Street Photography | Workshops
If you think that photographing people from
behind has nothing to do with street
photography, think again! There are many
wonderful examples by Saul Leiter, Fred
Herzog, Joel Meyerowitz and others that prove
the effectiveness of this particular approach. We
see many of the people we encounter on the
street from behind.
Shooting this way makes you the follower;
the path your subject takes and their point of
view become your own. You can photograph
over people’s shoulders to capture their view
of the world. It is often the unseen details thatgive such photos charm and leaves space for
the viewer to imagine how the subject might
look. Is this person happy or sad? Are they
smiling? Do they have dark or bright eyes? Are
they younger or older than we perhaps
imagine?
The details you omit often create
additional tension in an image. The blur
effects that Saul Leiter used in many of
his photos provide the poetic aspect that
makes the difference between a simple
documentary approach and true street
photography. Straight street portraits are too
obvious for my taste; I prefer to veil my
intentions and infer or obscure details to
attract and involve the viewer’s interest.
Leave strangers looking ‘strange’ – a
full-frontal portrait with the subject looking
directly into the lens doesn’t necessarily
reveal more about their character than a
more cryptic shot.Following someone at a distance keeps you
anonymous and can help to give you the
confidence you need to press the shutter
button. You can make it your job to follow as
many people as possible during a session or
follow just one subject and track their
movements step for step.
Decide in advance how you want your
photos to look. If you want to freeze your
subject’s movements, select a short exposure
time. Because you will be the one moving about,
I recommend 1/250 or 1/500 s, depending on
the brightness of the ambient light. Always
make some test shots at your chosen location
before starting a shoot. If you want to use
motion blur to capture or symbolize movement,
or as a purely artistic effect, exposure times
between 1/15 and 1/30 s are best.
This task is successfully completed once
you have 10 shots that form a coherent
sequence in the bag.I photographed this man for my own ‘People
From Behind’ series. I specifically asked him to
turn away before I released the shutter.ISO 500 | 50mm focal length | f4.5 | 1/640 s | -0.7 EVOpposite:
Taken on a rainy day in Frankfurt, the dual
reflections of the man’s back and the
buildings combine to form a fascinating
composition. The puddle infers bad
weather, giving the image an extra level of
meaning.
In case you hadn’t already guessed, I love
shooting in the rain and snow!
ISO 250 | 50mm focal length | f2.8 | 1/800 s | -1EVPhotographing People From Behind
Time required:
3x three hours
Equipment:
Camera with fixed focal length lens
(approx). 50mm