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STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

By SYLVIA ZAMORA

New York

It is defined as: “photography conducted for art or enquiry that features Street Photography’s biggest hindrance is being SHY and holding oneself
unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public back because of it. If you are this person, get over it! Being shy will really
places. ... Street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street get you nowhere! Keep in mind that you are shooting CANDID shots,
or even the urban environment.” thus, they don’t actually see you YET. And when they do see you and
there is that angry face building up, Walk away or RUN is all I can say!!!
The basic question is, HOW do you do it?
People shots are most interesting in their moments of vulnerability. This
First of all, it is definitely not a daunting task BUT it requires a QUICK is when you capture the true emotions of man. You see creases of stress
EYE, a QUICK MIND & a QUICK DRAW to capture that moment. It in their faces, or that unabated pure joy and happy smiles, or you can
is putting your artistic mind into OVERDRIVE, because you may lose actually hear their minds wrangling with everyday mundane decisions
that “Kodak Moment” in a flash. going on in their brains, or you can vividly see the pain of those troubled
hearts and sad lives.
FIRST rule of thumb is: DO NOT HESITATE! NEVER HESITATE!
This is always my frame of mind when I’m out walking in the streets, In Street Portraiture, specially with CHILDREN, it can be a very touchy
because once you do then you lose it forever. I kick myself in the butt situation. In shooting children, who are always accompanied by their
later on, for losing that trophy shot, simply because I waited and lost it. parents, I will ALWAYS ask permission first and introduce myself as a
REMEMBER, in street photography/portraiture, there is NO second photographer. I then ask for their cell numbers and send them the photos
chance. Random immediately after. This is just to validate that you’re not a pervert or
people portraiture you will never meet again, never see again, never kidnapper and a hundred percent of the time, they profusely thank you
capture again. So, my motto is, as Nike would say: “JUST DO IT”!!! for the beautiful photos. That, to me is instant gratification that always
warms my heart.
LOOK, THINK, FRAME & SHOOT!
With ADULTS, they’re actually harder to shoot when it’s a face to face
SECOND rule is ALWAYS being AWARE of your surroundings. shot. More often than not, I shoot without them knowing. But once
discovered that the lens is facing their way, I either ask, put on that sweet
Look people straight in the eye, hover and observe (like a stalker smile or simply walk away. Most times when discovered, I walk away
hahahaha!) AND anticipate people’s actions. By doing so, you almost because I’ve lost the moment anyway.
KNOW what they would do next and there you are, camera on hand
ready to capture that moment. We all know the best people photos are those that are candid. The best
photos are those that attracted your attention to it in the first place,
THIRD rule is: LOOK UP! You’ll be surprised how the world looks that split second photo in your head is what you want captured on film.
shooting up! Thus… Be quick to the draw, BEFORE they can even react. Long
before I start clicking away, that image has already been captured in my
head. So in short, asking an adult for a photo is not always a good shot in
the end.

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