Street photography has become more difficult over the years in the UK with an increasing amount of suspicion around the intent when a photographer is seen on the streets with a large, obtrusive camera. The duty of care over children and the use of their images on the internet has also become an issue, however, a public space is a space where it is legal to take photographs in the UK, for now anyway.

My approach to making this work was to simply stand at a distance from my subject and photograph the buildings next to them so the camera was not facing them directly. After a while my subject became used to me and thought I was not photographing them. I would move my camera occasionally towards them and take the shots quickly as people entered the frame, then move it back towards some buildings again. This took about twenty minutes and some patience. I wanted to capture the same scene but different reactions from people walking by, hence what appears to be a similar photo, but is in fact not because of the interactions that are going on within the frame between those on the margins of society and those who are not.

Ideally I would have liked to introduce myself to the subjects and asked their permission, but in this instance I felt the purpose of my shots were totally in my interest and not theirs. Reflecting on the situation, the activity could have been mutually beneficial where I could pay them cash perhaps? There is still no guarantee that this approach would have been received well.

I am interested in social change for the better for all people and have a particular empathy for the homeless, I admire artists such as Anthony Luvera and Lee Jeffries who spent time with the people and treated them with dignity and respect and built up mutual trust before they embarked on a collaborative photography project. The projects also generated income for better support for them and also changed the way councils are obligated to support the homeless in the UK. This, ideally is how I would want to approach an activity such as this, but since it was just for an assignment at this time I chose the anonymous route this time.

Feedback from my tutor on this assignment was to link this blog to my assignment in its bibliography so there is a better understanding by the reader about how I made the work.

For my own work: this was a very quick diagnostic assignment, diCorcia took over 3000 images to make a series of 17 – so lots more work and photos needed to be able to create something I am happy with

Setting up with a tripod, perhaps at a cinema style level which is square and a level aspect would give more impact – use a remote for taking the shots

Think about lighting, this has a huge impact on the feel of the image

Understand fully the different street photography techniques and with practice and experience develop a style and approach that reflects my values and interests, currently I prefer the collaborative way in that the process has a positive impact on everyone involved, however, the practicalities of this approach at present inhibit me.

Additional feedback is to research the work of :

Street Photography Alternatives: Placing the camera (on a tripod) and allowing people to
walk into the frame (might help less conspicuous when making the ’objective’ images/
Passer by
• David Campany. 2020. ‘Anonymous And Incognito: Walker Evans’ – David Campany.[online] Available at: https://davidcampany.com/anonymous-and-incognito-walker-
evans [Accessed 23 March 2020].

• Lorca diCorcia, P. (2014). The Hepworth Wakefield: Photographs 1975 – 2012 .
[online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So_FK4qnz5Q [Accessed 21
March. 2020].

Bibliography

HOMER, N., 2020. Anthony Luvera – Interview: ‘Photography Is A Way Of Telling Stories About The World’. [online] Studio International – Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Available at: <https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/anthony-luvera-interview-photography-for-whom-telling-stories-about-the-world&gt; [Accessed 29 March 2020].