Street Photography
“Everybody Street” illuminates the lives and work of New York’s iconic street photographers and the incomparable city that has inspired them for decades. The documentary pays tribute to the spirit of street photography through a cinematic exploration of New York City, and captures the visceral rush, singular perseverance and at times immediate danger customary to these artists. Covering nine decades of street photography, “Everybody Street” explores the careers and influences of many notable photographers––a number of whom have never been documented, featuring: Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Jill Freedman, Bruce Gilden, Joel Meyerowitz, Rebecca Lepkoff, Mary Ellen Mark, Jeff Mermelstein, Clayton Patterson, Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabazz, Martha Cooper, and Boogie, with historians Max Kozloff and Luc Sante.
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What I learnt about street photography from the film 'Everybody Street'
How do Street Photographers behave?
After watching 'Everybody Street' the photographers are shown to be very energetic and agile as if hunting for there pictures. They seem alert and move quickly, reacting to photo opportunities instantly. They walk around a lot, sometimes going back to places they have already been, to be able to explore the city and streets and all the different types of people that fill them.
What kind of equipment do they use?
Mostly mall, silent rangefinder cameras (e.g. Leica). Some use SLRs. They use wide angle lenses and sometimes telephoto lenses.
What kinds of subjects interest them?
They seem most interested in unposed portraits of people going about there lives, doing ordinary, everyday things. Or chaos and large hustles on busy city streets. Also people simply waling, dancing or behaving strangely. Also a large amount of street photographers intrigued by graffiti and crime.
Why do they like photography on the street?
Street photographers seem to like the thrill, edgy and surprising events that can happen on the streets, as they make interesting and weird subjects for photos. Also to be able to discover new things because theres always different people and things going on and the same thing never happens twice, so theres only one chance of getting the image you want.
What are the risks involved in street photography?
Being drawn into a world of crime or becoming an addict. Becoming depressed by how difficult/dangerous life is for some people. Being hurt/attacked. Having equipment stolen or being stopped by the police. Also Spending a long time taking photographs that aren't as good as they may have hoped.
What makes a successful street photograph?
When the photographer is close and connects with the subject and when the picture describes how people naturally behave. Also when the image is slightly mysterious. "The deeper you go, the better the picture."
After watching 'Everybody Street' the photographers are shown to be very energetic and agile as if hunting for there pictures. They seem alert and move quickly, reacting to photo opportunities instantly. They walk around a lot, sometimes going back to places they have already been, to be able to explore the city and streets and all the different types of people that fill them.
What kind of equipment do they use?
Mostly mall, silent rangefinder cameras (e.g. Leica). Some use SLRs. They use wide angle lenses and sometimes telephoto lenses.
What kinds of subjects interest them?
They seem most interested in unposed portraits of people going about there lives, doing ordinary, everyday things. Or chaos and large hustles on busy city streets. Also people simply waling, dancing or behaving strangely. Also a large amount of street photographers intrigued by graffiti and crime.
Why do they like photography on the street?
Street photographers seem to like the thrill, edgy and surprising events that can happen on the streets, as they make interesting and weird subjects for photos. Also to be able to discover new things because theres always different people and things going on and the same thing never happens twice, so theres only one chance of getting the image you want.
What are the risks involved in street photography?
Being drawn into a world of crime or becoming an addict. Becoming depressed by how difficult/dangerous life is for some people. Being hurt/attacked. Having equipment stolen or being stopped by the police. Also Spending a long time taking photographs that aren't as good as they may have hoped.
What makes a successful street photograph?
When the photographer is close and connects with the subject and when the picture describes how people naturally behave. Also when the image is slightly mysterious. "The deeper you go, the better the picture."
Elliott ErwittElliott Erwitt is a documentary photographer and is known for his black and white shots of ironic situations in everyday places. He began as a photography assistant in 1950 in the united states army before he became an independent photographer. One of the main subjects of his photography are dogs and street photography.
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"Photography is pretty simple stuff. You just react to what you see, and take many, many pictures." |
Here are two videos about Elliott Erwitts's photography journeys and information and tips on his 'Personal Best':
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Image Analysis
This is one of my favourite photos taken by Elliott Erwitt. I love the overall composition of it as it seems calm as the street behind is empty so you focus on the content of the image. Also I like how the main subject ( the Chihuahua) stands out. The image being in black and white, to me, makes it seem older and adds to the mysteriousness of it as you can't see the whole of the other two subjects (the women and the tall dog).
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The photo is taken looking straight on and at the eye level of the chihuahua, this emphasises its small size and the size of the large dog. Also when I first looked at this photo I didn't realise there where two dogs I thought the tall dog was another person which, for me, makes it more interesting as you can't just glance at it, it makes you want to look longer to understand it. If I was to give this photo a title I would call it street walk because the owner is talki
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Photo Challenge #1 - Ways of Seeing
We where told to Take a look at examples of street photography styles . Our challenge was to respond to these examples by creating images of are own that borrow these viewpoints, subjects and compositions.
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My first set of photos
I look these photos with an Ipod and a cannon camera around my school, experimenting with street photography. I have thought about the composition of my photos and subjects and viewpoints. Next time will try to included a crowd of people, maybe a busier area to make it more interesting.
My favourite images is the one with the women walking through the doors because of the reflection of the glass on the green floor.
My favourite images is the one with the women walking through the doors because of the reflection of the glass on the green floor.
Photo Challenge #2- DiagonalsThe idea for this challenge comes from Eric Kim's great street photography site. Street photographs are often about dramatic situations or view points. Drama is created in pictures in lots of ways but using strong diagonal lines is one technique often used by street photographers.
So we where told to go and take photos with the diagonal theme, here are the photos I took: |
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Photo Challenge #3- Rule of thirds.
The Rule of Thirds (which is actually more of a guideline than a rule) is an imaginary grid that can help you make better photographs. As you can see in this diagram, your image is divided up into 9 segments by lines placed one third and two thirds across the surface. Some cameras have the option to turn these grid lines on in the viewfinder this makes it easier to take photos in the rule of thirds. The idea is to compose your shot using the grid lines, the segments and the places where the lines cross to help you. |
Photo challenge #4 - Compare and Contrast
We where told to pick two different street photographer and compare the two photos taken by them, showing what is similar between them and what is different .
Saul Leiter
Both these pictures are in colour, and both include a bright yellow. They both feature a single person, and the main subject of both images is a hand, which seems to be placed in the centre of the image, therefore standing out. Also both photos don't seem to be posed or set up, but taken as the photographer reacts to a photo opportunity. Also black seems to be in both images, outlining its main feature as a dark shadow surrounds the man in the car and a black border outlines the large poster of the hand.
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Matt Stuart
The Photo taken by Saul Leiter not only includes the colour yellow but also red, it also includes a blurred foreground image allowing the picture to be based purely on the car. Also It seems to use only natural light as it is taken in day time, as a reflection is shown on the car and then casting a shadow over the man in the car so only his hand is visible. Matt Stuarts image is taken under ground with no natural light, therefore no reflections or shadows can be cast. Also white is a another colour shown in the picture (the mans coat, the walls surrounding the poster).
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The Rule of Thirds ChallengeThe Rule of Thirds ChallengeUse the guide opposite to help you collect photos using a range of Rule of Thirds compositions.
Note: The pink section represents the subject, an area where our eyes might be drawn, the main part of the image. The white section should be of less interest, an area of open or negative space, which supports but doesn't dominate the main subject. Supplementary ChallengeAttempt to take 5 photographs that DON'T fit into any of these compositional patterns. |
Here are some more rule of third challenge photos that I took around school. I also took some images that don't fit into this rule.
My Street Photography
Heres a few photos I have taken over the easer holiday.
These images where taken in greenwich, London and on my way, and at a rugby match. Some of them I left unedited as I was already pleased with how they look. I used an iphone app to edit them. Some I made black and white and others I increased the contrast and brightness as most of them where taken on a sunny day and I wanted to make this more obvious. My favourite ones are the two images of the blurred car head lights. I really like this abstract effect, I took them in a moving car and this is was caused this effect, and because they where taken when it was dark so the streaks of lights stand out and are more bold against the dark surroundings.
Holiday Images:
Here are some images i took over my half term holiday:
I also edited these images with an iphone app, where I either added a filter, increased the contrast or made them black and white. My favourite image is the first one, showing the huge bubbles. I took this photo in London on the the south bank. There was a man on the side of the road who had a huge bubble machine and people where crowding around. I really liked the blown up images that where formed inside the bubbles, however my iphone camera couldn't capture them, but I am still very happy with the outcome.