Likes & Dislikes: Street Photography

One of our assigned photo units in my Advanced Photography class was street photography. I have mixed emotions about this and thought I would make a list of what I liked and didn't like.

Likes:

-I liked the fact that I could go around and try my skills in an environment where I couldn't control most if not all of the elements. Rather than fixing every single hair on someone's head or arranging their clothes perfectly and lining up the perfect backdrop, I had to accept the fact that I couldn't adjust the background much, change someone's hair, or how they were standing. It presented a new challenge for me, and helped to further my skills as a photographer.

-I enjoyed the challenge of taking pictures while in motion. Forget a tripod and the perfect angle, I was often taking pictures with the camera at my hip (rather than looking through the viewfinder), and had to deal with photos that were too blurry, or at the wrong angle. Eventually, I realized I could use this to my advantage, and used it to show that not all images have to be seen from a stright or pre-assigned angle.

-I loved the uniqueness. I went out to shoot pictures with a small group of friends from my photo class, and even when we all took pictures of the same thing or same group of people, it cam out differently. If I was shooting from the hip while walking, someone else was looking through the viewfinder while completely stationary. It allowed for us to present the same thing in an entirely different way.

Dislikes:

-I had a hard time dealing with the fact that so many of my pictures were blurry.

-I didn't like not being able to position my subjects.

-I didn't like the awkwardness of it. It felt extremely stalkerish to be walking around taking pictures of people I didn't know and who probably couldn't see that I was talking them. It felt like such an invasion of privacy and I couldn't get past that feeling the entire time we were taking pictures.

Looking back, I actually did enjoy this unit. I got to spend time with my friends, and advance my photography skills, even if it was in a way I didn't necessarily enjoy.

-Lauren Hansen