Does it qualify as Street Photography?

sashbar · Jun 18, 2013

Back to my yesterday session.. just one more shot if you do not mind... I wonder if this shot can be qualified as a proper street photography. Do you see the story here?

ShooterJ · Jun 18, 2013

I think there are too many distractions in this shot to get much of a theme out of it.

EDIT: That was probably a bit too blunt..

Sorry. I think if you want the theme to clearly be these two different people, then capture that. Maybe in a situation like this, put yourself in a position to clearly focus on the guitarist and anyone walking by.

I could picture (no pun intended) this shot with these two (the one walking toward instead of away) with a shallow depth of field that really phased most everything else out so that there's just a hint of the environment without all the distractions. I don't think your idea was bad at all.

I agree with manaheim, don't worry about explaining the shot. Just work on your composition and simplify a bit, let the photo speak for itself.

manaheim · Jun 18, 2013

Some would say its in the street so it qualifies. In other words, qualification is not really relevant here. It's a photograph.

As an effective photograph. The distractions aren't helping. The composition isnt without its flaws either. Its ok, but it needs a little love, I think I'd have gotten the "story" you suggested without your having explained it, which I thinks what your question is... The problem is you explained it, so theres no way to know. IMO, never explain. Ever.

sashbar · Jun 18, 2013

manaheim said:
Some would say its in the street so it qualifies. In other words, qualification is not really relevant here. It's a photograph.

As an effective photograph. The distractions aren't helping. The composition isnt without its flaws either. Its ok, but it needs a little love, I think I'd have gotten the "story" you suggested without your having explained it, which I thinks what your question is... The problem is you explained it, so theres no way to know. IMO, never explain. Ever.

Of course ! You are right. I have deleted the explanation, hope it is not too late !! As for the "qualification", I still think not every photograph taken in the street is a street photography :sexywink:

Granddad · Jun 18, 2013

I didn't see the explanation, what I see is a musician playing/busking and a young man on his mobile phone walking away, maybe caught up in his work world and missing out on experiencing his immediate environment.

The frame in the foreground is distracting, without it this would be a strong shot with a clearer message but, hey! you couldn't move it so you grabbed what you could. It still tells the story and if you keep on grabbing the moment you'll get what you're looking for.

manaheim · Jun 18, 2013

sashbar said:
Of course ! You are right. I have deleted the explanation, hope it is not too late !! As for the "qualification", I still think not every photograph taken in the street is a street photography

I agree... But go look at the street photography thread here and you'll see hundreds of examples of something you might not consider street photography.

And granddad's reaction seems to confirm that your shot has a message.

jowensphoto · Jun 18, 2013

I got the same thing, not seeing the description.

I'm a sucker for a good "natural" frame, but you didn't quite execute it here. The photo still has a message, so good job on that. Now it's time to perfect it! Keep shooting

DiskoJoe · Jun 19, 2013

your question doesnt matter. What does matter is whether it is interesting.

sashbar · Jun 19, 2013

Thanks everybody. I have a much cleaner shot, but it is a bit boring. (See below). So I prefer the above one even though it is messy. The story to me there is the contrast between the extravagant old man and the boring young guy who looks so burdened with life already. It strikes me because usually it is the other way round. So, young/hip and old/dull do not always come together as we see.

I see the old man loking at the young one and says: "Hey boy, are you shure you are not wasting your life?"

And here is the pic that is much cleaner but it actually carries no real story to me:

The_Traveler · Jun 19, 2013

I don't think it's very useful or even sensible to try and categorize 'street' according to whether they have certain elements that one can check off a list.
Let's see - in street, candid, message.

That's like trying to tell if one finds another person attractive by checking off whether they have certain physical characteristics. What is missing in the evaluation is whether the elements are melded together in a way that has a certain, lasting impression.
In the case of a picture that impression generally is linked to some notions that the viewer may already have about life, beauty, anger, society, etc.
Yes, this picture has some of the 'elements' and maybe we could even sketch a possible 'story' but does it have any emotional impact, is the idea portrayed in any way that is obvious except in a strictly intellectual level?

IMO, no. This is a miss for lots of reasons. The overall tones are bright, there's lots of 'stuff' in the image that doesn't contribute, there seems not be be any tension between the busker and the person walking away. The busker is involved in what he is doing.

Saying all the reasons may not add up to anything, just as listing why one doesn't find a person attractive may not. Basically, for me, there is no emotional impact.

Sorry.

Gavjenks · Jun 19, 2013

* The big red thing completely mutilates this shot. It would have been much better to get a guy walkigng by and ignoring the musician with the framing you have in your other photo a couple posts above this one. If you sat around for 10 minutes in that position you might have gotten one? Dunno, looks fairly active / crowded.
* The background in either shot isn't muted enough IMO. Need more blur. Longer lens or wider aperture. OR much more careful composition to keep little distracting details out like high contrast white wall/green leaf alternations, or that big street pole in the latter picture.
* The story is a little thin, I think, considering that the musician isn't looking at the guy. It would also really help if you could see an open guitar case on the ground or something to make it clearer that not stopping was a choice that matters. Without a money collection bin of some sort, this musician could just be playing for fun, which makes it less interesting that a person wouldn't stop. Yes, I know it still makes sense to stop just to enjoy music, of course, but 2 layers of story is better than 1. If such a thing existed, it might have been a simple compositional tweak.