The Perils of Street Photography

Street photography largely involves capturing candid situations in public places. The essence of street photography is to capture moments as they happen and, as such, street photographers try to remain as inconspicuous as possible to allow for these scenes to unravel in a natural way. One way street photographers manage to do this is by changing what they wear to blend into their surroundings, yep its all in the bumbag! If you are shooting in a known tourist area for example, get yourself a map and a sun cap and voila, you have a ready made excuse for taking photos, no questions asked! Comfy shoes are also essential.

Scoopshooter: Matthew

For a street photographer, there is no specific subject or agenda when they leave the house, they simply find the area and subject of interest while they’re out and about, so the desired shot is not something you can plan or recreate. It may take a while to get used to the location and feel comfortable there, but once you do you will start noticing the way people interact with each other, as well as the environment. Once you’ve clocked these interactions, it will be easier to capture the shot that tells the story perfectly. It’s all about seeing and reacting, moments are fleeting, you have to be quick!

Scoopshooter: Lo Hin Yiu

Because of this, you should always have you camera handy. Be it a camera phone or a DSLR, it doesn’t matter, you can only capture that amazing shot if you have your camera with you! The problem, or beauty of this, depending on which way you look at it, is that candid moments are fleeting. You will never have the same moment twice, unlike a landscape or architectural shot that will be there day after day. If you don’t have your camera with you, that amazing story you see unfolding will be gone forever.

Scoopshooter: Nadiia Samarina

Street photographers have to be brave! Standing in a busy place pointing a camera at a tonne of people can be a little scary and uncomfortable. The best way to overcome this stomach-churning feeling is to practice. Some street photographers advise smiling or acknowledging the subjects after they’ve taken their photograph, and report that they often receive a smile or wave back. Another trick is to keep the camera up to the eye, even after the shot’s been taken, to make it look like they’re still shooting. This means they can keep panning the scene pretending to take photographs and no-one is any the wiser!

Of course the other option is to let the subjects know they’re going to be photographed beforehand. If you spot an interesting group of people or scene unfolding there is no harm in approaching them first to ask if they would mind getting their photo taken. Apparently, most of the time, people are very flattered by this and are happy to have their photo taken.  The main problem then becomes catching that natural essence so key to the concept of street photography.

Scoopshooter: Shota Gogishvili

Knowing about photographer rights is very important when embarking on street photography. Social rules may suggest that you don’t take someone’s photo without their consent, but legally this is not the case. It is not illegal to photograph people in public places for art or editorial purposes in most countries, but it does vary, so best to be safe. Knowing your legal rights means that if people throw legal jargon in your face, because they’re not happy about being photographed, you know where you stand and can fight your corner. However, you also have to be respectful of people’s privacy and personal space.

If people show discomfort or unease at being photographed, move on. There will be people who don’t mind being photographed, the last thing you want to do is make people feel violated when you’re supposed to be capturing them going about their daily business!

Scoopshooter: High Zi Yan

Submit your street photography to the Scoopshot store via the app using the #streetphotography to showcase your work, and maybe earn a few bucks too!