Sam | November 8, 2011
3 comments

Culture Change

Today I was reading one of my favorite items on my RSS feed, the New York Times Lens blog. One of today’s posts was about street photography.

I normally don’t do a whole lot of what you would call street photography but I think the topic is still really relevant.

The piece talks about how people don’t just walk to where they need to be anymore. They have to be connected. Most of my photo work has occurred on a college discount meaning I’ve felt this first hand.

While street photography hasn’t been my thing, I have many times had to find a photo. And I can tell you first hand that this is a big issue for taking photos of strangers. People very rarely are looking up, which makes it very hard to make a compelling photo.

Everybody wants to see a face in a photo, and you can’t do that when everyone’s face is pointed at their phone.

Category: Class Work | Tags: , , , ,
  • Emily Johnson

    I, on the other hand love “street photography.” I totally understand the frustration of missing faces, but I like to use a long lens for this situation. that way, I can stay unobtrusive, yet sometimes capture some really compelling shots, that capture facial expressions. Additionally, some street shots don’t need to have a face at all. An action shot, or a play with lighting can produce some incredible silhouette images.

  • Kathleen Spence

    I get where you are coming from about street photography. It can be annoying when all you need is a face to add to the picture and everybody is looking down. I’ve seen some great photos though of people looking down or somewhere else. Sometimes just taking a compelling photo takes a lot of creativity.

  • Allison Sylte

    I would personally be creeped out if someone, especially Sam Noblett, was in the street, taking pictures of me texting on my cell phone. But maybe that is a compelling photo. Who cares about my face?