What a concept! Right?! How in the world can “streets” talk? Figuratively of course! I’ve been heavily invested in photography since my tweens. Began seriously engaging in it as an art form at about fourteen. At about seventeen years is when I began photographing in a style that would come to be known as “street photography.” There are so many definitions of street photography in the photographic sphere that it’s become quite difficult to know what most photography pundits would agree it encompasses. I won’t get into what I define it as, I’ll let the photographs in this article show you a small piece of what I believe it to be.
The photograph above is from a roll of film that is the earliest roll I have that links to my beginnings in photography. I don’t believe it to be my first-ever roll of film because so much of what I photographed during those years was either accidentally thrown out—or was something I imagined.
Now on to perspectives. Would you consider yourself to be a people-watcher? I suppose many people are to some degree. It’s interesting (with a level of amusement)! If you were to take that notion one step further, and combine a camera with your people-watching aptitude, you’d have the ingredients and starting point in doing street photography.
While waiting for the walk signal to cross the street, this Parent and Child came up from behind. I had about twenty seconds to consider whether I wanted to take a photograph of them or not. Time was wasting, I didn’t think about options on whether or not to photograph them. I made two exposures. Timing was key in order to capture the child in action.
When I’m challenged with a “do or die” situation in photographing, I just do it, and deal with any consequences later. Most of the time, there are none.
Being a keen observer—not only of people, but of light and shadow is integral to photography. Understanding how various lighting conditions can affect visual interest in a photograph is not an everyday practice. There is barely a moment in a day I’m not considering how light affects what I am looking at. Wondering if lighting conditions make a potential photo better or not-so-good. Without the light of the cell phone lighting up her face, this photograph wouldn’t have the same “feel.”
In my opinion, street photography is closely linked with documentary photography—in that people, places, and situations coalesce in which a story unfolds. Street photography can, and many times does this in non-linear, non-structured ways. Where as documentary photography is best when structured in order to report on a cohesively executed news story. Documentary and news-gathering photographers have ethical standards they must adhere to in order to maintain credibility.
With that, in late May of 2020 I was compelled to document every BLM protest rally and march that I could get to in New York City. It would take until February 2022 when the number of protests rallies & marches began dwindling to a few per month. I then attended to other pressing personal issues stemming from the pandemic.
The rallying cries for social justice will be reverberating through American society for decades to come. Documenting such an historically important period in time was a requirement for me. I couldn’t not do it! The huge number of photographers—from around the world—who thought the same way about documenting what was happening was inspiring. To this day, protest marches and rallies continue throughout the city—and the world! Most have shifted their primary focus to Gaza and the Middle East. A global community if you will.
In the coming weeks, I will publish an article exploring my documentation of the BLM protest marches and rallies in New York City. Keep a lookout.
Whatever happens in front of the camera as I’m photographing, is not taken personally. Most reactions are of smiles and wonderment. Less often, strong reactions to the camera like the one above happens. I sometimes turn these situations into a moment to dialogue.
Ty and I engaged each other in conversation just after he gave his two middle fingers in camera. We joked about what he did, he then asked what I do as a photographer. He offered to pose if I would take a few portraits of him with his friend. I’m never one to say no when asked by someone to take their portrait—even when I don’t know them. All human interactions are valuable in their own way.
I’ll end this newsletter here with a video slideshow. It includes a series of randomly selected photographs encompassing an eighteen year period of time in my street photography experiences (1999-2017). Don’t view this as a “best of” feature. That is not my intention. It is—just a random selection of pictures.
What I’ve written about above is a small sampling of what I believe street photography entails. There’s also street portraiture, street abstracts, cityscapes, and quite a few other sub-genres that fit under the umbrella of street photography.
If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, have any question about motivation or why it is that I love to photograph the way I do, let me know in the comments.
As always, I appreciate that you’ve taken the time to read this newsletter through.
Til next time…
Kenneth