In the spirit of Henri Cartier Bresson’s “decisive moment” or Robert Frank’s The Americans, I love shooting street photography. The masters make it look easy; it is not. One cannot be shy and do street photography; you must be able to get in and get close. Shooting stealthily is neither fun nor fair, the person being photographed should be able to speak up if they so choose. Of course, they may not notice you, but not because you were hiding in the bushes. I also believe that while opportunities abound in many cities, making photos of homeless people is almost always picking the low-hanging fruit. The exception would be if the photographer were to engage the homeless person, ask them if they minded having their photo made, and perhaps help them out a bit. Alas, many photographers are afraid and therefore do not follow these simple guidelines.
The photographer must be in tune with his surroundings when making street photographs – paying attention, anticipating the subject’s next move, willing to wait for the right moment. Patience is almost always a virtue and tends to pay off in spades. Situational awareness is key. When will the subject make that hand gesture again? When will they be in that exact spot I need them to be? When will that couple kiss again?
Lastly, the resulting photograph must be interesting. This sounds obvious, but many, many well-timed photographs, while technically good, are just not that remarkable.
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