Street Photography

So what is street photography? There are as many definitions as there are photographers but, for what it's worth, here are the elements that I think must be present to make a picture truly 'street'.



Observational

This is the key. The subject must be observed and the picture taken spontaneously. There must be no arranging or setting up - not of people, not of lighting, not of conditions. You've got to work with what there is.

The photographer should only be in control of himself, and of no other element of the scene.

Outside

Okay, so perhaps not necessarily actually 'outside', but definitely in a public space. I guess this goes without saying, but the fact that the photographer is not in control of the space is very important.



Movement

Unless there is something changing about the scene then I don't think it's street photography - it's probably landscape. There has to be something fleeting about the composition - something that will never happen again - an alignment of compositional elements or lighting conditions.

That's about all I can think of right now. There are other things that are essential to any good picture, but any good picture that doesn't satisfy the criteria above isn't 'street' - not in my book.

Oh, and no - I don't think street photography has to be black and white, it's just that mine is. Mostly! (See this post...)