50mm Street Shooting
I met up with a few of the regulars from POTN to do some street shooting in and around the Camden markets. I’ve done quite a few meet ‘n shoots with these guys before but they’re generally pretty free form in their focus (as in, they lack focus). This meet had a minor stipulation that you’ll only need to bring along 1 lens, a 50mm.
So that’s exactly what we did, with the exception of Lee’s old film camera he dusted off and brought along (which may have been 50mm, but more likely 35). I generally have fun at these meets and this day was no exception, but I think it brought home for me a very important lesson. I don’t really like street shooting.
I think the main reason I don’t enjoy this style of photography that much is that for me, the most interesting images to be made are photos of the people out on the street. The problem with that is I never feel comfortable aiming my camera at unsuspecting, perhaps even unwilling, subjects. I personally don’t mind having my own photo taken on the streets (being as glamorous as I am, you just get used to it), but I don’t know how each person will react to the same treatment. I don’t think I’m afraid of getting into a confrontation, but for some reason I am afraid of making someone uncomfortable.
At the end of a shoot like this, I always feel let down. Not so much over the images I have taken, but because of the images I didn’t take. I usually try to step out of my comfort zone, but I think this is one area that I’ll just leave to the experts.
There are a few more images from the day in the gallery.