Intuition seems to better define what street photography is and what it is not As Bruce Gilden says If you can smell the street when looking at a photo, its street photography. 6 williamklein2 ©William Klein According to James Maher, street photography should be defined more by its whats and not so much by its whys The street photographer does it because he seeks to find a surprise, to give expression to his own curiosity about humanity and what people build. This photographer explains that the best street authors are like Zen hunters.
I say Zen hunters because you cant force e-commerce photo editing the unexpected. 7 In this sense, the idea of the Chilean Sergio Larrain is very evocative when he says that, in reality, the photographer is a miracle hunter. 7b This brings us to one of the fundamental characteristics of how street photography has been conceived throughout the 20th century the capture of the unusual , of what breaks the continuum of the daily flow of life on the street. The mischievous or tragic exception , the echo between passersby and the urban landscape.
The essence of urban photography is linked to the unpredictable nature of human beings, to their spontaneity. 8 But neither is it a simple collection of shots taken by chance, 9 the skill of the photographer and the sharpness of his gaze are the counterpoint to take advantage of chance, which also plays a role in urban photography . Being a street photographer means being in tune with life, perceiving the moods, the smells, the colors, living it intensely and then trying to represent it only after having absorbed it. 10 josefkoudelka1 Josef Koudelka Street photography is an intermingling of indices, signs, symbols and icons that are transfused into the frame a veritable semiotic feast.