THE 2014 STREET PHOTOGRAPHY POLL First Edition - May 2014 Online poll, 126 participants, from 11/04 to 2/05 2014
MAJOR INSIGHTS & FINDINGS 1. Canon, Nikon and Fuji are the most used brands by Street Photographers 2. Almost 50% are on an intermediate level and 3/4 are practicing for less than 5 years 3. 57% of Street Photographers do not ask for permission to take photographs. 4. 34% of photographers practice for 2 to 5 hours/week and 36% always carry their compact camera 5. Only a third of Street Photographers made money from their photographs 3
MAJOR INSIGHTS & FINDINGS 6. Half of street photographers never took a photography class 7. 66% shoot and process both in color and B&W and only 8% shoot exclusively film. 8. Flickr & Twitter are the major networks where Street Photographers share their work. 9. Books, Blogs and Websites are the main resources for learning and enhancing skills for Street Photographers. 4
PRACTICE
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YEARS OF PRACTICE Less than 1 year 2 to 3 years More than 5 years
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Almost 3/4 of respondents practice StreetPhoto for less than 5 years. 27% are practicing for more than 5 years and only 13% for less than a year.
27 %
1 to 2 years 3 to 5 years
13 % 22 %
18 % 21 % 6
HOW MUCH HOURS OF PRACTICE / WEEK •
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To maintain their skills and enhance their practice, Street Photographers exercice mostly up to 5 hours per week (66% of respondents). Only 14% maintain a high rate of practice : More than 8 hours per week.
Less than 2 hours 2 to 5 hours 5 to 8 hours More than 8 hours
14 % 32 % 19 % 34 % 7
HOW MANY PHOTOS / WEEK •
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44% of respondents take less than 50 photos per week. A fair rate comparing to the number of hours of practice. 18% take more than 250 photos per week. Go easy on the shutter folks !
0-50 101-250 More than 500
51-100 251-500
8 % 10 % 44 %
17 % 21 %
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CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS •
88% of Street Photographers with less than 1 year of practice are exercising less than 5 hours a week.
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42% of Street Photographers with more than 5 years of practice keep a rate of 2-5 hours a week of exercice.
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¼ of those who take less than 50 photos a week are photographers who have more than 5 years of practice. 9
DO THEY ASK FOR PERMISSION •
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No, I don't care Yes, if it's sensitive Yes, every time
Our respondents say for 57% of them that they don’t care and shoot without asking. And 41% do ask permission if it’s sensitive (children, homeless, etc).
1 % 41 % 57 %
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ATTITUDE •
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Street Photographers are more like Hunters. They prefer blend in and stay discreet, for 73% of them. Only 27% do interact and engage with people on the street and their subjects when shooting.
Blend in and stay discreet Interact and engage with people/subjects
27 %
73 %
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ON TAKING THE CAMERA •
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Almost ⅔ of respondents carry regularly their DSLR or Compact/Point&Shoot camera with them. Only 20% carry their camera on an occasional basis. 12% trust their smartphone to get the right photos.
Occasionally I carry my compact/Point&Shoot I carry a DSLR My smartphone is enough Never
12 %
20 %
32 % 36 %
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FOCUS APPROACH Mostly Automatic Mostly Manual
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The Automatic mode is the king for almost ⅔ of Street Photographers, with 48% on mostly automatic. Only 17% prefer the manual focus on a exclusive basis.
Always Automatic Always Manual
17 % 48 %
22 % 13 %
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CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS •
⅓ of those who use exclusively the manual focus have more than 5 years of practice.
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Half of those who use exclusively the automatic focus have less than 3 years of practice.
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Almost 60% of those who prefer to blend in and stay discreet are users of the automatic mode. 14
SHOOT & PROCESS Color Both
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⅔ of Street Photographers shoot and process their photos both in color & Black and White. And only 24% shoot and process exclusively in Black & White.
Black and White
10 % 24 % 66 %
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PRINT Never Yes, only for my best shots Yes, every time
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Print is still useful, and even if 30% of respondents don’t print their shots, 67% of them do it for their best photographs.
2 % 30 %
67 %
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PROFILE
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COUNTRIES •
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Street Photographers came mostly from these 5 countries : USA, UK, France, Australia and Canada. They represent 67% of all respondents. The remaining third is composed of a variety of countries : Sweden, Greece, Argentina, South Africa, China, Mexico, Panama, Russia…
USA Australia
UK Canada
France
8 % 13 %
31 %
20 % 28 % 18
AGE 18 - 30 40 - 50
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Young photographers (18-30) represent 11% of our respondents. And 69% of Street Photographers are between 30 and 50 years old.
20 %
30 - 40 51 and above
11 %
35 % 34 %
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LEVEL SELF EVALUATION Beginner Advanced
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Most of our respondents have an intermediate level of practice and expertise. Almost 3/4 of Expert respondents practice for less than 5 hours a week.
20 %
Intermediate Expert
19 %
14 % 47 % 20
CLASS Never
•
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Half oh the respondents never took a photo course/ classe to practice Street Photography. Only 7% are planning to assist to a training to enhance their practice.
Yes
Planning to
7 %
41 %
51 %
21
DIGITAL / FILM Digital
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Film
Both
Street Photography is mostly practiced with Digital cameras. 6% shoot exclusively in film whereas 30% of respondents shoot both in digital and film.
30 %
6 %
64 %
22
DO THEY EARN MONEY FROM THEIR PHOTOS ? No
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Only a third of our respondents declared making money from their StreetPhoto shots, which confirm the fact that it remains a hard way to live only from StreetPhoto.
Yes
37 % 63 %
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GEAR
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WHAT’S YOUR GEAR ? •
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DSLR is the major camera used for Street Photography among the respondents. Only 16% are shooting with Mirrorless 4/3 bodies.
Point & Shoot / Compact Camera DSLR Other Mirrorless 4/3
16 %
21 %
26 % 38 %
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CAMERA BRAND •
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Canon, Fuji & Nikon are the most used brands for Street Photography among our respondents. Leica has a 10% share whereas Sony and Ricoh are on the same level : 7%.
Canon Nikon Sony
Fuji Other
7 % 7 %
Leica Ricoh
22 %
19 % 19 % 17 % 10 % 26
CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS •
80% of Mirrorelss 4/3 cameras are FUJI users and are shooting both in color and Black & White.
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DSLR Street Photographers are 40% Canon users and 40% Nikon users
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62% of DSLR users carry regularly their camera and 85% of Compact users carry regularly their camera. 27
WHAT ABOUT YOUR LENS ? Prime Lens User Zoom Lens User
10mm 35mm
24mm 50mm
4 % 18 % 29 %
24 %
76 %
49 %
3/4 of Street Photographers use a prime lens, and half of them are using the 35mm lens (equivalent). 28
CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS •
Almost 3/4 of Zoom Lens users prefer blending in and staying discreet when shooting on the streets.
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Only 30% of Prime Lens users prefer to interact and engage people when shooting on the streets.
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Only 43% of Prime Lens users are using exclusively a 35mm lens. 29
SHARING & LEARNING
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SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING •
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Flickr & Twitter are the major networks to share and show Street Photographs among our respondents. Google+ Pages are the less used canal for sharing content.
Flickr Personal Blog Instagram Tumblr Other
Twitter Facebook Personal Account Facebook Page Google Plus Profile Google Plus Page
6 %5 % 15 % 9 % 14 % 9 % 9 % 12 % 10 % 11 % 31
THE MASTERS •
Henri Cartier-Bresson is the most influential Street Photographer among our respondents (42%).
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Vivian Maier is the most inspiring female Street Photographer.
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Many other names were cited in the survey : Martin Parr, Robert Frank, Alex Webb, Bruce Gilden, Trent Park…
Henri Cartier-Bresson Vivian Maier Elliott Erwitt Garry Winogrand Daido Moriyama
12 % 14 %
42 %
14 % 19 % 32
KEEP LEARNING •
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Books are a major source for knowledge and learning in Street Photography for 27% of our respondents, as of reading blogs and websites (32%). Only 15% submit their work for critics and reviews.
Reading blogs and websites Reading books Youtube videos Submitting your work for critics and reviews Other
11 % 15 %
32 %
16 % 27 % 33
ABOUT LENS & SHUTTER •
Lens & Shutter is a set of photography resources created by Aref JDEY.
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Tutorials, photographs, articles, and much more are shared on a regular basis with the online community.
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The Lens & Shutter Newsletter is the primary resource to get up-todate news about Street Photography, tips and advices to enhance your practice and skills. 34
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