On the streets

On the Streets

Thoughts and advice from a street photographer

Julie Abreu Photography Melbourne, Australia 0421 572 274 www.julieabreuphotography.com julieabreu.photography@gmail.com 1

Street photography is such a complex topic, and it feels like everything has already been said about it. But I guess that if I feel like writing these pages, it is because I would like to share my personal views on a field that thrills me every time I go out with my camera to meet new people and capture candid moments.

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This short book is born while walking on the streets of Lyon (France) with Olivier, Philippe, Jean-Christophe, Christophe, Aurélie, Pierre, Kenzo, Laetitia and many others… Debating with them, explaining to my students how to train their eye and express their ideas when photographing their city.

Their questions, and the answers I had to give (!), were crucial in my photography process, and I never progressed as much in my own images than being around them, even if it was for a short time. So thanks a lot guys!

Cover picture: Man lighting a cigarette in La Croix-Rousse (Lyon, France)

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Young boy cycling in the main street in Fribourg (Switzerland)

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What is street photography?

"For me street photography is almost a lifestyle choice, a daily routine" - Ying Tang Street photography can be anything, as long as you are in a city with a camera. Maybe you like images of strangers, close-ups, wide-angle visions?

Maybe you prefer to ask permission, or to steal an authentic shot. There is no right or wrong in street photography. Sometimes it’s posed, sometimes it is candid. In many times it’s in black and white, and some prefer colour.

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Street photography is a prote, and therefore it is difficult to define. No one likes categories, anyway.

For me, this impossibility to give a description that suits every street photographer is a great thing: it shows how complex this field can be, the same way what it photographs is incredibly diverse.

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So what’s your definition? It is time for you to create your own!

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Depending on where you are on the globe, the streets you are walking on, and the people you meet, your images are going to be diametrically different. It is a gift: documenting humans where they are (half of the global population now lives in cities) only creates diverse pieces of work. For our own good!

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You are walking with a camera on the streets of Melbourne, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, and there is this need, in the bottom of your stomach: you want to capture life, as it is happening here and now, in front of your eyes.

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Emotions everywhere. Love, hate, fear, suspicion, anger‌ All of the panel is right here, in front of you.

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The question is: how will you capture what matters in life?

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To me, street photography is one of the most beautiful ways to document life in our time. It is about creating candid shots of people living their lives, without noticing that they are on a photograph, doing very ordinary things like having lunch with their friends at a terrace on a sunny day, or sometimes more bizarre situations that occurred just once. I like to think that one day we will look at them and remember the good times we had in 2016 doing the things we are used to today, but that will bring back so many memories. It is capturing a instant image of our societies.

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If I am at home, it is about meeting people that highlight situations that are common where I am living. When travelling, I look for a change, but also sometimes to show situations that are quite the same as at home. We are all humans after all: we like eating, meeting friends, having a laugh.  

Previous page: Couple kissing with passion on a bench in Jardin des Plantes (Paris, France).

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What to take with you?

Street photography is probably the least expensive way of doing photography. Because basically you need nothing more than a camera, with a lens.

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Some people shoot with a DSLR and a 50mm (that’s what I do), but for others this type of camera is not discreet enough, and they find it too big to not be noticed by people.

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Any type of camera will do, to be really fair. If a DSLR is what you have, don’t think that you need a new one to capture life on the streets.

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I advice to take a prime lens with you, and not a zoom to move around freely and interact with people.

I do not recommend to take a telephoto lens, as it is almost creepy to capture an image of someone who can not even see that you are here.

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If you don’t own a camera, and you are interested in street photography, a small, compact camera could be good choice to not impress people. For me, as long as it has a manual mode, it is all good. "

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Selfie in the streets of Melbourne with my Canon 7D, and a 50mm lens. Many people will tell you it is too big for street photography. I don’t mind. It is not about the gear, it is about what you do with it.

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Taking pictures of people we don’t know This is probably the most discussed topic of all times regarding street photography. Can we or not take pictures of people on the streets? We are not asking for their consent (imagine having to stop every two minutes with a contract that anyway people are going to be scared of‌). Is that ok?

Grand Central Terminal, New York (USA) 10

Yes, and no.

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There is no way I could give you a straight answer. I am not a lawyer and the law regarding image right varies in every country. One thing is for sure: if you want to be 100% safe, yes, you should stop and ask everyone appearing in your images before making them public. But no street photographer does that. It would be too much, let’s face it.

Did I ask for this shot on the streets of London? No, I didn’t. This man was looking through me, and he didn’t notice me, even if he seems to look straight at the camera.

If I had asked, I would have had a very different image, less natural, don’t you think?

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" Men playing games on the streets in the Paris’ China Town (France).

In France, for example, when on the streets, if there are more than 3 people on the pictures, you don’t have to ask permission. People on public spaces have to accept that they can be on others’ images. But when doing a single portrait, that is another story.

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In Australia, the situation is very different. In fact, it is much easier to capture life on the streets.

First of all because there is no right of privacy per se in Australia. The Davison Legal Manual (you can find it on the website of the Center for Contemporary Photography) gives some guidelines around this topic:

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"In Australia, you are entitled to do anything unless there is a law that prevents or restricts the activity in question."

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If you are taking pictures in a public space, with your camera in an open manner, you are not constituting an offense to the people you photograph. But careful, if you realise close-ups of particular subjects, you enter a grey zone. Then it is about determining if your way of photographing someone is "behaving in an offensive manner". But what is offensive?

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We stand in front of a very vague definition that we need to consider when taking images. That is where the law is meeting ethic, if you ask me, because it is all about intention. I try to photograph people with good intentions. I don’t want to offend anyone, it is not part of my creative process. I do not want to shock my viewer either: I document life on the streets, I am not here to damage someone’s image by creating anything that could offend them. I capture people going at farmers’ markets, reading at lunch time, sunbathing in parks, having fun playing soccer.

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In this types of pictures, I focus more on the activity of the character: contemplating Big Ben, playing with a sculpture on the streets, or looking at other children’s games in the school yard. It tells a story, and because we don’t see their faces, actually it allows us to project ourselves better in the story.

Young girl on her dad’s shoulders, looking at Big Ben (London, UK)

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There are multiple ways to avoid these questions: shooting people without making them recognizable is one of them. Like on the picture on page 10, you can blur your subject, or make sure they look away.

It is a technique I especially use when photographing children. It is a perfect way not to have to ask for consent when publishing an image, and it can be as powerful as a close-up on someone’s face.

" Young boy playing with a hole in the middle of a square in Lyon (France)

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Young girls looking through their school fence (Lyon, France)

To read more about how to photograph children on the streets, have a look at this post: http:// www.julieabreuphotography.com/photographingchildren-on-the-streets/

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Tell us a story Story telling is the key in photography, but it is especially true for street photography.

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One mistake that you see often with street photography newbies is that they are capturing people walking on the streets. It can be a great capture, if it is the story you aim to tell. For example on the busyness of streets in modern cities. But very often it is linked to a lack of topic. There is not much to be said about people walking on the streets. It is very often more interesting to capture unusual situations than people walking to work. But we have all done it: it is easier, especially at first when you start taking images of people you don’t know. You feel like it is not right, and therefore you are not necessarily comfortable in stopping in front of people to take a shot of whatever activity they are doing.

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It is all about confidence: people are in a public space, they know that there are other people around them, and that they can be photographed. But let’s face it: most people, when you are pointing your camera at them, are going to turn around to look at what you are capturing. They won’t think it is them.

They won’t think they are doing anything special that deserves to be captured. So be confident! And if they speak to you, smile, answer back, explain yourself. Most people will find your idea interesting.

Some will ask for seeing the picture afterwards. So 17

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Previous page: Woman drawing in Jardin du Luxembourg (Paris, France)

give your email address, or take theirs, and don’t forget to send them the picture later on. Only once I had a person saying no to me, and asked that I deleted the picture.

Waiter serving a couple of tourists on a terrace in Paris (France)

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The street has much more to offer than just people walking. And this is what is going to boost your photography: look for something unusual, for the unknown, the surprises, the bizarre, even the weird.

Make us laugh, wonder, and why not cry. This is how to create different images, that will stand out!

Couple kissing goodbye before going to uni (Lyon, France)  

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Have fun! "

Having fun is essential when going out on the streets.

Many things can happen on a street photography walk, from the weirdest unexpected situations to the cutest one. Open your eyes and your mind, and make sure you capture the emotional as well as the fun.

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Above: Elephant on a trailer in Melbourne CBD (Australia) Next page: Woman sitting on a pram in South Bank

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Get inspired The street photography community is just great. Many photographers out there are sharing their views on their art, and there are lots of things to be learned from them.

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Have a look at their websites (and free e-books!):

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Eric Kim (USA): http://erickimphotography.com

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Thomas Leuthard (Swittzerland):http:// thomas.leuthard.photography

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Yandiel (France): http://www.yanidel.net

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Thomas Benezet (France): http://thomasbenezeth.fr

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Dany Santos (Singapore): http://www.dannyst.com

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Don’t forget to read books!

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There are plenty of wonderful books about street photography, like Street Photography Now, or The World Atlas of Street Photography. 

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Julie Abreu Photography "

2016

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On the Streets 24