Taking it to the Streets
Iain Merchant
Artist, Photographer & Poet at 'The Art of Life' & Founding Artist at The Artocalypse
I thought it might be fun to do something a bit different with this post so, a little cheesy though it may be, I have sorted out a background track for you to listen to whilst you read the post… It’s a bit of fun and you never know you might even like it. Give it a go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rxWPEdYCnI
Street photography is a strange beast because we photographers are used to being on our own with the landscape. Stood in the middle of nowhere and, for the most part, having conversations with ourselves.
Street photography, however, is a whole different thing and actually demands that you interact, which some people find super awkward and so do most of their street photography from a distance and with a telephoto lens and, to be fair, you can get some great shots working this way, but don’t miss out on the benefit of getting in close, you’ll be surprised how willing and friendly people generally are if you ask them nicely.
On my recent walk around Leicester Market and using only my 25mm prime lens (50mm equivalent on a full-frame camera) and with a simple bit of conversation asking the stallholders if they minded me taking some shots for the Photography project I was working on, 99% of people are absolutely fine with your request.
I personally always make a second request by asking “do you mind if get you in the shot”? Very rarely, having said yes to the first question, does anyone say ‘no’ to the second, but if they do just honour their request.
Leicester market is around 800 years old and is the largest outdoor covered market in Europe and whenever I am there I get this real sense of stepping back in time to when I first spent my youth in town. I processed this following shot to reflect my time around town in the 1970s
There is always a wonderful bustle of life in a market I think, and I love to take photographs of the people going about their day whilst I wonder what’s going on in all those different live’s captured in the images. Just take a look at these images below and think about what all these people might have on their mind…
The other wonderful thing about doing some street photography in a market other than the people is the variety of things being sold. These can also yield some nice opportunities for interesting and thought-provoking images.
Another fascinating aspect of street photography is how often Black & White will be the most powerful processing option for creating a final image that has the impact you want.
B&W photographs can often talk to the viewer in a far more powerful way than their colour counterpart would, where colour is a distraction for the story you’re trying to tell. Then there are other times when colour is absolutely vital to help tell that story, as I hope you may have noticed with the images in this post.
The post-processing element of photography is the area I really enjoy because it’s where you get a chance to bring to life what you had envisaged when you took the shot. Also, there are times when you get a chance to really enhance the shot you took in the camera and create an image that has real impact and draw to the eye – I love it…
Street photography though is, as I said at the very beginning, often about being brave and asking permission to take the shots and so it’s really all about those wonderful people who say “yeah, no problem mate, knock yourself out” which was the literal response I got from this fella.
And also this fine chap who said “Sweet! Do your worst”.
So a big thanks to all the fantastic people of Leicester Market who made me feel so welcome and, if you’ve not done it before, grab your camera or your phone and get out there into your local town and, asking permission where necessary, and grab some shots of all the life going on around you, you might just enjoy the results far more than you imagined…
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Best wishes
Iain Merchant
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Professional Photographer di Meero
5 年Amazing articles and very good pictures. A few years ago I bought a camera and began to study photography self-taught. Then about 6 months ago, I began to study and explore street photography. And I found pleasure and a challenge here. I began to join the community to learn more about street photography. In my opinion, in addition to the ability to produce good pictures, a street photographer must also have the ability to socialize and interact with the surrounding environment. Currently, I am building a blog about street photography that I do. Http://streetphotosby.wordpress.com and I also post my work on Instagram https://instagram.com/soliman_zebua. If you have sometimes, please visit my website. Thank you!??