[Leica] How healthy is street photography?

[afirkin at afirkin.com (afirkin at afirkin.com)]

> Is street photography dying? I just returned from a major NY area photo
> show
> in a community rife with advertising, commercial and TV photographers.
> There
> were 60 exhibitors, many of them successful photo professionals. Only one
> offered what could be called a street photo. There were just three
> pictures
> of people, one in the street photo and the other two reasonably formal
> portraits. The rest were carefully arranged landscapes, flowers, and
> travel
> scenes with studied attention to the rules of composition. There was
> little
> spontaneity and no apparent joy. It looked like the final exam in a photo
> school composition class. Everyone was trying to be an ARTIST. How boring
> compared to the LUG. Fortunately the wine and cheese were good.
>
> Larry Z

You answer your own question when you say "no apparent joy". When
practitioners of good joyful and emotive street photography do emerge,
their work will shine out amongst the rest and the audience will return.
The "demise" is perhaps more due to the loss of outlet, with the demise of
the magazine format, in which photojourno's were so comfortable.

Cheers

Alastair