Does street photography need to be urban?
Pär Torp
@ptorpare7 Oct
Does street photography need to be urban?
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Thinking about the 'Familiar' assignment, and well these cliff overlooking the water is by far the most familiar place to me. It's just a couple of hundred yards from my apartment and I go walking here almost everyday, often with a camera. Every now and then I snap something with a candid human element, but is it street? I'm curious what you guys think!
I hope not. I live in a very rural area with fewer than a handful of neighbours. I work in a small market town of under 8000 people but haven't taken a photo there for over a year. I may have to dig into my archive.
On this note, I am also concerned that if I take a pic right from my front door all I see is autumnal trees and sheep. There are a few buildings, but very few people wandering around (and I'd have to get permission from the estate to photograph anyyone working there on the land or with livestock, thereby staging a scene). Any attempt may come across as a bit chocolate-box and twee. There is an assumption within the street photography community that there are interesting street scenes on everyone's doorstep, when in fact some of us don't even have 'a street'.
I'll admit I am privileged, my suburb has a nice little town centre with a decent amount of activity if I wanted to go with that, though I've never managed to get anything good there. Also the big city is just a 35min train raid away, though I'm unsure if this counts as familiar, I think at least the area around my workplace and the public transport should count..
Either way I'm just thinking in general whether street photography needs to be urban or not. Like Martin Parr's Beach Therapy series, most of the photos are just the sea, the beach, and the people on it, lot's of people though..
I’m also in Sweden, but Skåne. Small town here too.
do you get to Malmö much Luke, or is it too far? Skåne is lovely, but very quiet.
Helsingborg is closer than Malmö for me, but I really enjoy Malmö and Copenhagen too! I wish I could go more often!
You have to be careful around those parts though... many gruesome murders yet to be solved (according to popular fiction!)
Replying to Tony
Thanks for your concern ;)