Street photography versus street portraiture…don’t confuse the two.

On the photo forums they are always debating whether street portraiture is street photography.

There are no hard and fast rules. But in general, if a picture contains a person on the street and is posed / staged, it is street portraiture. If the photo of the person is candid, it is street photography. Street portraiture may come under realm of street photography, but it is not to be confused with candid, non staged street work. Now, there are no photo police to decide such matters, so people are free to call em as they see em.

I was flipping through a street photog’s PDF book. He has a photo of himself shooting tons of posed shots of some guy on the street with a flash. One contact sheet showed nearly 80 photos of the guy posing for him…and he calls it ‘street photography.’

Now, lots of street photogs may use a flash for their street work. But they do not take 80 pix of the same subject. That is more like fashion photography, not street photography. All this guy is missing is a couple of assistants to hold a diffusion screen and a tethered laptop for him. Since so much of this guys work is posed, you can’t tell how much of his street work he staged and how much of it is really candid.

If your presenting a series of shots and the majority is candid street work and you mix a few street portraits in, no one will complain. But if you promoting your work as street photography and all you have are posed and staged portraits, then label it as street portraiture…for that is all it is.

The reason street portraiture differs from street photography is this; taking great candid photos of people up close takes balls and a special skill.

Infrared flash candid of homeless man – L.A. 2015

The balls and special skills is what separates the men from boys with street photography.

Sure, it takes balls to ask someone if you can take their photo. The candid street photog may not have enough balls to even ask. But be this as it may, the skill set for candid street photography is very different than street portraiture. The reverse applies as well. Just because you may have skills for good candid work does not mean you are great at posing people for staged shots.

You will see this principle of having candid skills put into textbook practice with my photos I took in Amsterdam’s De Wallen Red Light District shown below. There, you not only need brass balls, you also need extraordinary street skills or you will pay the price. These are not the type of photos you can get by pretending to fiddle with adjusting your camera and by playing dumb. (For those with tin plated balls, go across the canals to shoot, hide and use your zooms.)

With inanimate objects on the street, animals and the like, anyone generally has the balls to shoot them. They can keep shooting them for days to get a shot. With candid’s you have only a chance or two. Most people will accept a few shots of inanimate objects or animals shot on the street mixed in with legitimate street photography. But the bottom line is…street photography deals mainly with candid’s of people on the street.

Street photography…this is as candid as it gets. In the dark of night with infrared flash!

Pinky – candid street photography The Grove, Los Angeles. From my forthcoming artists’ book The Americans: 60 years after Frank.

Although not exactly on the street, this is still street photography for me. Same exact skill set needed whether on asphalt, cobblestone, or dirt road. I wouldn’t make a book on street photography with all shots like this, but I would feel comfortable mixing in a few.

This is street portraiture as I asked. if I didn’t ask it would be candid street photography.

Street portraiture

Street photography

Street portraiture

Street photography

Street photography.

Street photography

Street portraiture

Street photography – Again I wouldn’t make a book on street photography with all shots like this, but I would mix in a few. If you have the skill to shoot from all genres, you can get by with a few mix and match shots that blend in easy enough.

Street photography

Street portraiture

Street photography

Street portraiture

Street photography…well, kinda. OK, I am pushing it as it is in a market. But so what? If it was an outside market it would be street. Street photography mainly deals with taking candid’s of people. Same skills and balls required whether inside or out. BTW, the original neg and prints were lost in a flood. This is a scan from a drugstore snapshot.

Street portraiture

Street photography

Street photography. This was gone in 2 seconds. When the dog went in for the second bite the comp was destroyed. A landscaper would not even have time to remove his lens cap. That is street photography at its finest…even if on grass and no people are in the shot.

Street photography

Street photography. Again at its finest. No photos allowed in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. If you get caught you can get your ass kicked. It wasn’t a fluke shot either…all of these are 100% candid!

Blue light special aka transvestite.

A ‘tag team duo’ for fulfilling a threesome fantasy.

None of the prostitutes in Amsterdam’s Red Light District are Dutch. The girls are mainly gypsies from Serbia, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Spain and a few girls from Guatemala and Africa

De Wallen is kept very dark. It is like trying to photograph in a wet darkroom that is lit only by the red safelight. You have to be very discrete because the prostitutes employ enforcers or have pimps to ‘discourage’ photography.

If a prostitute has an inkling you are taking her picture, she bangs on the her display window loudly with her ring finger to alert the enforcers. Sometimes she opens the door and starts screaming and chasing down the photographer.

The enforcers will demand the memory card or film from the photographer. If a scuffle ensues the camera may get tossed into the canal. If the prostitute is of a meaner nature she might open her glass door and throw bleach or ammonia on the photographer.

Of course, dealing with all these problems IS the specialty of the expert documentary photographer whose job it is to bring home the best possible images under adverse conditions.

This underscores why there is a distinction between legitimate candid street work that takes a special set of skills. Versus street portraiture, that may understandably have its own set of skills, but should not be confused with true candid street work.

This is no different that saying just because one is a good studio photographer that are great at candid street work as well. One expertise does not guarantees success in the other genre and vice versa.

I would think the only people that push street portraiture as street photography are the ones that can’t shoot legitimate street candid’s. I’ve seen the so-called street photogs set up a camera on a tripod and shoot everyone that walks by with a remote while they hide in the corner. Too scared to be upfront.

Other wannabes talk about shooting video for street work and extracting a single image out of 72,000 frames. And we have the tele pros, shooting from blocks away with high magnification. All of this smacks of no-skills street photography.

Sometimes the photog can squeak by if they keep their mouth shut. I used to think Erwitt’s shot was a nice candid grab as he walked by. Instead it borders on a studio shot.

https://photohostsnapshots.tumblr.com/post/117455361033

https://photohostsnapshots.tumblr.com/post/117454759843

In Magnum’s book Magnum Contact Sheets they talk of a photog that shot fifty rolls of film on a subject and didn’t have 1 good keeper in the lot of 50 rolls. I’m the other way around. I tend to undershoot a subject taking 1 – 3 shots.

Street portraiture. This was shot in an alley. It was not inside. You would never know unless I told you.

Street portraiture

Street photography…or is it a landscaper shot? It has candid people in it.

You can see that people can argue all sort of things to prove their point. In the end, the photogs body of works sums them up.

Street portraiture

Street photography

Street portraiture

Order Women Like Pizza This is the world record for a candid shot with a digital rangefinder…less than a foot away.

Street photography

Street portraiture

Street photography

There are some street photogs that specialize in taking pix of people walking into and out of shadows or signage. They will wait around 30 or 40 minutes for people to walk into a contrived image. They make art out of their specialty. As a Social Documentary Photographer I make art out of Social Documentary Photography.