where a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy, the general rule of thumb is that no permission is required. Think of sports games where virtually everyone in attendance has a shot at appearing on the jumbotron. In public situations, I like to “shoot from the hip.” The rationale is that I want to catch people behaving naturally. The minute they realize they’re the subject of my photograph, the expression changes. Everything turns to plastic. The caveat is that I want to respect the subject’s dignity. No shots of inadvertent nose-picking or leaning over the garbage can to puke.
In this photo, you can see my reflection in the store window on the left hand side. At the instant I took the photo, my head was turned away from the subject, pretending to look down the street. Even though the valet didn’t know I took his photo, he still made a Zoolander kind of look, which I guess is what you’d expect from an employee of a high-end clothing store.
Here’s a photo where I’m obvious. I used my 5D Mk III and had it wedged high against a pole where everybody could see it. But it was Nuit Blanche so nobody cared. Thousands of people were out on the streets with cameras.
I shot this one straight from the hip. The girl was so engrossed in her phone, I never expected her to look up. She surprised me as much as I surprised her.
I’m not sure if this qualifies as street. I see something interesting, set up my shot, but don’t take it until somebody passes into the frame. The presence of a person makes it more, um, human. Nevertheless, the person is incidental to the shot.
