Street Photography-Hunting Down The Moment.

Location:Waterfront @ Kuching in Sarawak. Photo by Awang 2011.

One of the exciting things about photography is the anticipation of ‘the shot’ – hunting down the moment in time that is worth recording and being there with your camera poised when it happens.

India Street Mall in Kuching.

 No genre of photography creates this anticipation like ‘Street Photography’; moving with the crowd, ever alert to the signs of human activity, watching and waiting: to see and not to be seen.

 Street photography has been a passionate past time for many since the discovery of photography. The very first fixing of a photographic image  of a person was a street scene.

Everyone has the potential to be a street photographer. Not everyone is game.
This is my approach. It doesn’t suit everyone and there may be some ethical questions I am answerable to, but I’m sure you can weed out the bits you like from the borderline criminal behaviour of an obsessive street photographer such as myself.

Photo by Awang 2011.

Irrespective of your ‘rights’ there is the question of etiquette. That also varies from culture to culture and person to person. I have my own personal approach (which requires the wearing of a good pair of running shoes and a more than ignorant look on my face) but that may not suit everyone. Ultimately, discretion, common sense and personal safety, are the prime considerations. It may not always be about ‘getting the shot.’

Photo by Awang 2011.

Talking about place of the shot.The usual venue is where people gather. ‘Street’ can be interpreted in many ways and might include alleys, shopping malls, shops and cafes, parks, buses and trains, market places, in fact, anywhere you will find the structures and architecture of civilisation with the people who frequent them.

My favourite places are shopping malls (open and closed), High Street in small towns and villages, and the back streets of big cities.Just be careful if you catch someone doing something they shouldn’t be doing. That’s when it can get ugly.