Street Photography III - DPChallenge Forums

10/28/2008 11:59:56 AM · #159

You have rated 145 of 146 images (99%) in this challenge.
You have commented on 2 images (1%) in this challenge.
You have given an average score of 5.2276.

I didn't enter, but there are 2 entries that are absolutely heads and tails above the rest. There is also a ton of completely mediocre.

10/28/2008 12:22:17 PM · #160

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

There is also a ton of completely mediocre.

Well, as someone who is completely mediocre, I have a question: How to you determine the difference between street photography and a snapshot on the street? For instance, this shot I took the other day. Is this street photography or a snapshot, and why?

Message edited by author 2008-10-28 12:23:27.

10/28/2008 12:26:06 PM · #161

Originally posted by yospiff:

Originally posted by DrAchoo:
There is also a ton of completely mediocre.

Well, as one of the mediocre entries, I have a question: How to you determine the difference between street photography and a snapshot on the street? For instance, this shot I took the other day. Is this street photography or a snapshot, and why?

Ask yourself whether you understood the story the photo was telling before or after you took it? Before? Street Photography. After? Snapshot. Your example, I would say, is the former.

bvy

Sigma DP1x

10/28/2008 12:31:51 PM · #162

Originally posted by Germaine:

I almost missed this. Great idea. I wonder what would it take to get a gallery entry added?

10/28/2008 12:35:21 PM · #163

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Before? Street Photography. After? Snapshot. Your example, I would say, is the former.

Now I am even more confused...

The girls were excited about the Koi that were jumping up out of the water to get the food. They were aware I was taking photos of them from the other side of the pond, but were so engrossed in the activity that they paid no attention to me.

So what you are saying is that if I am documenting a story or a slice of life I see, then it is street photography, but if I craft a story around it, then it is a snapshot on the street. If that is the definition, then how can anyone other than the photographer really know? That makes them all snapshots.

Message edited by author 2008-10-28 12:40:00.

10/28/2008 12:38:29 PM · #164

Take this with a grain of salt because personally I stink at Street Photography.

I think SP can generally be broken down into three categories (although obviously you can't completely pigeon-hole the genre like this).
1) Light and Geometry
2) The Human Element
3) Nostalgia

In Light and Geometry, one is looking at the artistic aspects of the picture. These shots are often the easiest to "judge". To see good examples, look at our own

e301.

In the Human Element we are looking for essays on life. Usually there is clearly a "subject" and usually one has good emotional rapport with him or her. This is often, but not always, achieved through capturing the face. This is where I see a ton of attempts fail. Too may try to capture human life without capturing someone's face. That is a hard thing to do and way too often the attempts fall short. The second example here is one that succeeds.

In Nostalgia we don't necessarily need people in the picture at all. One is trying to capture a spirit or feeling of the past and everything good connnected with it (ie a simpler time when life was easy).

That's my take on things anyway.

Message edited by author 2008-10-28 12:45:36.

10/28/2008 12:42:56 PM · #165

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

According to that definition(s) many of the images getting blasted as poor examples of the genre probably fit well into category 1 or 3.

10/28/2008 12:43:46 PM · #166

Originally posted by yospiff:

Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Before? Street Photography. After? Snapshot. Your example, I would say, is the former.

Now I am even more confused...

The girls were excited about the Koi that were jumping up out of the water to get the food. They were aware I was taking photos of them from the other side of the pond, but were so engrossed in the activity that they paid no attention to me.

So what you are saying is that if I am documenting a story or a slice of life I see, then it is street photography, but if I craft a story around it, then it is a snapshot on the street. If that is the definition, then how can anyone other than the photographer really know? That makes them all snapshots.

Ya, it can be tough. The good pictures make it obvious there was some craft to it. In your example, I would say the photog managed to compose the photo so that there were no secondary distractions, the subjects were doing the same thing, and we easily recognize the theme (the curiosity of youth). I saw far too many entires that tried to present a slice of life, but did it in this way: They walked around, took a ton of photos of all sorts of things while walking around, went home, picked a few and tried to craft a title to tell a story when the story is not obvious. Also, there were a ton where the slice of life was quite boring. Good SP is about the moments that bind us together as humans, not necessarily about the boring minutae of life.

10/28/2008 12:45:05 PM · #167

Originally posted by yospiff:

Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Take this with a grain of salt because personally I stink at Street Photography.
I think SP can generally be broken down into three categories (although obviously you can't completely pigeon-hole the genre like this).
1) Light and Geometry
2) The Human Element
3) Nostalgia

According to that definition(s) many of the images getting blasted as poor examples of the genre probably fit well into category 1 or 3.

I didn't say they'd all succeed on DPC. ;)

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

10/28/2008 12:46:26 PM · #168

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Also, there were a ton where the slice of life was quite boring. Good SP is about the moments that bind us together as humans, not necessarily about the boring minutae of life.

Ok, that nails the concept down for me. I'll happily take a sub 5 score now.

Message edited by author 2008-10-28 12:47:25.

pawdrix

Nikon D700

10/28/2008 08:18:45 PM · #169

Street Photography can be extremely snapshot-ish so I wouldn't say that's an issue or that they are exclusive of each other.

Some of the greatest street work of all time or what put the style on the map, in the first place, were basically very cerebral snapshots. Hope that makes sense.

Street Photography isn't polished though it of course can be, to an extent but as I've been studying it's both raw and intellectual AND wide open at the same time.

Check out Robert Frank or William Eggleston and you'll see what I mean.

This site has a lot of images in one spot from the greats.

Berenice Abbott
Kertesze
Winogrand
and so on

Plenty of these guys pop snapshots (sometimes...not always) but at the same time they are telling a story or saying something. The bottom line is that they are pointing, and saying look at this...this is interesting. If it interests them, hopefully the viewer will see it too.

eta: As far as scoring goes. Don't sweat it. While you're putting in a great effort to understand the genre many of the voters don't and won't. So a perfectly great street image won't cut it here (or in the voting, anyway) because it isn't slick, polished or possess instant wow understanding. Street images don't always come in neat clean packages for easy consumption.

eta2: That Nostalgia image Doc posted looks like a post-processing disaster to me. Honestly and no-offense meant to MAK a great photographer but I was surprised that did so well. The super-heavy PS work, pretty much knocked it far from what I personally would define as a street photo.

Message edited by author 2008-10-29 02:16:01.

LevT

OM System OM-1