Watch the YouTube video of this talk. Click   HERE  

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Summary by Bill Kress

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At the November 8, 2017 General Meeting, Pete Perez, Manager at Action Camera, discussed the art and techniques of street photography.

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Pete defined street photography as a non-formalized genre of photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places. That is, it captures what’s going on in society, and is a mirror of society. A common misconception is that this genre requires the presence of people. On the contrary, street photography might be totally absent of people and can simply be an image of an object or some aspect of the environment that catches the eye of the photographer.

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He showed early images of street photography and discussed some of the early leaders in this field:

• Eugene Atget was regarded as a founding father and worked the streets of Paris and surrounding areas from the 1890s to the 1920s.

• Henri Cartier-Bresson was a 20th century photographer who focused on people and the technique of taking pictures at an ideal moment. He was an expert with timing and angles of view, and achieved amazing results with a simple, single lens camera.

• Other leaders in those early days who focused on what was happening in society were Vivian Maier, Walker Evans, Paul Strand, and Robert Frank.

Pete also mentioned interesting aspects concerning the law:

Model releases are generally not required.

Your rights as a photographer are broadest in public places. You can shoot whatever you want.

However, there are certain exceptions:

Just because a property is open to the public doesn’t make it public property. Certain “public” places such as shopping malls, amusement parks, airplanes, theaters, and performance arenas may be subject to restrictions.

One must consider a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy.

Photography is often very restricted on military bases, crime scenes, airports, museums, energy installations, courthouses, and certain other government facilities.

There may be equipment restrictions in certain places -- e.g., tripod, supplemental lighting, reflectors.

Neither private citizens nor law enforcement officials have the authority to require that you delete your photographs or or relinquish your equipment.

You are allowed to display and even sell the images that you’ve photographed. You are free to display the photo as an illustration of art or as a news item.

Things start to get more complicated when “commercial use” comes into play. This is the reason why stock agencies, which license images for both personal and commercial use require a model release for any photos containing a personally identifiable individual.

 

Safety was emphasized. It is important to team up with others (safety in numbers), scout the area before you go, take a flashlight, tell someone where you are going, don’t walk away from your equipment and don’t get tunnel vision—that is, be aware of your surroundings.

 

Part of the talk was devoted to equipment and camera settings.

 

Pete finished his talk with a list of tips for the street photographer:

Always carry your camera with you

Consider using fast zooms or wide angle prime lenses

Get close to the subject

Regarding composition, be creative, consider angles of view, leading lines, framing, and tilting the camera.

Disregard what other people think of you

Smile often

Be respectful. Engage yourself. Overseas, street photography is generally more acceptable.

Ask for permission

Look for messages in your photograph and tell a story

Just do it

It’s important to understand why you are taking the photograph and realize that the point is to ultimately share it and hopefully benefit others.

Change strap and get some gaffers tape to hide the identity of expensive lenses. The manufacturer’s strap says “steal me”.

 

You can see some photographs taken during a Street Photography Workshop Pete conducted by visiting Action Camera’s website: https://actioncamera.blog/2017/06/15/streetphotoworkshop/

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