Ten street photography truths. Number one: it is a contact sport. You will talk to people. If that offends you, go find a mountain and shoot landscapes or dog portraits. Sometimes you take someone’s picture just to shut them up. I do it all the time.
Two: there is a difference between looking like a street photographer and being one. The knit cap, the Leica M6 worn like a necklace, the costume. That is performance. Less time performing means more time shooting. Be about the craft. Do not be about the costume.
Three: you are about 50,000 shots from being good. Style is time plus patience and it will reveal itself. Meanwhile, steal. Shoot like Schaller. Shoot like Eggleston. Okay, do not shoot like Gilden. My radio parallel: my first five of forty years on air, I sounded like everybody else. Tarzan Dan Freeman, the Grease Man. Then my own style emerged.
Four: eight of ten shots are trash. Who cares? Nobody is making money at this. It is a passion and a pastime.
Five: you rush in fast and leave too early. Spraying and praying like a blind dog on a fire hydrant. The first twenty to thirty minutes are terrible. You will warm up. It is about how long you stay, not how fast you start.
Six: be observant. Notice expressions, behaviors, interactions. If your wife has to tell you she got a haircut, you are not a street photographer.
Seven: gear matters, but not how you think. You do not need a Leica M11P. But aim higher than a cellphone. Phones are fine for learning and for getting over the fear of photographing people. Some of my best shots came from a ten megapixel camera. And anything over 40 megapixels is a massive propaganda campaign by the computer companies and the camera companies working in cahoots to get your money.
Eight: stop chimping. Do not review the back of the camera. Let the photos sit for days before you judge them, like opening a present on Christmas day. Delete much less than you think.
Nine: you will never get comfortable. Operate within the discomfort. Confrontations are rare. No one is chasing you. No one is calling the cops.
Ten, and this is the only one that really matters: just get out there and do it. Have fun. Nobody’s shots are ever perfect. It is subjective. You are capturing a moment that has never happened before and will never happen again. And that is why you are a street photographer.
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