Photographer Anthony Epes has put together a great article on street portraits, over at Digital Photography School.
It’s very intimidating to walk up to a stranger right there in the streets and ask if you can take a photo. Most people, however, probably wouldn’t mind at all! And if they do, they’ll just say no thank you.
Are you into street photography? Have you had good or bad experiences taking candid portraits of people you don’t know? Feel free to share in the comments below.
Your camera is your licence to be curious
“I love that having a camera basically gives you a license to go up to anyone and ask them what they’re doing and why.” Andrew Hinderaker
Most people are perfectly happy to be photographed. That’s the key when you’re going out and about. My mantra when taking photos of strangers is – be confident (this comes with practice), friendly, curious, and ethical. In other words, I prefer to photograph people who are okay with the experience. I don’t generally photograph kids and the obviously vulnerable, etc. That’s my ethical line. For me photography is an exchange and I respect everyone whom I photograph.
Humans are built to want to connect with other humans, and photography is a powerful form of connection when you use it as such. When you are taking someone’s photo you are basically saying – I see you, you interest me. And for most people that’s a wonderful compliment.
Find a great background and wait
There is a tradition in street photography that you find an interesting location; a background, a road, or sign, and then you wait for someone or something to happen in front of it. It requires patience, which is a very good thing to develop. I’ve noticed that patience is something that beginners often lack. Possibly because we live in a world that is so used to immediate gratification that we expect good shots to come in abundance.
It rarely works like that. I therefore like this idea of finding something interesting out on the street – some elements, or a place that fascinates you, then waiting for something to happen. It’s a great way to train your eye, and perfect your timing. Plus, when you continually gaze at one place you become very familiar, very intimate with it. You’ll notice things that initially you didn’t see.
It’s all in the eyes
“The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
When you are starting out taking photos of people it can be a scary experience. So much so that you often rush too much – perhaps in an effort to get it done as quickly as possible and to not offend or upset anyone. But the more you shoot street portraits, and the more effort you make to relax into the experience, the more you can work on revealing the deeper emotions of your subject.
When you take a more relaxed and patient approach you give people the space to unfold and reveal their thoughts and feelings through their bodies, faces and, most powerfully, their eyes. Eyes tell you how the subject is feeling, and often thinking.
This is where having a camera is an advantage. As humans we don’t usually look into someone’s eyes for long periods of time. It’s too powerful! It takes the interaction with that human to another level. If you have a camera between you and your subject though, it acts as a sort of safe barrier. So you can then spend time observing them, seeing what their face is doing, looking into their eyes, and seeing how they really feel.
The key to original, interesting photos is to be yourself
“I’m photographing myself out there. Not myself physically, but mentally. It’s my take on the world.” Bruce Gilden
A lot of people in workshops worry about how over-photographed the world seems now and will they ever have anything interesting or original to contribute? Hasn’t it all been done before? Well, this is the wrong way to think about it. Of course the world is very photographed now. Especially places that I visit, London, Paris, Venice, Istanbul, etc.
But the world isn’t a staid thing – it’s an ever-changing, ever moving, organism. Nothing stays the same. Having humans moving around the world makes the possibilities for original and interesting photos infinite.
More importantly though, photography is an expression of who you are. When you start out perhaps you’ll take photos like everyone else. But the more you do it, the more you’ll create something unique and original that’s a total expression of who you are – your passions, experience, style, and way of seeing the world. This creates the unique and interesting photographs that you are aiming for. It’s just like famous jazz musician Miles Davis says:
“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”
Read the full article over at Digital Photography School.
Source: Digital Photography School
