About what is street photography and ontology
I was asked so many times what is street photography. And many students asked me if a photo is a street photo. I have my ideas that are not the ones shared usually.
Let's take this photo as an example.
The orthodox creed of street photography does not label it as a street photo and only as a photo taken on the street. In fact, on the content level there is no juxtaposition, no contrast, there is no human trace. This is what makes me say as an educator that we don't have to pay attention to whether or not a photo falls into a category or definition such as street photography.
Let's think about Stephen Shore's photography for a moment. Why do I consider this author an example of a street photographer with a different research and a cultural approach that differs from the typical street photographers, but we don't think he is one of the masters who has also given a lot to street photography? And it's with the same mindset that we should watch the documentary Everybody Street where there are several types of street photographers. Martha Cooper is so different from Bruce Gilden.
The work of a street photographer cannot be confined to an enclosure of content and aesthetic rules. I could quote you certain urban visions of Daido Moriyama to reinforce my thesis. And hundreds of other photographers. Returning to the photo above for me it has all the aesthetics of a street photo. In the communication to find a composition that has interesting elements, something in some ways unique and that the photographer has seen.
I have already expressed here the idea that we should rather turn our attention to the ontological level and therefore to the experience of being a street photographer rather than to inserting an image into a category. The street photographer is a photographer different from all other photographers. He/She is a metropolitan animal. He/She is not a nerd about cameras and lenses, or at least he shouldn't be unless these tools allow him to work at his best to obtain the desired results.
When I am on the street the point is not to do something that looks like a street photograph but to live the experience and photograph what most calls me and which in my opinion makes me get an interesting image. This is photography. And this is street photography for me.
Guys, look at the work of Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand, Daido Moriyama, Harry Gruyaert, Fred Herzog, Anthony Hernandez, George Porcari, Helen Levitt…am I wrong?
