Jonathan Honneyman
@jonathanhonneyman6 Aug
Who takes street portraits?
Street portrai can be candid or crafted. Do you do either or both?
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I like to take both. Some of my favorites are crafted because I get to interact with the people I’m photographing, especially those who are apparently homeless. Show a few of your favorites.
Apologies for the typo (portraits).
I haven't been feeling the candid thing lately so I've been doing a lot of street portraits. These are in Denver, Colorado last night.
I used to take a lot of street portraits, both people I saw on the street and people I interacted with. I enjoyed engaging with people, before or after a photograph. When I lived in Toronto there was always something going on. I used to go to a park where people were playing chess and after a few days they were comfortable enough for me to snap away.
Nice work Miles. The black and white image of the woman and her incredible eyes is beautiful.
Thanks, she was a protester at a rally in Toronto against the government in Egypt back in 2008. There seemed to be so much feeling in her expression.
I agree, she certainly did.
Both, I'll often take a candid, get spotted and will then ask for a portrait.
Spent a year trying it in order to improve my street stuff but have carried on taking them since.
https://open.substack.com/pub/lloydy110/p/a-year-testing-myself
What a treat. I liked reading about your experiences along this intentional journey. I wish I could participate in a FRAMELINES meetup. Big Alan Schaller fan so thanks for that one.
I’m a broad shouldered, 6’-1” bearded man who rides a Harley. I have no problem engaging with people, but often when people first see me they appear cautious and somewhat apprehensive. When I make eye contact I smile at them. That usually eases the anxiety. I ended up having a patch made for my vest that reads, “I’m actually a very nice man.” It’s a humorous icebreaker. Looking forward to seeing more of your photographs Lloyd.
Start with dog portraits 😉
I do both. A candid photo is followed by 'Hi, how's your day going' most respond and a conversation begins. A crafted photo begins with 'Hi, how's your day going' most people respond and a conversation begins which can, but not always, lead to a portrait.
I think that’s a universal skill street photographers have naturally or take care to develop. When it is a natural part of you, your smile, your compliments become genuinely disarming. You obviously have that skill. The top left and right photographs you shared have that sense of given vulnerability.
I moved around a lot as a kid; new neighbourhoods, new schools, and new places to hang out. The sink or swim scenario that applied then, applies to street photography and all it entails. Astute comments about the images you selected.
Cheers.
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Me too Colin. Thirteen schools by the time I graduate from high school. I’ve tried to explain that to others. Some get it, but must think it’s just learning the local customs. The real skill is reading people and not being intimidated about talking to anyone. Tough times when going through it, but incredibly powerful skills as a result of doing so.
📷😎👍
It’s something I really want to do but stress/anxiety/depression you name it makes it so hard for me to interact with strangers in the street.
I have done a few and I’m fighting against myself to do more.
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Try going to places you are most comfortable with and a question you are truly interested in finding out the answer. If you like flowers go to the farmers markets and look at the variety of flowers. Find one you like and ask a question or two. You are being genuine and inquisitive. Comment on how you love taking photos of beautiful flowers. If someone else is also listening you can comment to them about what you just learned. Ask them if they knew that fact. This is a quick way to start a short and respectful conversation. The camera is secondary and if you have an opportunity to take a quick photo or two do so. The thank the flower merchant for their information and thank anyone else you spoke with for their time. You have just had a genuine conversation and you’ve planted (sorry) a seed of a friendly flower fan who happens to carry a camera around with them. The next time they see you they will most likely have a smile on their face when they see you.
The flowers are just an example. Fill in the blank with your own interests, unless of course you’re a part-time ax murderer, then just take the photo and move on.
📷😎👍
I shoot candid street portraits. Personally I feel if it is to be called street photography or street portraits it should be candid. Otherwise it’s just portraits. But I also do find there is a benefit to talking to people and photographing them, helps us meet new people, builds the quality of approachability, learn how to pose people in case we want to do professional work in the future. I’ve attached some recent portraits taken on an X-M5 with 50mmF2 from TTartisan. It’s a super small manual focus lens, I still hate that the X-M5 doesn’t have a viewfinder and I’ll probably sell it, but it makes me short portraits from below eye level the way the screen flips out.
I've done both but mainly candid as I find in this selfie age when asking to take a street portrait its hard to stop people posing so they can present the image they want which kind of defeats the whole purpose.
One I asked for permission (cool guy with dog) had a great interaction and I think this one works fairly well, the other three candid. Candid has a really different feel for me.
I’ll do street portraits to get access. If the person is a character I try to get their details after to do an at home shoot.
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These are street portraits I shot after spending most of the morning with these folks. There were two others as well. Their stories were endearing and somewhat heartbreaking. Every single one were happy to have their portraits taken. These interactions became ongoing visits. The heartbreak comes when one isn’t there anymore and nobody knows what happened.
The candid shot is amazing when it’s taken at the perfect moment. However, when you spend time with people, you not only get to know them better, you get the stories behind the smile, the scares and wounds, tattoos, the clothing they made, and the art they make or music they play right in front of you.
This wonderful woman and creative young man (who makes his on cloths) are the other two I mentioned above.