Hi Ken,
Thanks for playing with me! It was cold here in NY on Saturday and Sunday when I went looking for my photos. The streets were relatively quiet. It was frustrating! So I ended up, like you, inside to warm up. I shot 85 frames in my 3-4 hours of hunting and threw out 82. I'm keeping high standards for myself
This was clearly the strongest.
I like landscapes and take many of them. But in my view I can't consider them "street images". To me street photography, while not always having to be made literally all on the street, is how we engage in public ways.
I used the word authentic without planning anything big on the subject but it got me thinking about the difference between authenticity and artifice. Culture is full of artifice. American street photography, of the Robert Frank sort, is my thing. I'm no photo history scholar but doesn't what call street photography descend from NY and Paris street photography of the 30's and even earlier, think Abbot, and Atget even earlier? But Frank et al. were interested in the intersection of authenticity and artifice. Artifice in the sense of "cars, girls, and cameras", which, sexy as it is, is manufactured culture if you get my meaning. This was a concern of the beat poets, too, active at the same time.
This is from the wikipedia definition
"Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society. This genre of photography is present in contemporary times and is usually done as black and white photographs. Street photography tends to be ironic and distanced from its subject matter and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment. Examples include, a stolen kiss on a street corner, a man jumping a puddle, a woman lost in her thoughts in a diner, or a shopping trolley glowing in the last rays of sun. In the 20th century, street photographers have provided an exemplary and detailed record of children's street culture in Europe and North America."
I wonder who wrote it. By and large it's a nice summary, but the part about irony doesn't always stand. Best street photography is not ironic. It can be better. Irony, like sarcasm risks banality. Too clever. I want something realer.
I like your image of the buildings. They are snowy white, majestic and clean. Like the Rockies in their majesty. People feel important when they go to work there, I bet! I would, especially if I was wearing a fancy suit. I also especially like the interior image, in this case the contrasting colors of the cool outdoor and indoor light.
Let's do it again? You game?
Cheers!
Eric
