Street smarties
I know the feeling experienced by Stevie Smith in his letter ‘ Who you looking at?’ (‘Inbox’ in AP 17 February). It is intimidating to go out there and do something others might not approve of or would even strongly object to. I’ve been a keen street photographer for six years now – started with photographing the backs of people, then progressed to facing them, but from a distance. Then I decided I just needed to display some confidence and see how it went. In all these years, I have only been confronted once, and then too the people who confronted me weren’t even the subjects I was photographing. On most occasions, a smile does the trick.
I use three golden rules: (1) Act confidently, even if you don’t feel it; (2) Capture, smile, and move on; and (3) Be ready to explain. I have printed some simple business cards with my name, email and ‘Street Photographer’ on them. I also have a folder on my phone so I can show previous work to put my subjects at ease. Try again Stevie, sounds like it wasn’t a good day. There are lots of articles around about street photography tips and tricks; they really helped me and they will help you too. Rick Corbishley I found Stevie Smith’s witty account of his attempts to emulate Dougie Wallace’s ‘in your face’ style of street photography very funny (‘Inbox’ in AP 17 February). This approach, which I think was first made famous by Bruce Gilden in the streets of Manhattan, is definitely not for the faint-hearted. For us, it’s reasonably easy to adopt a range of discreet candid approaches, aided by such things as articulated screens on the back of our cameras. Either that or simply go up and ask people if you can take their photo. I have yet to meet a Glaswegian who is not happy to have their photograph taken. I took the above picture in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street, and this gentleman was very willing to pose with his dog for me for several minutes. Graeme Youngson Some sage advice here from our readers, and watch out for more special features on street photography in AP soon – Geoff Harris, deputy editor