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surreptitious shooting

thomasl.se

New member
Re: bartlebooth and TRSmith,

You should have seen this cam-slinger, or maybe you have: Tucked in under a sloped backward berrett, strategically positioned in the corner of a Chinese take-away; zooming his DLSR, firing away, chimping; repeat, non-stop. A firm flash on every beat.

I'd say he must have overcome most of his shyness by now, ready to hit the streets and start pushing the make-some-art button.
 
B

bartlebooth

Guest
Thank you bartlebooth for articulating my sentiments exactly.

I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't a book deal waiting for someone who manages to strap one of those infrared-triggered-capture-the-deer-in-the-woods-at-night boxes to a lamp post and collect hundreds of photos of the humans that walk past it. <sarcasm>If you use this idea, please remember to mention me in the Acknowledgements of your book</sarcasm>
Ha, that's a good one! I think you just jump-started the career of an art student somewhere..
 

Will

New member
One other point I'd like to add to this discussion is that street photography is more than just random snaps of strangers living their lives in an urban environment. Just because someone happens to look 'interesting' doesn't necessarily mean a quick snap of them makes an interesting photo. I admire good street photographers (espec. Joel Meyerowitz and of course HCB) but go back and look at their work and you'll see what I mean. There is a 'punctum' in all their shots, they are not just random potshots or 'atmosphere'. I think the ease, economy and instant feedback of digital has led to an explosion of shots 'in the style of street photography' but without the wit and intelligence that made this style so enjoyable in the first place.
Digital photography has led to an explosion of shots in all the styles of photography, it doesn't mean there isn't a lot of good stuff being done now. I think that there is an enormous amount of talent out there that would have never seen the light of day before digital imagery made exploration of creativity so accessible to the masses. I think it is wonderful what has happened in recent years. Agreed there is a lot of mediocrity out there, but there is also a lot of outstanding creativity as well, often with very basic cameras. My son belongs to the teenage photographers forum on flickr and some of the image sets on it are astonishingly good.
 

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
Re: bartlebooth and TRSmith,

You should have seen this cam-slinger, or maybe you have: Tucked in under a sloped backward berrett, strategically positioned in the corner of a Chinese take-away; zooming his DLSR, firing away, chimping; repeat, non-stop. A firm flash on every beat.

I'd say he must have overcome most of his shyness by now, ready to hit the streets and start pushing the make-some-art button.
All this needs is a little music and that's hip-hop platinum!
 
B

bartlebooth

Guest
I think that there is an enormous amount of talent out there that would have never seen the light of day before digital imagery made exploration of creativity so accessible to the masses.

I wonder if this is true. Before digital there were plenty of inexpensive film cameras that talented individuals could use to explore their creativity. It wasn't a cost issue, it just required a little more work. No doubt digital makes taking pictures easier, I think the jury's still out whether it has made people better photographers.
 

Will

New member
I wonder if this is true. Before digital there were plenty of inexpensive film cameras that talented individuals could use to explore their creativity. It wasn't a cost issue, it just required a little more work. No doubt digital makes taking pictures easier, I think the jury's still out whether it has made people better photographers.
Perhaps not just the digital cameras, but certainly I think web sites such as flickr are doing a lot to bring out the talent that has always been there but has not always been expressed.
 

Lili

New member
Re: bartlebooth and TRSmith,

You should have seen this cam-slinger, or maybe you have: Tucked in under a sloped backward berrett, strategically positioned in the corner of a Chinese take-away; zooming his DLSR, firing away, chimping; repeat, non-stop. A firm flash on every beat.

I'd say he must have overcome most of his shyness by now, ready to hit the streets and start pushing the make-some-art button.
That image is terrifyingly funny.
Sad, but I have seen it.
^_^
 

nostatic

New member
Opinionated? That's an understatement! The whole piece is twaddle, written in one-line paragraphs by someone who seems functionally illiterate — as they say, writing reflects your capacity for thinking. There's not an original thought in the whole piece — and the photographs are all derivate as well, although a few of them are of some interest. A lot of them have grim, "bad bokeh" and would benefit having been taken with a small sensor camera with huge depth of field. The whole wretched piece is full of cliches from the 1950s — not really worth spending time writing about it more. I guess you can see that I'm not too fond of it. <grin>
I thought maybe it was just me ;)

Actually, reading the "forewards" and seeing the work of the other photographers was worth the price of admission. In fact I thought that was "the book", but sadly, the raging dogmatic diatribe (rdd ™) followed. I guess I'm going to have to sell all my digital stuff and buy an MP and Summicron so I can be a "real" street photographer :rolleyes:
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Two articles worth Reading: On a Happier Note.......ReidReviews.com
Sean Reids
"PHOTOGRAPHING STRANGERS" & "STREET PHOTOGRAPHY /part one" :)
 

nostatic

New member
the whole "democratization" of media and art by digital technologies is a whole 'nother topic, about which I have argued passionately and generated an RDD or three. After years of being on the bleeding edge of digital media, social software and other disruptive technologies, I have come to the conclusion that the amount of talent in the world is a constant...the tools just allow some to more easily discover and nurture it, and for others to engage it. A caveat is that as visual/digital literacy increases, so does the bar for content. Differentiation is the challenge, especially as the tools seem to be becoming less unique (like car designs).

This is another thread though...suffice it to say we live in amazing times.
 

ShiroKuro

New member
So no love for Chris Weeks ; )


I saw an interesting scene the other day at the beach...... A policeman ,two college kids ,and three chinese..... (two men and a woman interpreter).

The two college kids accusing the chinese man of taking photographs of little girls ..... the Hawaiian cop, the white college kids and the guy from mainland china with his interpreter hashing it all out ... meanwhile the rest of the people on the beach hear bits and pieces ....which gets more distorted as people tell others what is happening .."the guys taking pictures of little girls" ..blah blah blah... it has turned into quite a scene ..... the mob mentality kicks in..... I think it is all so interesting ... and start photographing ...... and to be honest I was pissed at the 2 college kids so I focus my attention on them .... taking photographs only to be an intrusion and to piss off the photographic phobic college boy.... it worked ... The cop now wanted to talk to me and told me I had to wait... college kid wants to know why I am photographing ....

A big waste of time ..... The college kid is now shaking the hand of the chinese guy ..situation seems to be a big misunderstanding and no problem .... no lynching from the palm trees today ....... done ....

I walk over to a group of local people who are going on and on about it ... I try and explain another way of seeing it and that it may have been the college boys that where mistaken ..... stranger in a strange land ...
LOL I get physically attacked by some women for defending these guys and for photographing the situation ..... They may hang someone after all:ROTFL: me !

My take ... This guy from mainland China has never been anywhere like Waikiki Beach. Everything looks so interesting ..... that american kid is so cute ... takes picture .
 

pollobarca

New member
People should wear Burkas or not go out if they have problems being in public.
If you are out in public then inevitably you will be photographed.Trying taking a picture in a public place without getting people in the way.From a composition pov i try to hang on until I find people in interesting positions or occupying empty space when photographing monuments etc.i'm not very good at this but i do keep trying.A beach without people is pretty boring really.
I saw a calculation that said people are imaged by surveillance about 50 times a day.May be so in big cities.
Anyway the mass hysteria about dirty old men (thats what they were called by my mum when I was five) AKA paedophiles is way out of hand. Parents need to educate their children :lecture:, not just expect repression from authority , to protect them. Kids are cute to photograph and that seems perfectly normal to me.
They have now become dangerous to photograph too, with no benefit with regard to decreasing child abuse.

being sneaky in photography is not a good idea though.
My two pennies worth.

brgds
paul

So no love for Chris Weeks ; )


I saw an interesting scene the other day at the beach...... A policeman ,two college kids ,and three chinese..... (two men and a woman interpreter).

The two college kids accusing the chinese man of taking photographs of little girls ..... the Hawaiian cop, the white college kids and the guy from mainland china with his interpreter hashing it all out ... meanwhile the rest of the people on the beach hear bits and pieces ....which gets more distorted as people tell others what is happening .."the guys taking pictures of little girls" ..blah blah blah... it has turned into quite a scene ..... the mob mentality kicks in..... I think it is all so interesting ... and start photographing ...... and to be honest I was pissed at the 2 college kids so I focus my attention on them .... taking photographs only to be an intrusion and to piss off the photographic phobic college boy.... it worked ... The cop now wanted to talk to me and told me I had to wait... college kid wants to know why I am photographing ....

A big waste of time ..... The college kid is now shaking the hand of the chinese guy ..situation seems to be a big misunderstanding and no problem .... no lynching from the palm trees today ....... done ....

I walk over to a group of local people who are going on and on about it ... I try and explain another way of seeing it and that it may have been the college boys that where mistaken ..... stranger in a strange land ...
LOL I get physically attacked by some women for defending these guys and for photographing the situation ..... They may hang someone after all:ROTFL: me !

My take ... This guy from mainland China has never been anywhere like Waikiki Beach. Everything looks so interesting ..... that american kid is so cute ... takes picture .
 

ShiroKuro

New member
Here are 2 pics to go with my above post just ....

good points pollobarca......
 
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