Introduction to Street Photography

Our next theme, Street Photography will be introduced by Alex McSorley, and we’ll follow this up with a practical session.

Alex has kindly written up some notes on how to go about Street Photography, and on the law relating to taking photographs in public:

Street Photography 101

I will not even attempt to define what street photography is or is not but I will say that it should have an “urban” feel to it. The viewer should be aware that the photo was taken in a town or city and should include some aspect of the life that inhabits it. With that in mind I have defined the types as follows.

There are 4 main categories of street photography:

Candid

These shots cover most of the commonly known street photographs of people going about their everyday business and the subjects are usually unaware of the photographers presence. Sometimes known as documentary photography these photos are intended to be a snapshot of the time and place it was taken.

Close up portraiture

When you stop and ask someone if you can take their picture or just get right in close to snap a person going about a random task. These photos are taken with the viewer being in no doubt that the subject was aware of the photographer at the time it was taken.

Classic (or compositional)

Usually a scene that has a pleasing composition and added to by the presence of a living thing (human or animal) that punctuates the composition. For example you may compose a shot looking up a set of stairs but wait for a person to start walking towards you to give a central focus point

Modern

Modern street photography is more about capturing an unusual or amusing juxtaposition such as a person’s placement in relation to a billboard or advert where they have inadvertently positioned themselves to look unusual.

Some photographers stick to the main candid style believing that, to be real street photography, anything posed or not including people or animals is not real street photography. I disagree with this personally but, as I said before, there is no real correct answer.

Approaching people in the street

Often the biggest hurdle in any persons attempts at street photography is the human interaction aspect. Here is a list of situations and how I would recommend you deal with them.
Stopping and asking a person to take their photograph

There is no universally correct way to do this. If you see an interesting person in the street make a quick decision on whether you would be happy to be stopped yourself for the reasons you stopped them. Facial deformities, missing limbs or just people in distress are not good subject matters.

Unusual hats, big beards, interesting or colourful clothing are all good reasons to stop a person and nicely ask if you can photograph them. Try to judge the situation quickly but if you have any doubts try to avoid approaching them.

Be polite, respectful and take no for an answer with a smile and a thank you. Try to avoid angry looking people or someone in a hurry. Put yourself in their position and ask yourself whether you would be happy to stop and have a picture taken. Let the subject know why you stopped them.

Candid shots

You will often want to take pictures before people become aware of you and your camera. There are many techniques that will help you here which I will go over today. A smile and a nod go a long way to relaxing a situation as acknowledging a person is preferred to pretending you were doing something else instead.

Hidden Photography

There are many techniques for hiding the fact you are photographing a person in the street. Shooting from the hip takes practice. Hiding in the bushes is not recommended. Pretending, to photograph the whole street instead of one person works very well too.

The easiest form of this style is to use a telephoto lens and stay at some distance to the subject but any photographer will recognize that you used a long lens however it has its merits and benefits too.

Black and white or colour?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It is definitely a personal preference.

Some photographers only shoot in color, others prefer black and white for all their work. For my part, I let the subject dictate the choice but that choice is made in post processing unless I am shooting high contrast subjects or abstracts that I know will become monochrome. Black and white images have the benefit of making them look sharper and are more forgiving of any movement or blur.

Camera settings

Simply put, there are no correct settings on the camera for street photography. As long as you captured a moment or scene and it tells a story or causes the viewer to feel some emotion you have done your job. This is referred to as “the decisive moment”.

Many top street photographers set their camera to fully automatic so that the camera does not become an obstacle to the photograph. I prefer aperture priority so I can control the depth of field and use the ISO to allow me to adjust my shutter speed. Find what works for you and experiment. The most famous street photograph ever taken is out of focus and blurry but captures a man in motion jumping over a puddle.

In an age of digital photography I would recommend taking multiple shots in a burst to improve your chances of the right composition, decisive moment and expression.

Things to be aware of

• Dress like you belong
• Long lenses and big cameras attract attention
• Know the law and be respectful
• Technically great shots don’t make the best street images
• Getting the decisive moment is the most important thing
• don’t cause an obstruction
• Look up, look down and look around. You are not out for a stroll.
• Find a nice composition or angle and wait for shot to come to you

Some useful links

http://www.sirimo.co.uk/2009/05/14/uk-photographers-rights-v2/
http://petapixel.com/2016/07/19/best-lens-street-photography/
https://fstoppers.com/education/23-street-photography-tips-your-next-photo-walk-132218
http://petapixel.com/2015/12/22/10-tips-for-successful-street-photography/
Association of Photographers – Rights reference card

 

The Law and your Rights

People

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 even the Official Secrets Act (frankly, this one is unlikely).

DPP -v- Jones (1999): The Court recognised that the public may enjoy a public highway for any reasonable purpose, provided it does not amount to public or private nuisance or obstruct the highway “by unreasonably impeding the primary right of the public to pass and re-pass: within these qualifications there is a public right of peaceful assembly on the highway.”

There’s nothing stopping you taking pictures of people in public places within reason, but if you start shoving your zoom lens up their nostrils or taking action shots of their every step, there’s a chance you might get a clip around the ear from your aggrieved subject or possibly face a legal charge of harassment or breach of the peace.

Harassment is defined as a ‘course of conduct’ (so it has to happen at least twice) that causes another person ‘alarm or distress’. The key seems to be whether the subject would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

There’s also a remote chance that photographs of people in public places may be subject to the Data Protection Act, but that’s pretty unlikely if there’s no other identifying information accompanying the image.

There are no laws against taking photos of children, but someone taking an unhealthy interest can rightly expect to attract unwelcome attention from the authorities (and quite probably passers by) pretty quickly.

Also, be aware, that if you’re taking pictures in areas where dodgy folks, drug dealers and ne’er do wells may be in view, they’re unlikely to be pleased with the attention and probably won’t be bothered about the niceties of the law in their response.

If someone asks you to stop take pictures of them, it’s generally a good idea to do so.

There is no legal restriction on photography in public places, and there is no presumption of privacy for individuals in a public place.

Property

Property owners have no right to stop people taking photos of their buildings, so long as the photographer is standing in a public place (e.g. the road outside).

It is also not an infringement of copyright to “take photographs of buildings, sculptures and works of artistic craftsmanship that are permanently situated in a public place or in premises that are open to the public”. [Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988]

Section 62 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 expressly permits certain copying in relation to buildings, and also to sculptures and works of artistic craftsmanship that are permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public, although the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld complaints when photographs of private residences have been used in advertising without the owner’s permission.

Certain uses of a photograph of a building could amount to passing off, or may infringe a trademark, but as yet there has been no such cases in the UK.

Train Stations

Network Rail’s official line is that enthusiasts are very welcome and can be beneficial to security by providing extra ‘eyes and ears.’ All they ask is that people notify station staff and don’t do anything silly like hanging over platform edges as trains are approaching, which isn’t unreasonable.

Network Rail say:

“Taking photographs on stations is permitted providing it is for personal use. For any commercial photography, prior permission must be sought from the appropriate train operator or, from Network Rail at their 17 major stations. On busy stations the use of a tripod may cause a dangerous obstruction to passengers and you may be asked not to use one.

In addition, tripod legs must also be kept away from platform edges and behind the yellow lines. Flash photography on platforms is not allowed as it may distract the attention of train drivers and train despatch staff and is therefore a potential safety hazard. You are also not allowed to take photographs of security related equipment such as CCTV cameras.”

Deleting Images and your Equipment

Security guards do not have stop and search powers or the right to seize your equipment or delete images or confiscate film under any circumstances.

In some circumstances, the police may grab your film or memory cards but they are still not authorised to delete any images.

Neither security guards nor the police may require you to delete any images yourself.

After all, if you’ve committed an offence the images would act as evidence, and if you haven’t broken the law, the images are innocent.