18 31 August 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
Technique STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
THE LAW OF THE STREET
Public right of way
If you’re on a public right of way – such as
a public pavement, footpath or public highway- you’re free to take photographs for personal
and commercial use so long as you’re not
causing an obstruction to other users or
falling foul of anti-terrorism laws or the
Official Secrets Act.
Pictures of people
Photographers can use their pictures of people
taken in public places as they wish, including
for commercial gain. While this is reassuring,
common sense does need to be applied. A lot
of pedestrians in the UK won’t react favourably
if you go right up to them without any kind of
introduction and shove a long lens in their face.keen to record ordinary people
on the streets, and how they lived
their lives. Atget went on to influence
future generations of big names, including
Man Ray and the surrealists, Henri
Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, William
Klein and so on. Martin Parr, arguably
Britain’s best known photographer
along with David Bailey and Don
McCullin, is also best known for a lot
of his street work.
Fast forward to the present day, and
street photography now tends to be seen
as a discreet, candid type of image making
which records the complexities and quirks
of our modern, very urbanised age, often
using visual puns and wry juxtapositions
in creative new ways. Or it can go down
a more documentary road, with the
emphasis on recording the decisive
moments of modern life as it unfolds,
or just interesting characters you see
on the pavement. Smartphones have
revolutionised the genre too, and to
an extent, everyone is now a street
photographer. This is not to say that the
craft of street photography is easy to
acquire, however, and there is a big
demand for tuition from experts (type
‘street photography courses’ into Google
and 199,000,000 results pop up).
You don’t need to sign up to a workshop
to enjoy street photograpy, however, and
there are some great books on the subject,
including a new one from Ammonite
Press. Masters of Street Photography
does a great job of exploring how 16
leading lights of the genre go about their
craft, and while it can never be the last
word on this very diverse subject, it gives
a great overview of current trends and
best practice. As editor Rob Yarham
explains, ‘Be it a decisive moment or not,
street photographs work best when they
capture the emotional and context of
their subject matter.’This said, there is an incredibly diverse
range of street photographers included in
the book, who are shooting in very
different locations all over the world. This
international scope is only fitting, as street
photography is very much a vibrant and
evolving art form. Their images not only
record modern society but ask questions
about it, arguably making street work
more relevant and poignant than many
other forms of contemporary photography.
Also, the ‘street’ itself will often be
different every time you visit it, even more
so in very fast-developing parts of the
world such as China, Southeast Asia and
India. What approach you follow is very
much a matter of personal choice, and
Masters of Street Photography reveals
a lot of very diverse ways of working. Some
leading exponents, such as Jesse Marlow,
are drawn to the use of abstract
shapes and strong colours, following‘Six Panels’ (2009) taken in Melbourne, Australia, by Jesse Marlow
‘Untitled’, Manhattan, New York,
taken by Ed Peters© JESSE MARLOW
© ED PETERS