Street photography

An example of street photography - a candid photograph of a woman reaching for merchandise on a street vendor's cart in Arlington, Virginia.

Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions, and other settings.

Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society. Street photography often tends to be ironic and can be distanced from its subject matter, and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment. On the other hand, much street photography takes the opposite approach and provides a very literal and extremely personal rendering of the subject matter, giving the audience a more visceral experience of walks of life they might only be passingly familiar with. In the 20th century, street photographers have provided an exemplary and detailed record of street culture in Europe and North America, and elsewhere to a somewhat lesser extent.

Many classic works of street photography were created in the period between roughly 1890 and 1975 and coincided with the introduction of portable cameras, especially small 35mm, rangefinder cameras. Classic practitioners of street photography include Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Alfred Eisenstaedt, W. Eugene Smith, William Eggleston, Brassaї, Willy Ronis, Robert Doisneau and Garry Winogrand.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Street photography

• Legality of recording by civilians
• Photography and the law

Further reading

• The Sidewalk Never Ends: Street Photography Since the 1970s (2001).

External links

• Why We Shoot And How: Street Photography For The Purist - various authors mainly from DeviantArt
• Street Photography Information: A tutorial from photo.net
• PhotoPermit.ORG covers news relating to photographers rights and maintains an ongoing discussion forum
• Kantor, Andrew: Legal Rights of Photographers (in the U.S.).
• Macpherson, Linda: Photographer's Rights in the UK.
• Thind, Rajesh: Issues in the UK regarding photography from a public place.

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