{"id":235,"date":"2012-09-10T19:29:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T19:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/?p=235"},"modified":"2026-06-15T01:35:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:35:46","slug":"what-is-and-what-isnt-street-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/?p=235","title":{"rendered":"What Is And What Isn\u2019t Street Photography?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n I have a personal definition of Street Photography. It is
\npersonal because I don\u2019t believe a formal definition of what is and what isn\u2019t
\nStreet Photography does anything except to fix firmly in the past our idea of
\nwhat street photography should be.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nPersonal definition
\nwhat is Street Photography:<\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
    \n
  • Urban
    \n environment<\/li>\n
  • Range
    \n of distances: from up close and personal to across the street. (Across the
    \n street being more urban life scene less traditional street.)<\/li>\n
  • The
    \n subject should scream life and humanity all those personal quirks and
    \n everyday little and big things that make us human<\/li>\n
  • The
    \n subject does not have to be a person or persons regardless it does have to
    \n evoke an image of humanity<\/li>\n
  • There
    \n has to be some transit nature to the subject. An example: A half eaten ice
    \n cream cone melting on a pavement evokes memories and tells a story<\/li>\n
  • Generally
    \n the single photograph should stand by it\u2019s self even when it\u2019s included in
    \n a larger photojournalist type story. Whether or not the single image shows
    \n truth in the photojournalist sense is not relevant. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n<\/div>\n
    \nMy Personal
    \nDefinition of What Definitely Isn\u2019t Street Photography<\/b> (doesn\u2019t mean I
    \nwon\u2019t take the shot any way)<\/div>\n
    \n<\/div>\n
      \n
    • Beach
      \n scenes; nature scenes, country roads; Architecture, statues and art as the
      \n primary subject.<\/li>\n
    • Static
      \n objects including empty streets (too obvious and trite) although fog
      \n street scenes are tempting<\/li>\n
    • Road
      \n traffic where the cars, trucks \u2026 are the subject even is it\u2019s a long
      \n exposure and shows pretty light painting effects<\/li>\n
    • Too
      \n much staging although I hate getting into the street portrait debate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n<\/div>\n
      \nMaybe <\/b><\/div>\n
      \n<\/div>\n
        \n
      • Sometimes
        \n a backside is just a backside and a snapshot is just a snapshot, trite is
        \n trite in whatever guise <\/li>\n
      • Geometric
        \n organizations and patterns, can be really interesting but if too clinical
        \n and clean without the grit it\u2019s more of an abstract<\/li>\n
      • Sometimes
        \n a sign mixed with people work as street, it depends if the subject is the
        \n people rather then mostly the sign.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        \nMost important: If you see a shot take the shot! If you take a shot then consider staying a minute or two and taking another the shot from several different positions and angles<\/b>. Worry about any definitions of what is or is not street afterwards,<\/p>\n

        By my definition here are some borderline Street photographs. Except for
        \n the first one they all came from the same roll of film. Remember there is
        \nno right or wrong answer.
        \n
        \n  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
        <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Robocall: \u201cDemocracy Can Kiss My Shiny Metal Ass”<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
        <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Body Language<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
        <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Freshly Squeezed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
        <\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        At The Bay<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
        \n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

         I have a personal definition of Street Photography. It is personal because I don\u2019t believe a formal definition of what is and what isn\u2019t Street Photography does anything except to fix firmly in the past our idea of what street photography should be. Personal definition what is Street Photography: Urban environment Range of distances: from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions\/238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}