Where the biggest cabron de fotografia vives

This title taken from a conversation with a friend and colleague of mine, a photographer disconnected with the politically correct like me. Sometimes someone forgets but street photography is made by people who live the street seriously…anyway before anything, cheers Sasha!

ALV… my barrio eye reads like A LA VERGA…a dirty word to say…

Raw and direct. Just like street photography is.

In the last days I shared on my instagram some words dedicated to street photography.

Street Photography has been and still is a fundamental school to me. I learned a lot and still I learn and when I am busy with other kind of photography I can see how useful is, by using some skills adquired on the streets.

Street Photography is also a "brain tester"

Street Photography colors my life

Street Photography is concrete urban poetry

Street Photography pushes my limits. And always did it.

Sometimes a street photo is just a matter of time

Street Photography is illegal for small brains

But in particular this one:

Street Photography is the villain of photography: a bad guy but so cool.

Again in recent times Street Photography is under attack. The moralist and the politically correct army lashed yet another attack. I have news for them: Garry Winogrand doesn't care about them. And so do I.

I propose you the traslation of my artcle published origially for my Italian blog, FOTOREPORTANDO:

Obviously under attack is street photography and not just the good street photographer Paul Kessel for this photo. Since yesterday, on twitter, there has been a crossfire between those who see something absolutely negative and even illegal in this photo and those who defend it.

In particular, Kessel's phrase "the camera was on my lap and they never noticed me" is taken as an accusation and that there would be no consensus in a shot like this. And at this point I don't know if it is ignorance or a deliberate attack by those who have always considered it illegal to do street photography.

Please don't make virgins. Street Photography is based on an essential concept:

It is about making photos captured spontaneously in public places, without the consent of the people photographed

Street Photography is this and it cannot be done otherwise. Yesterday on twitter I intervened in the debate saying my opinion:

A normal street photo seen as gruesome by politically correct minds. And those who say this photo is disturbing seem disturbing to me. Perhaps a little history of photography could be useful. This is a normal photo.

And let me add: this is a beautiful photo. Show gestures and a moment of tenderness. It adds content and is a document to understand the society that is at the center of the interest of street photography. Finally we see humanity and not those boring visual games and people say it's creepy ...

Getting consent in a street photograph is bullshit. We cannot and should not rate a street photo as a portrait photograph. If we look at the history of this genre it is full of photographs that reveal intimate moments in public spaces and no one has ever dreamed of calling such images creepy. Through the work of street photographers we can understand a great deal about society.

Unfortunately, we live in an age of absurdities inspired by politically correct. Only yesterday the other, always on twitter, a girl pontificated on the need to eliminate the verb to shoot (to shoot but also to photograph) from the vocabulary of photographers, because she, according to her, identified a violent vision. They are the new monsters who on social media claim to appear good and correct, but they are precisely those who do not see, for example, the violence and injustices perpetrated by governments. What is true violence they do not see and break on absolutely normal things. A false, hypocritical way of proposing oneself. Meanwhile, democracy is dying out under violent blows from a global system, generated by psychopaths.

The problem, however, is this photograph. A very good street photography that is creepy only for those who are creepy.

As a street photographer with over ten years experience I am used to these attacks. The sad thing is to see that there are also many photographers thinking that street is illegal. Practically most of the shots taken in the past, which have made the history of photography, taking into account their yardstick would be illegal or at least reprehensible.

Street Photography is punk.

And this is cool.