Practicing invisibility at Jo's Coffee. Seems to work fine.
I have photographic acquaintances who seem to have difficulty with a certain type of street photography. That which involves making candid shots of strangers. Usually they have one of two, or both, of these issues: They are extremely fearful of strangers and potential conflicts and they give off waves and waves of discomfort energy which any attentive person in their sphere can easily detect. This tells the intended subjects that someone in their midst is nervous, possibly unstable and potentially dangerous. Hence, instant defense mechanisms kick in and cooperation drops to zero. Defensive behavior get aroused.
Or, secondly, they are huge, ungainly, and in spite of their size have no sense of other people's safe zone. The invisible distance between strangers that makes people feel safe while in public.
Add these two conditions together and you come up with a person who is constantly being rebuffed in his (usually "his" ) attempts to make street photographs. Of people. They are fine with static objects.
It's basic anthropology. We're hard wired to be on alert for danger when out in public. We sense people who are giving off vibes of anxiety and fear. We are unsure of our safety when confronted with people who have a threatening affect or who project "large."
The first condition can be overcome by learning to chill out and not project nervous, pensive energy. Maybe some behavioral cognitive therapy with a good mental health professional...
The second condition is harder to fix but requires one to learn what constitutes a comfortable distance in relation to strangers. It requires not adding to the implicit threat profile of "oversized" with egregious tattoos. Or black t-shirts advertising heavy metal bands. Or spike studded dog collars. Or red "gimme" hats with political messages on them. And maybe tone down the laser intensity stare.
Just a thought after talking to several different photographers concerned about their failure to blossom as "street" photographers. Or people photographers of any type.
Just be nice. Project nice. Act nice. It can all work out just fine. Helps to pretend that you are having fun and not on a mission.
4 comments:
My grandfather always said ‘act like you own the place’. He never was a photographer but I can easily imagine him having a rogues gallery os candid shots posted in his shop and the local worthies checking regularly to see if they had made the display
Terry
There might be a third condition, someone who doesn't feel right intruding on stranger's privacy. But I guess someone like that might not aspire to be a street photographer anyway.
I know, I know, we have no expectation of privacy out in the street, but still, just because we go outside for a walk, it doesn't mean we're necessarily ok with being co-opted into participating in someone else's art project. Sometimes, people are shot for ringing a doorbell.
"...Just be nice. Project nice. Act nice. It can all work out just fine. Helps to pretend that you are having fun and not on a mission..." The difference is, if you are ringing the doorbell you are on someone's private property. We covered that in the text above.
I tend to be uncomfortable with taking candid photos. I am one of those who does attract attention at times. I was in a restaurant, in a situation similar to the coffee shop photo above. I was about to take a photo of arches in my section when I saw someone (on other side of the restaurant, a small silhouetted figure in the bottom left corner) waving at me. He pointedly asked if I was taking a photo of him. I said “No!”, gesturing to the arches. I just put my camera back in the bag, not wanting to upset the other patron. My wife, who was with me at the time, thought the patron was being silly. But I get that a lot of people don’t like being photographed. Especially in my area, where people tend to keep to themselves.
But there are times when you cannot avoid taking photos of people — like when taking photos featuring buildings in public areas with high pedestrian activity. In those circumstances I often use my flip-up screen to compose, and tap on the screen to take the photo. No one seems to notice me.
I don’t care if I am in public and in someone’s photo. If I see someone about to take a photo I go around behind them (or stop) until they’ve taken the photo, for the simple reason that I cannot fathom why they would want me in their photo in the first place.
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