street photography - 2 by subroto mukerji

7/24/2019 Street Photography - 2 by Subroto Mukerji

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STREET PHOTOGRAPHY Part 2

Exploring the Limits

In Part 1 we covered the basics of street photography what it is, why its

important, when and how to practice it and how to go about it. This part dealswith some issues relating to these points but expands on them, besides covering

affiliated topics.

Life is an endless stream flowing past us and also carrying us along with it, so it

is obvious that we, too, are part of the overall picture. But as chroniclers,

recorders, commentators and interpreters of the seemingly confused jumble of

events that greet us at every turn, we need to mentally distance ourselves from it

while, paradoxically, being part of it at the same time.

Although opinions vary as to what exactly street photography is and what it is

not, I think there is a consensus that some things just do NOT apply to it :

Posed, pre-conceived, studio-type pictures

Coverage of stage or concert performancesper se

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Manipulation in software that alters an image drastically

Merging two or more different scenes to produce a composite

HDR

Trying to give meaning to meaningless snapshots, i.e., pseudo-street

photography Things that fall within the domain of pictorial or news reportage

Landscape or nudes

I would include candid portraiture in street photography since candids are

neither posed nor contrived, but captured on the spur of the moment to reflect a

certain attitude, mindset or circumstance.

I would therefore also include pictures that are suggestive of these, even if

human existence and its concomitants are reflected only indirectly. A broom or a

bouquet, captured spontaneously, can equally reflect one or more human

attitudes and / or priorities.

If a biodegradable broom, made from locally available vegetative matter is

photographed in an artistic and poignant manner, it can be made to suggest the

importance society gives to protecting the environment by using articles that will

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degrade naturally without any harmful side effects to the environment. If lying

used and abandoned, it can speak of life cycles and the inevitable fate of all

physical objects including humans a heavy topic indeed.

On the other hand, away from the grimmer facts of life, a bouquet reminds usthat even if a beautiful flower blooms for only a day, it has succeeded in its

mission: to transfer the message of truth, light and beauty to all its admirers.

Human existence and social conventions are only

indirectly portrayed here, but they are of no less

consequence because of that. Yet there are as

many styles of street photography as there are

photographers, so restricting it by a definition is

not only futile but absurd as well.

This is its true strength, for anything that is hard

to define and lends itself to myriad

interpretations is going be really big and all-

pervasive, if not totally invasive. When one takes

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up street photography, one grabs a tiger by the tail. Its got you as surely as

youve got it.

SOME THOUGHTS ON GEAR

THE CAMERA

I think it is clear that a camera that is suitable for street photography has to be

small, fast, equipped with a good lens of adequate zoom range and a low light

capable sensor. Additionally, it must ideally have a sufficient number of external

controls to allow quick adjustments to things like aperture, ISO, shutter speed,

white balance, focus area mode, metering mode, etc.

To be quite honest with you, the ideal street camera is yet to be built, but twocompacts come close enough to being perfect for the purpose: the Sony RX100

and the Nikon Coolpix P7700. They are evenly matched, feature for feature, and

if the Sony wins by a whisker, that is not to say that overall performance-wise, the

P7700 is any less. In expert hands, either of them will do a great job.

BAGS

Do not carry a bag that shouts Photographers camera bag ! Study the types of

bag people are carrying nowadays (one or the other is always in vogue), and getone that fits in. It will help you avoid the unwelcome attentions of thieves and

bag snatchers.

CLOTHES

I have a notion that ordinary street clothes that everyone wears is best for the job,

even jeans and T-shirt, if thats what everyones wearing. Try not to look

outlandish or worst of all a photographer !

STEALTHI have never felt the need for stealth. On the contrary, I often talk to my would-be

subjects, and often quiz them till they take me for granted or even get bored by

my silly questions.

This is my favourite ploy to put people at ease and even to get them to consider

me a bit of a nuisance. When they have tuned me out, I can work the subject

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from different angles and no one even notices me. The picture of the cut fruit was

taken this way, as were dozens of others.

I do not subscribe to the school of thought that insists on avoiding eye contact.

What to speak of eye contact, I often engage future subjects in conversation, so

that they accept me as one of their own.

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The flower sellers

even guided me as to

the best angle to take

their picture, then

sat back trying tolook tough !

Below is a picture of

confidence: a foreign

tourist quite at ease

The vegetable seller lady below insisted I take her picture; it seems I had taken

everyone elses picture except hers, on a shooting spree at a rural vegetable

market. They were so flattered that I had taken time out for them !

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I had to use flash,

for once, it being

very dimly lit in her

corner. The H70 hasa weak flash, typical

of a compact

camera.

I have done some

post processing on

the jpeg to burn in

the highlights and

dodge the shadows.

Beyond that, the

photo is un-

retouched.

Litigation is a fact of life. I was delighted to see that the vintageGodrejmanual

typewriter was going strong despite 25 years of hard and constant use

A child sleeps soundly through the din and confusion of the marketplace

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Some put their faith in steel, some in the binary code

]

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and some in Sai Baba, here looking a bit perplexed as he sits in the bole of a

tree surveying the scene !

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The barber working next to a wall that might collapse any moment (near

Kashmere Gate, Delhi) has full faith that the Baba will keep him safe from any

harm ... he has not one but two pictures of the saint, for double protection.

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There is urban decay and

blatant neglect everywhere,

but there is also a spirit of

achievement, of hope, of a

better tomorrow brought

about by hard work and

good business sense.

And while ragpickers eke

out a miserable existence,

the city is on the move the RITZ has been revived

and is back in business

after many years of closure.

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RECENT TRENDS IN SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS

AND A MISPLACED SUSPICION OF PHOTOGRAPHERS

There was a time when the erstwhile Soviet Union was the butt of jokes for its

restrictive approach to street photography. Today, many democracies the worldover look askance at street photographers. The reason cited is SECURITY, an

umbrella term meaning in effect an attempt to curb terrorism by restricting

photography at sensitive public places.

Yet the searches at airports and Metros are most casual and the instruments used

are rudimentary, so that on the off chance that a terrorist reallydidthink it fit to

avoid Google Earth or the myriad other sources of information on the Metro and

other security sensitive installations, he would find it easy to get his picture. It

has yet to be proved that photography preceded any of the Mumbai or Delhi

bombings, or even the raid in Mumbai on the Oberoi Hotel.

There is a global trend to curb personal freedom, and restrictions on street

photography are just a part of the overall scenario. It is therefore best to avoid

such places and police in particular, and concentrate ones efforts elsewhere

places where people, in living their lives, provide the raw material of human

cultural, commercial or social interaction.

I am intrigued by the

fact that even as

government gets

more stultified,

paranoid and inward

looking, Indian

society is evolving,

moving into a space

freer and less

restrictive than it had

ever enjoyed before,no doubt driven by

western influences

and impact of the

media.

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We can respect the privacy of

individuals by a self-imposed

code, yet we must never forget

that it is our right, as

photographers, to documentanything that falls within or

occurs inside the public domain.

The very fact that something is

open to the public also means

that it is fair game for a

photographers lens.

To give my market subjects due

credit, only one or two expressed

concern and curiosity as to my

purpose in taking pictures of

their establishments.

I was able to disarm them by

explaining that I was making a

series of scenes on India for foreign friends who could not make a personal visit

due to age or infirmity. This was true, so my prompt reply and lack of furtiveness

convinced them. Yet the fact remains that the constant barrage of anti-

photography messages on the Metro, railway stations, airports and other places

has created a false sense of security consciousness and paranoia among the

public at large.

I find it is the small shopkeepers and

petty traders and businessmen who

are most receptive to my efforts, not

to forget the submerged classes the

desperately poor and downtrodden

who think it a privilege to becaptured by my lens.

The reason for this is simple. The

vast majority of Indians live obscure,

desperately impoverished lives from

cradle to grave. No one bothers

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about them, except during elections, when politicians make fulsome promises

that are rarely honoured.

They have no share in the countrys growth or its march to prosperity, which are

mere buzzwords for them. So their fleeting instant of recognition via your lens is

a moment of delight for them, that their brief, miserable lives have been thoughtworthy of being recorded on camera. I have yet to meet even one of these faceless

people who did not cooperate when I lined them up for a shot.

It is also the reason why I do not need to be stealthy or sneaky these are

western attitudes that do not apply here. The faceless masses are deeply gratified

that I have considered them fit to be photographed. People often stop me in the

street and ask me to take their picture, as if the act of being photographed will

give them a sort of relevance, a justification for being alive something that will

assure them that they have indeed lived and not drifted through life unknown

and unsung, valueless and dispensable. It is a pathetic and heart rending

situation.

The faceless masses of India would never dream of protesting at being

photographed. It is not an invasion of their privacy. Most Indians cannot afford

privacy, it being well beyond their means. They have no concept of it. Being

photographed is not an invasion of their (non-existent) privacy, it is a thrill !

CONCLUSION

These are some of my thoughts and experiences, such as they are, on street

photography in India. Despite the paranoia spread by a government traumatized

by terrorist acts, the fact remains that the vast majority of Indians have never

owned a camera or been photographed except by state-owned agencies issuing

ration cards, voters ID cards, etc. There is thus little need for a stealthy style of

street photography so prevalent in western countries: the poor of Indiawantto be

photographed !

India is a land of vast diversity in climate, geography, culture, and social mores.But we have one thing we can always fall back upon: our common heritage. Let

us use street photography to bring a smile to the drawn and haggard faces of our

stricken fellow countrymen, and help renew their faith in life and in themselves.

All we have to do is to put them at their ease, for they are shy, too. But if they

sense you are a friend, they will do anything for you. My heart goes out to my

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brothers and sisters in this great land, once described by Mohandas Karamchand

Gandhi as a rich country full of poor people.

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street photography - 2 by subroto mukerji

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