[Leica] Re: Sneaky pictures

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Aug 20, 2007, at 11:33 AM, John wrote:

> Street photography ranges from the concealed to the staged via the
> discrete.  There is generally a desire to remain uninvolved and to  
> capture
> what is happening "out there" uninfluenced by the observer;


Picture shooting on the sly has been around since nearly the dawn of  
photography. At least since the time that exposures could be measured  
in fractions of seconds rather than minutes. Shooting sneaky pictures  
was never dignified by the name of "street photography". It was  
usually the province of dirty old men. I have old photo books that  
reproduce ads for vest button cameras, cameras hidden in books and  
packages, right angle finders, fake lens hoods with mirrors that let  
you take pictures at right angles. In my sparse photo equipment  
collection I have a right angle finder for a Minox, a Robot camera  
with a built in right angle finder and a waist level finder for a  
Leica that lets me shoot to the side of the direction I am facing.  
Probably any one of these would get you arrested by a zealous  
policeman today.

Larry Z