Is Street Photography Creepy?
Taking up photography in January 2020 was a decision made after spending ten years campaigning for justice against central and local governments.
Anyone who has undertaken such an ordeal will be understanding as to how it can hijack your life, with most of your time spent internalised. Consequently, campaigning over, I felt photography would be the ideal way to once again force myself to look outside and connect with the world.
But do you actually “connect” with the world through street photography, or simply remain a spectator of sorts? Even as some have asked, a rather creepy one? I feel a better question would be, is it intrusive?
For example, if you go running up to a stranger and stick a camera in their face, which I know some photographers do, is that creepy or intrusive?
How do you do street photography without being creepy?
The first thing we have to agree on is, from the viewpoint of the average member of the public at least, randomly taking photos of strangers is certainly not normal behaviour. But creepy?
Surely, it’s a question of how you act, and yes, without question you can “act” creepy whilst taking a stranger’s picture. But that doesn’t mean to say street photography per-se is creepy, just how you behave whilst doing it.
For example, if you loiter, glancing suspiciously in someone’s direction before making a bad attempt of hiding what you’re up to, I guess that behaviour could be regarded as “creepy”.
Therefore, shouldn’t we be discussing street photography anxiety. After all, if when you’re on the street you’re anxious and nervous, how are you going to behave? “Glancing suspiciously in someone’s direction before making a bad attempt of hiding you’re taking their picture”, perhaps!
So, possibly rather than asking “is street photography creepy” we should be asking, how do street photographers get comfortable?
My Return to the Streets
Only four times did I manage to try my hand at street photography before the first Covid lockdown in 2020. With that said, wildlife, landscape and dog photography have been very pleasant distractions.
But now it’s time for me to return to the street and subsequently put into practice some suggestions offered by more experienced photographers, and a few I dreamt up myself. Thereby, reducing the risk of my looking creepy!
So, how do street photographers overcome anxiety? As an explanation, I shall use some of the images taken from my recent trip to Cambridge city centre.
Setting the Scene
Rather than point the camera at the subject, you allow them to enter the frame. Often, unaware they made the image what it is, people will sometimes even apologise to you!
For example, seeing the cyclist in the distance and noticing how the puddle could make for an interesting shot, I simply set myself in position long before the cyclist arrived.
Misdirection
Again, using puddles or other reflections. When taking these shots, I was simply standing upright pointing the camera at the puddle, the individuals were therefore completely unaware the picture was about them.
Otherwise Engaged
If the subject is otherwise distracted, as with these individuals absorbed in what’s happening on social media, you can take several images and they remain none the wiser.
However, in the case of the young lady, for example, if she did look up and spot me, I would have possibly wandered over, explained what I was doing, and even offered her a copy of the image.
Distance
From my research, lens choice appears to be a matter of personal preference. The range can vary from wide-angle lenses of say 28mm to zooms of 70–200mm.
Possibly, due to a matter of confidence when first starting, I prefer being a few metres away when taking the shot, so currently using an 85mm F1.8. Consequently, if, rather than holding the camera to my face, I hold it at waist height and frame through the screen, the subject remains unaware.
Taking a scene raises no concerns
Covert Camera
Another way to go unnoticed whilst taking images is through the use of a smaller camera, a technique I’m hoping to try in London this coming weekend with my little Sony ZV-1.
In Conclusion
I will leave you with this final piece of advice given by more experienced photographers. During their day to day lives, people are pretty self-absorbed. They will undoubtedly be walking along more concerned whether they have time to stop for a coffee, than worry about someone taking their picture.
Seriously, take a look at your own life, how many things have you got going on at present, wherein amongst those other issues would some guy taking your picture rank, pretty irrelevant. The advice is true, they will have forgotten you by the time they turn the next corner.
So, stop worrying, be polite, be considerate and enjoy your street photography. Is it that easy? I’ll let you know, back on the streets Saturday.
