Street photography is direct (remember straight photography?), Nothing is staged and you have to worry about reacting very quickly, otherwise the moment is gone forever. Let's try to strip the bone: going beyond any question of attention to composition and the search for content, for interesting stories that are certainly fundamental for creating valid street photography.

Do you know what is the most important thing for a street photographer?

It may seem obvious, but Street Photography is a complex game. Only the photographer aware of this will achieve important results, through a lot of practice and dedication. At the same time it is not about rocket science. Good results can be achieved when you manage to develop a good technique and this also passes through an excellent knowledge of the camera and lens, as well as a real immersion in the reality that you are photographing, becoming empathetic and sensitive with the environment in where you are working.

Most of the newbies I have found in my workshops, who come from a decidedly more formal and academic background are unable to capture a defining moment. This certainly happens due to the lack of visual education in the specific of street photography which must be nourished by many readings, visions that do not include only photography, but for example other arts such as cinema, painting and music, therefore living more the world of art in general.

From a purely technical point of view it is often known that they are extremely slow. They don't know how to prepare the camera for a certain shot, they think too much about adjusting the various settings and this results most of the time in a lost photo. Or I happen to see later, in the moment of viewing what they have produced, in the first feedback I give them by looking directly at the photos on their camera's LCD, images that do not have a real reason that justifies having taken them. Many are photos without real content, but sometimes it happens to see photos in which the situation showed to have a potential, but not exploited in the best way.

The usual blogs on the internet give unique recipes, which would like to be universal, when in photography - I insist - there is no single way to make it and bring home a good result. If we were to consider street photographers in the 60s and 70s, we had to take into account that they could not rely on autofocus, while we with digital cameras can ... and it is not true that AF cannot be a solution when it's about street photography. Anything is relative. For example, each camera has its own "character" and certain characteristics: it is up to us to find out and adopt the best method we can with that.

I think a good photographer is able to take a photo with and without autofocus. Each camera makes its own story. Because every camera has its secrets and its solutions.

There is only one thing for sure: if the photographer is still adjusting the camera while the action is taking place, he will most likely lose the shot. To avoid this, it is essential to know our camera, shutter speed, shutter lag ... You should know that even if it is delayed for ½ second, the shot will already be lost. The photo might be, um, okay, but isn't this your shot, what you saw and wanted and you know what? You missed it due to your slow operating time.

Any good street photographer knows what works better for him, according to the camera and lens he/she is using. With that said, you still want to know how I work on the street. Fine.

When it comes to Street Photography I consider only lenses that range from a not extreme wide angle lens to a normal lens, usually 28mm and 35mm, but I am not a fundamentalist: my Yashica has a 45mm and I am currently working a lot with the 7 Artisans lens that is a 37.5mm equivalent.

Operationally for me zone focusing is the way to go, for this reason I prefer to work with lenses that have the hyperfocal distance scale, although sometimes I have to compromise with lenses that don't have it. In the case of Fujifilm I love the focus peak setting that allows me to see what is in focus and what is not.

Serious question: why did manufacturers stop including hyperfocal distance scale on digital lenses? Do they think we are all amateurs? Consider it a provocation or not. It deserves a cultural battle this topic in my opinion.

In any case to be quick is fundamental. And I can see how I am usually quicker than other photographers, to the point that many when they find themselves to work with me ask to see the last shot made because they can’t believe I have it. But I have it.

Watch this quick video:

And now look the result:

This is the essence of Street Photography, in my opinion.

When you are on the street you have to be fast. Set up your camera, ready to shoot. Just lift it up and take the picture! That’s it. This is Street Photography.

It is not about using zone focusing, or shutter speed priority or aperture priority with autofocus: rather, I am talking about how you arrange the camera, how you allow it to work profitably. for that particular shot and how those decisions allow you to bring home the image you want. It's about being fast. Because most of the time on the street it is a reaction game in which instinct is a relevant part.

Especially when we find ourselves in a meeting situation, as in the case of this photo, you should forget the idea of taking many shots of the same subject because that won't work if your goal is to get a great image, which is able to show tension, dynamism, that thing I love to call energy. Remember that Street Photography is not about having something fixed and over-thought, it is not about having a perfect shot - it is much more important to be able to capture a photo that has something to communicate. It's a nerve-wracking balance between waiting and speed, and when you see everything reaching that moment, the moment you click, and yes, you have the image, the image you thought about.

Again, Joel Meyerowitz tells us: “It comes down to taking risks, over and over. If you risk going out, if you risk taking photos that aren't good, you might discover something in a photograph that is the key. The real door for your interest. "

I have adopted this philosophy, and taking into consideration the fact of being a popularizer and teacher of street photography, it is important for me to share, without reticence. Let's not fool ourselves: nobody is God, and all without exception take good, less good and even bad photographs.

Anchored to an idea of the perfect photo, the "well-informed" seem to miss one of the great opportunities offered by photography: communicating.

If I agree on taking care of the formal aspect of our photography, this has nothing to do with the relentless pursuit of rules. Everything should respond to the scene in front of us and based on that make our own rules.

We often speak of imperfect photography, even of anti-composition, but it often remains undone and almost never applied by photographers. To make street photography implies risk, dedication, patience and, if you allow me, it is another way, a completely different way of doing and experiencing photography.

As Street Photographers we are not focused on making the “pretty picture”. What I love of Street Photography is that is real photography. It is not for you if you are a camera geek. We still love cameras but not how those aiming to have any technical aspect accurate. Photos need to have a content and not only the form is important. Because you can have a a photograph that is flawless from a technical point of view and that in the end communicates nothing or communicates little.

This is also because we, the street photographers, are different animals respect to the others. Street Photography is cool. I mean really cool. It is a urban activity, it is like to be a skateboarders or traceurs, it is free and therefore animated by an anarchist soul. out of the teeth other photography genres are boring. And in fact I smiled some days ago because in a collective chat many photographers specialized in other things said that they would make Street Photography. It is not the first time I hear this. And I think is funny. We are like surfers. And in fact we are always looking for the next, good wave.

A small guide to Street Photography PT.4

A small guide to Street Photography PT. 5

NUDOGRAPHY (NSFW)