Spend five minutes scrolling through Instagram, the new Foto app, or even street photography Youtube channels, and you’ll start to notice something: a lot of the shots feel...
Street photography is a great practice ground for honing your skills, but getting a really good photo is difficult. Notice how great names in street photography are known for just a handful of images. This difficulty in getting a true banger is the primary reason - I think - behind the onslaught of these repetitive frames in social media. The low hanging fruit as @tomminty put it. Also, Instagram makes you post whatever seems barely acceptable, to get that instant gratification, and the algorithm promotes certain types of photos that get the traffic.
My main gripe with street photography is that it is mostly about nothing.
I fully agree that street photography is an amazing way to hone your skills, and I really think everyone should give it a shot. And yeah, getting a banger image in street is tough.
That said, I might have to disagree with the idea that street photography is about nothing. I think different images mean different things to different people. Some of my photos might seem like nothing to someone else, but to me, they hold a lot. But I can also see the point of some street photography being about nothing or lacking any kind of story behind the photo.
I was thinking of following up that sentence, but hit send instead 🤣. What I did not add is that I see street photography that way within the scope of my own photography, after practicing it for many years. I used to love street photography and for me it was a learning ground and a trampoline to a more intentional documentary and reportage photography. I think that intentionality and a broader story really adds to photos and makes the subjects less instrumental and anonymous. Often the street bangers from yesteryear are actually part of photo essays and stories, and that gives them more value in my opinion. Today, we often imitate these types of photos, but we do that only within the visual layer, and the original meaning and gravity is lost.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you read my mind. I was preparing a similar article. But this one captures all the sweet spots, perfectly. I also take pictures without using the camera. It's just fun and helps to find those patterns you mention. Coincidentally, you are the third time this week that suggested taking pictures without actually taking one. When I studied photography in the early 80s, we were told to first shoot without film in the camera for portraiture. It was an attempt to loosen the atmosphere and to remove awkwardness.
I don’t remember where I heard it or saw it before, but when I was starting out in photography. I remember someone telling me to carry around a small viewfinder, just look at things through it.
Thanks for these good tips, Joshua! One thing really stands out to me: tune into the rhythm of a place. It made me think of when I took some photos when I was in Amsterdam for a day, and looking back the photos depict only the surface of this great city. I’m going to keep this advice in mind for a future trip!
Tuning into the rhythm of a place is so much easier said than done, but I think it's super important if you want to try and get the best out of a city.
Great read Joshua. The repetitive nature of the street images we see these days is down to one thing imo. People are in such a hurry to make work and then post it to social media they often go for the low hanging fruit. Like you said, there's still joy to be had in making and veiwing these images but the work that looks different is coming from people that put LOTS of hours in, often in the same city and they make a lot of "bad" photos for each good one we see. I think just by removing ourselves from the "shoot-n-post" mentality and stopping the tail from wagging the dog we would see a huge increase in variety.
The shoot n post mindset is so shitty, and it's my biggest complaint when it comes to social media. I know it won't stop happening, but I do think as time goes on people are looking for more meaningful work, so one can hope.
Great post and great observation on so many images looking the same. I think often we’re so overstimulated and our brains are so overtaxed that it’s hard to pause and think of new ways of doing something, which is why we inevitably end up shooting something that we’ve seen before. Love these simple suggestions I will definitely be trying the “visit somewhere boring“ constraint next time I’m out.
Street photography is a great practice ground for honing your skills, but getting a really good photo is difficult. Notice how great names in street photography are known for just a handful of images. This difficulty in getting a true banger is the primary reason - I think - behind the onslaught of these repetitive frames in social media. The low hanging fruit as @tomminty put it. Also, Instagram makes you post whatever seems barely acceptable, to get that instant gratification, and the algorithm promotes certain types of photos that get the traffic.
My main gripe with street photography is that it is mostly about nothing.
I fully agree that street photography is an amazing way to hone your skills, and I really think everyone should give it a shot. And yeah, getting a banger image in street is tough.
That said, I might have to disagree with the idea that street photography is about nothing. I think different images mean different things to different people. Some of my photos might seem like nothing to someone else, but to me, they hold a lot. But I can also see the point of some street photography being about nothing or lacking any kind of story behind the photo.
I was thinking of following up that sentence, but hit send instead 🤣. What I did not add is that I see street photography that way within the scope of my own photography, after practicing it for many years. I used to love street photography and for me it was a learning ground and a trampoline to a more intentional documentary and reportage photography. I think that intentionality and a broader story really adds to photos and makes the subjects less instrumental and anonymous. Often the street bangers from yesteryear are actually part of photo essays and stories, and that gives them more value in my opinion. Today, we often imitate these types of photos, but we do that only within the visual layer, and the original meaning and gravity is lost.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you read my mind. I was preparing a similar article. But this one captures all the sweet spots, perfectly. I also take pictures without using the camera. It's just fun and helps to find those patterns you mention. Coincidentally, you are the third time this week that suggested taking pictures without actually taking one. When I studied photography in the early 80s, we were told to first shoot without film in the camera for portraiture. It was an attempt to loosen the atmosphere and to remove awkwardness.
I don’t remember where I heard it or saw it before, but when I was starting out in photography. I remember someone telling me to carry around a small viewfinder, just look at things through it.
BTW this is the video that inspired me to write an article on the subject. Then I read yours, and, well, can't add anything meaningful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK4IDcNxdQU&t=1s
Oh wow… What a great video. Thank you for sharing this with me!
Revisit the boring spots... such underrated advice! Cheers man.
Appreciate that Hans!
Bravo 👏🏻!
Amazing 📸.
Thanks 🙏🏻 for sharing.
Thanks for these good tips, Joshua! One thing really stands out to me: tune into the rhythm of a place. It made me think of when I took some photos when I was in Amsterdam for a day, and looking back the photos depict only the surface of this great city. I’m going to keep this advice in mind for a future trip!
Tuning into the rhythm of a place is so much easier said than done, but I think it's super important if you want to try and get the best out of a city.
Great read Joshua. The repetitive nature of the street images we see these days is down to one thing imo. People are in such a hurry to make work and then post it to social media they often go for the low hanging fruit. Like you said, there's still joy to be had in making and veiwing these images but the work that looks different is coming from people that put LOTS of hours in, often in the same city and they make a lot of "bad" photos for each good one we see. I think just by removing ourselves from the "shoot-n-post" mentality and stopping the tail from wagging the dog we would see a huge increase in variety.
The shoot n post mindset is so shitty, and it's my biggest complaint when it comes to social media. I know it won't stop happening, but I do think as time goes on people are looking for more meaningful work, so one can hope.
Great post and great observation on so many images looking the same. I think often we’re so overstimulated and our brains are so overtaxed that it’s hard to pause and think of new ways of doing something, which is why we inevitably end up shooting something that we’ve seen before. Love these simple suggestions I will definitely be trying the “visit somewhere boring“ constraint next time I’m out.
Let me know how it goes for you next time you go shooting!