Research: Reportage

Reportage or Street Photography is capturing candid moments of everyday life, capturing the full truth in someones eyes.  There are some photographers who shoot staged or posed street photography, which is more posed street portraiture rather than street photography.

Capturing candid images allows you to see the facial expressions without the face being posed, this allows you to see their worries, fears, hopes and aspirations.  It allows you to see more of who that person is rather than who they want you to see.  Street Photography feels very daunting as most people don't want you taking their photograph in the streets and it makes you afraid of the consequences.  The smaller your camera the less intimidating to the subject but as I only have my Nikon D90 and 18-105mm lens that will have to do.

A good technique for street photography is to shoot from the hip.  This is a technique to hold your camera at waist level and tilt upwards.  This allows you to shoot without actually looking through the viewfinder.  This kind of technique takes lots of practise as you have to pre-focus your lens and estimate the distance.  This results in lots of blurred out of focus images.

I am going to have a go at shooting from the hip to see the results.  I will use my 18-105mm lens on a wide angle as this will ensure I get a wider perspective and give more chance of capturing the subject in the frame.  I will use a small aperture so that all the subject remains in focus and a fast shutter speed.  If the image is over-exposed I will higher the shutter speed and if they are under-exposed I will increase the ISO.


Street Photography Techniques


Juxtaposition is a fancy work that artists like to use which simply means a stark contrast between two elements within an image.  This contrast can be between a sign or advertisement and a person or an object and a person or between two people.  I really like this style of photography especially the ones which show the element of humour.

Use the Light

Light plays an important part of any photograph as Photography is painting with light.  Looking for light and shadows in street photography can create really interesting images.  Weather it be in shadows, reflections or light in the distance, at the end of a corridor or tunnel.  Light can also be used to create interesting patterns and textures which is really important in black and white photography as there is no colour to guide the eye around the image.

Candid Images

Candid images of people in street photography are often the best kind of images, capturing peoples expressions naturally without that posed look that you get when an image is posed.  You capture peoples true facial expression when you take a candid image.  This can be very tricky as getting close to people and taking their picture can often be a daunting experience.  Shooting from the hip or keeping your camera low around your waist can help.

The Shock Factor

A technique of street photography which I don't think I would be comfortable doing is to stand in front of people and take their photograph to capture the shocked look on their faces.  This can produce amazing images but you would have to be really brave to do this.