In theatre, a stage is a frame in which actors and sets create a fictitious reality into which the audience is plunged. When deciding where things should be placed on the stage to engage the audience or support the action on the stage, they talk of three basic zones. From the rear of the stage to the audience, there are three zones: upstage, center stage, and downstage. These are each divided into three or five sections, depending on the size. If just three sections, there will be a center, left, and right in each. When in the center stage zone, right or left may be referred to simply as stage right and stage left, with only the very middle of the stage being referred to as centre stage.

I think this is a useful analogy when it comes to framing a scene with your camera. When you instinctively feel there is a photograph in front of you and you are considering how to compose it, you do not have the luxury a director has to place people or sets in the frame. You have to think about what is in upstage, middle stage and downstage, or in photographic terms foreground, middle ground and background. In order to get objects in these three areas to harmonize correctly it is useful, before you make any images, to move about the scene from left to right, and perhaps look from high to low angles, to see how these three areas interrelate. I suggest doing a 360 or 180-degree look using your feet, or as much as is physically possible within the scene.

Rotating in place talking one minute at least per rotation looking for specific things such as colour or shapes vertical and horizontal. Then do a 360 around, or how much of a 360 is possible, around the elements that drew you to the spot. Pay attention changing relationship of the elements in the frame. In other words, as you move the foreground, middle ground and background will change at a different rate, this can make very large changes in the composition that might not have been apparent while you were standing in one spot. For example, by moving right you could cause a secondary element in the foreground closer or further away from the main subject in the middle ground.

Elliott Erwitt, a Magnum photographer, has a famous image (above) called the Chihuahua New York. Looking at his Contact Sheet Print: gives you some idea of his process of creating this composition. Please note that often street photographers are forced to crop as they are working quickly and often have limited lenses on the street. 

The following are examples how much different an image can be depending on how high or low you place the camera:

The following is an illustration of moving around the subject, in this case, the rotted-out trunk, and trying to decide how to place it in the image.

The following is an example of a situation where I was able to move around the subject and study it from many angles.

While out walking with your camera look for images that might have a narrative quality to them.

The Queen died is a description, but to say the Queen died and the King greaves is a narrative. In photography, an image can be a record or description of a place or person; or elements in the image might imply a narrative.

There are four types of literature: simple narrative, complex narrative, argumentative, description, and exposition. The first is a simple narrative that recites a chronology of events; the second complex narrative has a less chronological plot arranged to present the plot. Argumentative compositions attempt to convince by establishing the truth or falsity of a proposition. Descriptive compositions attempt to give a picture of a scene or setting. Finally, an exposition attempts to explain something through identification, definition, classification, illustration, comparison or analysis. In literature, you may find more than one type used in a composition.

This literature taxonomy may help you develop a narrative in a series of images or develop a typology. In photography, a series can create these compositional types through the juxtaposition of a series of images. Keep in mind that it is possible to create a narrative within a single image, such as the following image by Scott Olsen, which he calls Fargo Cafe. 

A typology can be explored more in-depth by reading through Paul Davis’s article Can the Photographic Typology be Defined? However, for our purposes, I would suggest a typology establishes a relationship between several images that share no apparent connection. The images, when presented, should have a similar look and feel, perhaps in their background, method of composition or environment. There should be a consistency of lighting or framing.
The images with links give you four examples of a typology series. They are presented in several ways, some in a fixed grid, others in series one after another. Other times in galleries, they are framed separately but hung in a grid. There are no hard or fast rules on how you would present a typology or series.

Some photographers often come to rest on a theme that they use to create a series. One such artist is Andrew Ward who is working on a series called Sofas of LA.

The following are a few examples, the first one is in fact a series but I have taken the liberty of showing it as a typology:

FIND US

Street photography, according to Eric Kim, is …the joy of walking, being in public places, a love of fresh air, a love of being around other people, the joy of thinking, and the joy of making photographs. It is many things to many people, but most practitioners, whether deliberate or not, record a kind of people’s history and the fabric of society around them. The process of street photography for me starts with a journey, often into the familiar. Still, as I photograph, I become engaged by the unfamiliar and discover a greater understanding of my surroundings. In other words, I am “seeing” more, and my photography eye is engaged, and my style is beginning to emerge in the images I am making.

Photographing strangers can be difficult, and there are times you want them to be aware of you as a photographer and times when you do not want them to be aware of your presence. Every photographer has a preference for how and whether they approach people and how they make candid or uncandid photographs. I have attached five videos of individuals who take different approaches to photograph people.

Street Photography Styles

In this first video, there is a variety of street photography styles. It is a quick illustration of many different photographers and how they approach street photography.

Eric Kim a well-known street photographer, in the video below, gives a great example of a more active style of street photography. One in which he engages actively with his subject. This means the images he is getting will also reflect how the person interacts with him, rather than interacting with other elements or other people. It is more of a portrait technique

Zack Arias, in the next video, is more interested in capturing people engaged in their activities and does not really want them interacting with him. At the beginning of the video, he demonstrates how to allow the subject to lose interest in your presence so he can make an image of an artisan engaged in his craft.

Garry Winogrand tends to be more obvious unless he attracts unwanted attention. The seven-minute video starts with him being interviewed and at minute 1:25 as his photographing attracts unwanted attention. To avoid problems with the individual, he then begins to fumble with his camera looking out into space and behaving in a manner that appears like he might not be quite all there. You can see it again at the minute 2:30.

Robert Frank’s book The Americans was a seminal work of photography with a foreword by Jack Kerouac, an important 20th-century photographer. The one-minute and seventeen-second video below shows him on a bus making a photograph in a way that does not alarm anyone on the bus. You can see when people look to see what he is doing. He fiddles absentmindedly with his camera.

Joel Meyerowitz talks about the framing process and how it creates meaning within the photograph you choose to frame and make. He implies that it is important to put into your frame the unspoken relationship or impending relationship between things when taking street photography rather than making copies of objects.

Fred Hertzog

Huge Brownstone

You will notice in this video the unique way he holds his camera behind his back, hiding it from view then when he sees something he seems to dance into the scene with his camera. If you are interested in his M3 works click here.

Thoughts on How to Approach Street Photography Locally

There are several ways of interacting with the street, and some people are uncomfortable doing what Eric Kim does and directly engaging with the individuals. Zach Arias’s methods might be easier to start with; here are a few ideas of where you might practice his approach:

• Find a local coffee shop with sidewalk tables and sit with your coffee.
• Find an intersection where lots of individuals are changing buses or shopping, locate a piece of street furniture you can sit on or an alcove in a building you can lean against.
• Subway entrances may also be a good source.
• Locate yourself near a bike commuting path.
• Locate yourself across the street from a busy bus stop.
• A busy bridge pedestrian path may also be a good source.
• Often cities have open markets or farmers’ markets, which will have a lot of good opportunities.
• Outside concerts or sports events.
• Check your local papers for street events that might work.

These locations may be easier to start with, and unlike Kim’s approach, where he is engaging and getting images that reflect his interaction with the subject, here you will be getting images of people interacting with each other or engaged in getting through their day.

How to Blend In

Before you set out, give some thought to what you might wear that will make you appear part of the general scene you are going to go into. If it is a commuting scene, wear something that will make you look like a typical commuter or wear what those hanging about in the area might wear. Try and minimize your gear or make sure it is in a packsack that does not scream professional photographer. Perhaps bring something with you, like a newspaper, notepad or book that you can use as a prop.

Once you have come to rest in the area you have picked, either sitting on street furniture or leaning against a building or at a café table, take your time getting settled in, perhaps placing your bag, books, shopping or coffee, so you appear to be staying for a while. Spend some time watching the movement in the street and thinking about how people generally move past you and how this engages with the background. Consider whether you want to have a sharp background or diffused background. Consider how close you may be to the individuals who walk past you and what f/stop will you need to keep them completely in focus. If you choose a lower f-stop to blur the background make sure it is so low that some of the bodies are out of focus unless that is what you intended. Think about how fast the speed has to be so they do not blur unless that is your intention.

After a while, take your camera out, check your exposure settings and fiddle with it for a while; this will allow time for you to blend into the location and feel comfortable having your camera in view. Take a few practice images, and spend some time looking at your images. Once you feel comfortable, start composing an image that people may walk into. In these situations, it may be possible to set the camera down on a table and operate it from your phone. This way, when an interesting situation walks into your scene, you can trigger the camera from your phone, and this will not disturb those you are trying to photograph.

Relocate yourself once you have exhausted the possibilities to a different vantage point and repeat the process. If anyone approaches you and questions what you are doing, you can tell them you are taking a course or learning how to use your camera. Usually, this gets a smile and solves the problem.

References

• How and Why I Shoot Street Photography From the Hip, Walk Like Alice
• Vivian Maier the Flâneur
• Photographic Artists
• A Repost of Eric Kim’s List of Masters of Photography
• X100V, the Iconic Street Camera
• Styles of Photography
• Vancouver Street Photography Collective