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.
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
ReplyDeleteTerry
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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