Street Photography needs to stop to be a superficial game

This is a problem I highlighted several years ago and I received critiques and even sabotage for this, but time showed that I was right.

Today photography is more associated with the virtual and, if you think about it, it is a tragic fate.

Because photography is physical, it is material, it feeds on reality and situations of reality.

Photography is printing. Photography is an act of reflection on death. And therefore on existence. And on resistance. As a resistant art it cannot ignore the encounter in reality, it cannot escape a dimension of document even if it moves in the world of the unreal and the metaphysical. Indeed, I dare say that the more it moves between thought and dream, the more real it becomes.

I cannot therefore accept this idea that photography is thought of as something virtual, between cell phones and social media.

A photo like this is not accepted, because it would not fall within the ethical code of the street photographer. Who decided that? Who supports this idea? I started doing street photography in Italy where the legacy is first-rate with photographers like Mario Dondero, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Mario Giacomelli. All photographers who have also shown poverty, difficulties and the hard things to tell.

I started where there was no distinction between street photography and reportage photography.

And so for me street photography is always the same and not the one that, starting from some stupid American decalogue on superficial blogs, implied that photographing certain things was not ethical.

And so a narrative was established through which it was implied that street photography had to be pure aesthetics, not tell big themes, approach everything with lightness and that laugh in the brain, in short, get lost among stupid visual games and cosmic nothingness.

Festivals and awards pushed this idea, with photographers showing everything on the surface, avoiding inserting social or existential themes into their street photography. the results is evident: street photography is today mostly considered a superficial genre, a sort of game made in a sort of global club where mostly useless photos are shared that tell nothing.

And when a photographer dares to take pictures that present the raw world they are excluded: he doesn't do street photography anymore, or they are snubbed with an attitude of "this one doesn't do what we do".

That is where Street Photography lost the direction. Because right now there are a lot of people that think street photography is born around the pandemic times…or just some years before. Considering that young people are not that interested to document themselves about the past and the masters, i mean the real masters and not those celebrated today on social media like tik tok and instagram, we have the clear panorama of what is today for the most street photography: a continous streaming of idiotic visual games.

These days I published a video on YouTube introducing the work of Suitcase Joe, please look at that:

He is a street photographer. Try to say no.

We need to re-think what street photography is. Street Photography is not the game of those rich kids. Street Photography is more important and absolutely not a superficial way to make photography.

Street Photography today and what it was in the past

In recent years, the landscape of street photography has shifted dramatically. What once captivated me as a medium for social reportage and genuine human connection has evolved into something quite different—an arena dominated by superficial visual tricks and what I can only describe as "snobbish conceptualism." As I reflect on the essence of street photography that initially drew me in, I find myself yearning for a return to its roots.

The Shift Away from Social Reportage

I learned to love street photography through the lens of masters like Berengo Gardin, of course Kertesz and Bresson, Branzi, and Uminicini. These photographers, alongside collectives such as Mignon and the venerable Magnum agency, embodied a commitment to capturing the raw essence of human life. Their work was not about staged scenes or contrived aesthetics but about documenting the social fabric—the joys, struggles, and unscripted moments that define our existence. That is Street Photography to me. I see a main reason why is not anymore like that for the most: people doesn’t read anymore. Most of people today is not interested in reading books but for an author, any author of any art to read is fundamental. That is where I can see a lack of culture that degrades the making of photographs. Street Photography is part of documentary photography, and despite its different with photojournalism, in any case requires the photographer to be a sensitive, curious person with a marked empathy towards the world around him and a culture above average. Today that this average has lowered, evidently in the world, with people increasingly stupid and uncultured, even many photographers who shoot in the street are an expression of this state of things.

Settimio Benedusi is right. That's why many hate him.

If a photographer doesn't read, you can tell by the photos he takes. If a photographer sees nothing but Hollywood bullshit, you can tell by his photos. If a photographer doesn't live, his photos will always betray him.

Ignorance exhibited by photographers is something that annoys.

A photographer should know other arts. And be avid for literature, poetry, cinema.

Then if you try to talk to them often you realize how much ignorance in this sense there is and then you understand better who is great and who is small.

This is why we must make a clear distinction between photographer authors and photographer testers of cameras. The first ones are aware and refined writers, the latter, well the latter are the majority that gravitate towards social media. They are idiots with cameras.

The Rise of Visual Games and Conceptual Snobbery

Today, however, it often feels like street photography has lost its way. Many practitioners seem more focused on creating visually striking images designed to impress juries and win accolades at prestigious festivals. This shift towards visual games and "snobbish conceptualism" has, in my opinion, diluted the authenticity that once made street photography a powerful form of storytelling.

Street Photography is a need that comes from within. You create certain images through a reflection that starts from the moment you are alone, with your camera. It is a social genre because you are immersed in your activity in public environments, the street, the metropolis, but at the same time it is a meditative, introspective act.

Returning to Authenticity

In my own practice, I strive to honor the traditions of social reportage that inspired me from the beginning. I believe that street photography should be a medium for bearing witness to the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. By reconnecting with the genuine moments and everyday narratives unfolding around us, we can reclaim the soul of this art form.

If there is poverty, struggles, drug, prostitution and any ugly thing happening on earth, we should be able to represent that. To make this possible, in a effective way, without being explotative, we need to be sensitive and with a superior culture respect to the average. In any case we should stop to think Street Photography needs to stay superficial and not involved. We need to re-think the role and the importance of Street Photography. We need to back to have as references the real masters and not those influencers we see today on instagram.

The minus at a certain point is that some started to introduce street photography as a sort of game, most of the time a visual game, reducing street photography to something superficial and absolutely forgettable in the space of a scroll on a social network. We need to stop to think that.

Conclusion

As I look ahead, I am reminded of the words of Henri Cartier-Bresson, who famously said that "to photograph is to hold one's breath when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality." Let’ s breathe life back into street photography by embracing its roots in social reportage and reaffirming its role as a mirror to society.

An Old School Street Photographer