OMG, I could not believe this guy! One of my students sent me the link last year... This Joel guy is full of substance best used as a fertilizer. He is talking about being invisible and blending in. Right, try go to lower Manhattan and to blend in there wearing all black and running back and forth like a super agent from a bad James Bond knock-off, especially if you are like million feet tall. I do street photography since I remember and know what it's like.
If you want to be invisible on the street, do the following:
- Dress like everybody else, or like a homeless guy, as nobody wants to look at homeless multilayered fashion.
- Do not run, jump or make any other movements that may be subconsciously considered a threat like rotate your head right and left, wave hands about, etc.
- Do not lift a camera from a chest level to your eye. Rather, hold it near your face all the time, and when you need to look in the viewfinder, just lower your head to the viewfinder position, not raise the camera.
- Do not bump into people.
- Try to be lower than everybody else. If you are tall, bend your knees until your head is below a chin of a medium-height adult. If it's too awkward, sit somewhere, or lean against a wall or a tree.
- Resist a temptation to have a curious look on your face. Look either absorbed, or oblivious.
- Do not seek and/or maintain eye contact with anybody.
- If you get busted, smile like you know this person since the age of five and dissolve in the crowd.