Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, my take on this is probably going to surprise you given my penchant for taking liberties on the street but -- - -- I don't photograph street people, as a rule. Not any more. First, it's a huge fucking cliche. Not that you can't escape the cliche, but you have to attain escape velocity and that's hard. Second, my stuff isn't posed, and I don't ask permission, but these people, the street is their HOME. They don't have any place else to go. Third, the level of aggression is so high (in London, at least) that it makes photographing not fun. Of these, the second is the most important to me. This is not totally hard and fast for me... if the picture is compelling enough, I'll take it. But generally I just point my camera someplace else. - -- Johnny Deadman