Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]From: Deborah Dion <dkdion@home.com> >>> In the ongoing debate of street photography: It depends where the street is. Small towns in Portugal, San Francisco, Philly, Lenox Mass etc. provide wonderful sources of good photos. Makes a diference. Debby Dion >>> It makes all the difference - I think the whole thing is futile if everyone's street is in another country, or town for that matter. When I think of "street" photography the first thing that comes to mind is New York City. Why? Because what else would I think of! It's also because such a city has no restrictions (you can shoot anyone) and certainly has enough diversity and interesting folk. But the street in a small town in...Portugal is entirely different, almost that it can't be called 'street' photography. So what is street? I would say I do street photography. I don't take much of people (with obvious substantial exceptions) but I don't shoot much in the woods or inside. I don't shoot in a plane, nor underground. So, what else is there! Streets! I shoot where I am which is usually around near or on a street. I'll shoot anything I want on the street. The 'decisive moment' in such a case, or maybe the way I like it defined, is a shot taken with no preparation or forethought. I see something I shoot right then. The decisive moment is not someone with their finger up their nose. But it's decisive in the sense that I made a decision to shoot and took the shot in about 1 second, so what else is that supposed to be. The street thing and decisive moment thing is exactly when some person makes a motion to someone else and it looks like an advertisement? But a "onstage" one? I think a moment is seeing something reactively and getting the shot, which is in it's better form a scene that others walk by without glance. A public scene (aka pul prize) is not catching decisive moments. If one takes boxing photos I'd imagine there are lots of shots, but the decisiveness lies in the right timing. The decisiveness should also be in the ability to extract not in the sense of best shot out of 200 of the same, but best shot out of the only one which was 'decisive in that 200 people had the same sight available but missed it - the super-shooter-nikons wouldn't have such a great time then.... This could be...anything; on the street. I'm not a pj but I think the good pj's are shooting around the scene better than the center of it.