In my spare time, I do look at a lot of street photographs, be it in books, Flickr or at exhibits. While there is an endless variety of subjects, approaches, and styles, I believe that most photographs can be linked to a determined type of street photography. The proposed listing below does not intend to be comprehensive, but provides a quick (and spontaneous… ) description of what I believe are the five most popular types in today's street photography. Theses types are obviously not mutually exclusive and you'll most probably find that your pictures or preferences fall in a mix of these categories.
I) Up close / In your face
The closer you get to your subject, the better. It is all about the man in the street. There are two important sub-types : the street photographers that look for subjects that stand out in the crowd, be it because of traits, expressions, or clothing. And there is the street photographers that use his own presence or attitude to influence the behavior of its subjects (flash, intruding in private space). The results can be spectacular, but unluckily, I'd say that 99% of time they are actually plain boring. Indeed, if one wants to see odd faces, just head to the next metro, no need for to look at a photo book for that. Finally, and take it as a tip to beginners in street photography, it is not because you get close enough, that your pictures will be good (enough). It takes a whole lot more than guts to produce consistently good results in street photography.
Main focal : 35mm and wider.
Skill : Guts
The master is : Bruce Gilden
Havana – Leica M8 with 35mm Lux Asph
Havana, Leica M8 with 35mm Lux
II) Classic
The main characteristic of this type of street photography is the search of balance between form and subject. A great subject/scene itself does not make a good picture most of the times, composition is the differentiator. HCB, Brassai, Walker Evans are evident examples of this decades old tradition. Classic street photography is often linked to the Humanism movement, and a key influencer (or vice versa) of 20th century reportage photography. All in all, let's say classic street photography attempts to describe human conditions in a form as pleasant as possible for the viewers' eyes. Nowadays, the main struggle of this type of street photography is innovation and staying out the clichés. While our environment evolves, many "modern classic" shots do bring along an impression of "déjà vu". The end question being: does it really matter ?
Main focal : 35mm to 50mm.
Skill : Composition
The master is : Henri Cartier Bresson
Havana – Leica M8 with 35mm Lux
III) Modern, content centric.
This is the current dominant type of street photography. It's all about the content, with humor, mystery or oddities being a must for a successful pictures. Multi-planes, multi-subjects, multi-meanings (which often end up as "no meaning") is the flavor of the decade. The hero is no more the subject, but is nowadays the street photographer, showing off his swift mind. Looking for adulation in photo-sharing sites, the modern street photographer forgets to ask himself : "Is a good street photograph actually a good picture ?" Or put it another way : "Will it appeal to people outside of his community ?" Answer is probably no, normal Joe buys exclusively Robert Doisneau's postards. Nevertheless, for the trained eyes, modern street photography did produced some jewels. I just wonder how many of those will actually be remembered five decades from now.
Main focals 35mm to super wide.
Skill : Eye, composition, decisive moment.
The master is : All born after 1990
Rosario – Leica M9 with 35mm Lux Asph
Leica M8 with 24mm Elmarit
IV) Abstract – Impressionist
This type of street photography does not record the strict description of an event in time, but the feeling of it. Reflections, blurs, shadows, colors, …, are used to project you in a place where time and location are undefined. The human element of these pictures is often abstract, be it silhouettes, forms or simply the feel of it. These pictures are extremely difficult to craft since it often calls for a perfect balance between subject and composition. The biggest drawback of this type of street photography is that 95% of the time, it will not be understood by your peers, making it very difficult to produce consistently good images.
Main focal : Any, but preferably fast.
Skill : Observation
The master is : Saul Leiter
Paris – Leica M9
Paris Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon
V) Graphic
Man-crafted environment is the most important piece of this type of street photography. Humans are only a part of it. Patterns, structures, shadows, tones, textures, colors are the main elements of theses pictures. Since it is above all a graphical exercise, it is very difficult to find an individual message to many of these shots. They are above all a visual experience and therefore will look great on any kitchen walls or hanging behind your CEO's desk.
Main focal : Any
Skill : Patience
New York – Times Square – Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon
I picture myself somewhere between Classic and Impressionsit, though obviously I do not restrict myself to other shots opportunities. Now ask yourself, which type corresponds most to your photography ?
I think there is another kind of “street photography” that melds with documentary photography. Essentially it is not just a single image and not just people, but an attempt to express the atmosphere of a location or place through a series of images. For me I probably have an inclination to classical. Here are a few examples. http://www.cysewski.com/thailand/thai09/phrapradaeng/index.html
and another is here
http://www.cysewski.com/wif/wandering2010/solstice/index.html
Series of images in street photography are great to give the feel of a place, without getting too much in being descriptive and reportage-like. I also like to do it a lot. I am looking forward to reach Thailand!
A definite share this one. While stuck in traffic today I was thinking of all the different types of street photography and who defines what is good or not. It seems that lately, all the popular shots are not necessarily the best ones.
Thanks Yanick, for the insight!
yes, a good street photograph may not be a good picture
Very well written article. Look forward to seeing you in Jan 2012 here in Hong Kong!
Hi Yanick,
Being a master of one or other category and standing out is a real challenge, you have a successful distinctive style and a master in content and presentation though I would place it in the, modern, content centric category ;-),
Personally I have come to realize I prefer close uo work which borders on portraiture, often Iām attracted to someone and then ask to take a snap of them, therefore whether posed or not I have realized I cannot claim a niche in street photography.
Travel well.
Charles
It is indeed on the edges of street photography. I like to call it street portraits. Cheers, Yanick
I wasn’t really informed about this topic before I read your post. It gave me a good impression about the different forms of street photography and on what elements I can focus when it comes to composition.
Especially the abstract approach sounds interesting!
Hiya! Awesome blog! I happen to be a daily visitor to your site (somewhat more like addict ) of this website. Just wanted to say I appreciate your blogs and am looking forward for more to come!
Another very helpful post. Thank you. My street photos fall into the “up close” category – and now I realize why they’re so boring!
Well done, I would subscribe to everything you wrote. Bon voyage!
You give Gilden as and example of “close up” style, but the examples don’t look remotely like the type of shot he does. For a start he does not really do “bokeh backgrounds”, and mainly does wide angle up close with flash mainly in a “gritty” style.
I think you missed the point. My pictures are not there to copy Gilden, HCB or any others, they are just general representation of these type of street photography. There are many photographers shooting “in your face” and as many different styles.
Nice summary of photographic styles within a style. Thanks! There is a HCB exhibition currently on at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane until 27 November. If you are still coming to Brisbane in November, it would be great to meet you there.
I have been persisting with my photoblog – brisstreet, taking encouragement from you. My biggest influences are Walker Evans and Andre Kertesz, so I would like to think my style is closest to Classic. Probably more “urban” than “street”.
Thanks again.
hi Jeff, I am not sure of when we will be in Brisbane. It looks like we will head north on the East Coast from Sydney to take advantage of warmer weather, then head back down South going by Ayers Rock, so I guess Brisbane will be end of Novembrer, beginning of December. hope we make it for the exhibit. If not, let’s go out and shoot ;) cheers, Yanick
I have a sneaking feeling that "decisive moment" ought perhaps to be listed as a skill under "classic" ;)
Thanks so much for defining different classes of SP. I think it will help in critiquing images.
If you put Gilden in a wedding situation he would shoot the wedding like "Gilden", if you put Winogrand in a wedding situation he would shoot the wedding like "Winogrand". I think it's not so much about the type of street photography but more about photographer themselves.
When I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method you are able to remove me from that service? Kudos!
is their any other types because in my photography course work ive done shadow street photography, reflections street photography and colour poping photography
i think those are sub types, since they can all fit within the five listed.
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