According to the saying, “A photo is worth 1,000 words’ Street photography definitely lives up the image. Since its beginning at the end of Victorian times, humans have been drawn to photography that captures not just the raw rough and raw, but also the everyday.
Photography has been around in use for millennia, beginning including the camera obscure (latin meaning ‘dark room’) in which images are projected by a pin hole into a dark space or screen. It was not till the 18th century when an invention was made to fix the image on glass or metal plates (and later onto paper) to preserve it for the future.
What we are taking photographs of nowadays is essentially exactly the same as what Victorians were taking photographs of such as landscapes, streets individuals and sports, stills, etc. The first photograph known to be taken was of an Parisian streets scene, taken in the hands of Joseph Nicephore Niepce, the first photograph that is known took in the year 1839 was by John William Draper of his sister Dorothy and the first selfie was taken in 1839 by a man in the twenties named Robert Cornelius. The development of shutter speeds years later led to freeze motion. This meant that portraits could be captured within a matter of seconds instead of who was seated for hours (hence the portraits taken of Victorians were often sharp-looking) which also meant that action photographs could be taken with no blurring.
What is street photography?
From exclusivity to ubiquitous Street photography’s definition has changed with the widening the medium to people from all backgrounds and technological advancements since its inception of glass plates and metal through film to digital.
Street photography’s definition (or photographer) differs from 1918 until today. In Edwardian times, it used to refer to a photographer who took street portraits for a cost. In the period between the two World Wars, the format could have also been considered as falling in the category of ‘war photography’ or maybe even photojournalism. In addition to journalists, everyday people and the hobbiest’s choices were not inclined to extravagant items like film cameras (if they were able to afford it) in these difficult times.
Check out this street photography Frankfurt article on the Streetwise Photography website.
Post-war saw the increasing cost of cameras, and the consequent rise of candid, social and documentary photographs. Photographers like Henri-Cartier Bresson and Diane Arbus who documented the ordinary and fantastic in the 1950’s are probably the first pioneers of the style we know today as “social documentary..
The image becomes a kind of ‘Memento’ from the past and can trigger an emotional response. Every moment and minute of our lives can be captured and stored for eternity. When we see photos of a street scene from the 1980s New York with the Twin Towers in the background, we instantly recall the tragic events of 2001, and where we were, and the terrifying images from the day. Another illustration is of Shirley Baker, images of children playing on Salford’s streets Salford during the 60’s. If the viewer recognizes the hairstyles, clothes, etc and reminisce about the memories of their childhood. It’s a way of expressing the nostalgic side of us.
It is said that the rate of changing the demographics of culture and society has increased during between the 20th and 21st centuries . street photography is a fantastic (and sometimes discrete) method to document our daily living for the next generation. Anyone who has a smartphone at their fingertips is able to snap photos of street scenes. This is the age of the “happy snapper” and instagramming all the moments of the day.
