The Real Problem With Street Photography Trends

With this video, we're going to diagnose and prescribe a solution to this problem. In our modern digital landscape, we're facing mountains of street photography trends which teach a small number of techniques in what is a limitless genre. If you're new to street photography, keep your eyes open to each corner of the genre, whether that's portraits, fine art, documentary or whichever corner may interest you.

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[GeorgeHolden]

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[photographer]

Great insight. I've been shooting professionally for over 30 years. Street photography became my creative outlet apart from the paid work. I can't stand the "gatekeepers" of street, who try to dictate what you should or should not shoot. Also, while I may watch an occasional POV video, the reality is that they just aren't that interesting, especially with the annoying bounciness of the content as a result of walking with a a camera strapped to your chest. Go out and shoot regularly to develop your own style, and disregard the trends.

[SivertAlmvik]

I've studied photo history in university, and I find the "social media esthetichs" to photography and especially street photography very interesting. Thing we are focused on now, is is the rush of getting likes, and thinking engagement = I'm a good photographer. In 10-20 years, we're going to learn about this time in the history of photography, and the weird notions we had about photography. Back in the day, people thought colour photography was crap and the only that was "true photography "was shooting black and white.

[dec]

As a uni student who really likes photography, I can say with my experience that what makes your photos better is your eye. The way you look at things, the way you stop to observe what surrounds you. Not replicating trends. Sure, inspiration is a great way to get new ideas but watching other photographers take the same pictures over and over again just narrows down what you will want to photograph in the streets. The most important thing to me is to keep my own personnal way of looking at things, always keeping my camera on in case a bird starts doing something interesting, in case a pedestrian starts running to avoid the stop light going to green... All these things that you wouldn't see if looking for something specific. To me, photography has to be spontanious.

[guyphoto]

Good video. I'm a professional photographer and have been since 1986. I was a photojournalist for a while, then ultimately opened my own studio. I delved into street photography doing a documentary series for a book I was hoping to publish, and I still do street photography when business is slow with portraits, models, gr. seniors, etc. My take on street photography "teachers" and their videos on YouTube is that almost all of them are bad. No emotion in the photos. Just photos of someone walking into a patch of sunshine casting a shadow on a nearby wall, or a reflection from a puddle, i.e., photo 101. The other thing is many of the YouTube certified pros preach that you have to use a certain type of camera and lens. As a former photojournalist I know that to be pure bullshit. Sometimes great shots are lost because all you have is a 28mm or 35mm lens on a rangefinder camera. If using a rangefinder is honestly what you want, and you're not being influenced by these carnival barkers on YouTube then by all means use a rangefinder with one fixed lens. On the other hand, if you want to use a full-on larger camera with a zoom lens or an assortment of lenses, by all means do that. All anyone cares about who views your images is how good they are--do they invoke an emotion, do they tell a "meaningful" story, simple things like that. Honestly, I've never had anyone who has seen my images, in a paper or magazine or portfolio or on-line, including hundreds of clients, ever ask me "what kind of camera and/or lens did you use" other than people attending workshops that I teach. Long rant but I'm rather disgusted by what I see regarding street photography on YouTube.

[musiccoffee]

As I person who just started street photography this video really helped my inner struggle and questions I had for this trend.

[WittyDroog]

I was personally inspired to try analog photography after watching the documentary on Vivian Maier, who seemingly took photos just for herself and for the practice and ceremony of the craft, there was something inspiring about not worrying SO MUCH about what others think of your photos but rather what YOU think of your photos, and while I do listen and learn from professionals far more experienced than me and work to improve myself ultimately I'm my biggest audience. My shots may be basic to some (I love architecture and old cars), my following small (but growing), but as long as I'm enjoying the process I don't mind. Ansel Adams once said that to him a great photo can simply be something that caught his eye, and that catch was worth preserving, and I keep that in mind when I'm out shooting. Occasionally someone else is wowed by my photos, and that makes me smile a little bit more.

[juliette-mansour]

This is a much needed video. I appreciate that you take the approach of reflecting on this issue in a non-judgmental way. There's content creation and popular styles and there's the plethora of historical work, a huge body of work that needs no words, actually because the stories are that compelling within the photos themselves. In our street photography group we do talk a lot about gear but we talk about projects too and try to inspire and help each other to grow. As a genre hopper, my constant involvement in street (especially when shooting film) is what propels me way more than any other. Thank you George.

[SteveMorton]

Some great ideas, I've recently limited myself to one APS-C camera with a fixed 24mm lens (38mm equiv) and instead of using a zoom all the time, this has been a great test of using a fixed lens.

[NeilMcAliece]

I kind of get the perspective of the high volume tiktok production content being a gateway to more, at least for some people. A certain number of people will be inspired, spend the time and find their own groove over time. People are more likely to find initial inspiration from social media these days rather than a magazine, coffee table book or exhibition. If it sparks a flame that sticks and grows for some, that's great.

I also like videos like yours that prompts people to think more and try "different". Some of the insta/tiktok narrow focus people will find videos like yours while searching relating to their new interest.

I think it's cool that the trend is putting more people with cameras into the street, making it seem like a less weird thing to do. I remember going to Sydney as a kid in the 70s and 80s and being struck by how many people had cameras around their necks and were using them. It's one of the things that made me want a camera of my own.

[elwick_photo]

Those PaulieB walkies videos are absolutely fascinating, think I've binged through them multiple times, they're such good advice and conversation.

[Osa]

The margin between the teacher and student was so spot on. And Paulies series is a gem

[valkiefalkmann]

I am 63 and still learning..but also I am 63 and still have fun taking pictures! Started with 15 year .. only few people had thnx for the channel!

[nevanoconnell]

I've just moved in a uni city. And I must say I finally get the appeal of street photography being able to tell the story of how I see this place and how thats changed over the couple months I've been here has been fascinating.

[wonderment]

amazing video, as a person who got into film photography about a month ago, your message resonates with me a lot. i got myself a Pentax K1000 - at the beginning i found it for very limiting, but because of its simplicity and the limited exposures i get, i find myself a lot more thoughtful about each thought than i normally would with my phone ... Thanks

[VZAAGE]

All sound advice. Thanks for letting me know about Paulie B. I'm off to check out his content right after this!

[titasghosh]

I got myself a fuji and a manual focus lens and shooting with a black and white preset for a year now. it has greatly improved my perception.

[zachbenson]

Good video! I'm just a hobbyist but I first got into photography over 30 years ago. I primarily do nature shots (I'm an avid hiker) but I also enjoy macro and street photography. My current favorite way to shoot street is picking a single focal length and a single JPEG filter and going out with no idea what I want to capture. Sometimes it works, sometimes I get nothing except the learning experience of what I did and didn't do that day. Keep up the the entertaining content, you're putting out some quality stuff.

[CharlesMuccia]

This is one of, if not the best, summations and explanations I've watched about street photography. I've been doing very amateurish street photography for years without realizing it was a thing. Over the past month I decided to dig deeper into street photography to get an idea of what others are doing and improve my focus and skills. What I discovered was a lot of repetition of themes and not a lot of quality. Too many people are trying to mimic the work of famous photographers, like Henri Cartier-Bresson, without finding their own unique vision. I realize it's difficult and challenging to stand out from the crowd when everybody has a camera now, myself included, but there's an overwhelming amount of the same tired images. I'm kinda burned out after a month of looking at countless photos of portraits of people with mobile phones, reflections in puddles, candid sneaky shots of women and people on public transit. To be fair, some of the shots are very good, but most are instantly forgettable. If nothing else, watching this video and seeing the work of others has inspired and motivated me to try something different. Artistic challenge breeds inspiration.

[jabezriosdesabato]

theres always gonna be silly trends that oversimplify the whole thing the trend is picking out of, but good on you for trying to rectify the narrowness of this trend.