The pavements of our large cities run amok with humanity. People, people, everywhere. Smiling, scowling, deep in thought, drugged to the eyeballs, you’ll see it all on the streets. The smell of sweat, cologne, fear and greed. The sounds of traffic, people on mobile phones, dogs barking and planes overhead. The touch of a smooth hand rail, your fellow commuters rubbing against you in a packed train, a slippery pavement after rain. Big cities give me sensory overload. It might be why I moved away from Sydney. There is too much happening. I can only imagine New York at rush hour. I have seen places like Athens, Bangkok and Hanoi at peak hour, and it blurs my brain.

(c) Vitek 2008

“Whats this got to do with photography?” I hear you ask. Well, this blog post is all about street photography. It seems to have become trendy the past few months on a lot of photography forums I visit. It is the new black!

The first time I really took any notice of street photography was when I watched the fantastic six part documentary, The Genius of photography and they featured Joel Meyerowitz who I found fascinating. I still don’t know why.

Now, I love street photography. It is raw and in your face a lot of the time. Its something I wish I could do, but just don’t have the guts to get out there in confront people. Part of me loves the photos, and part of me hates the invasion of privacy.

Which brings me to a question I keep asking myself when ever i think about street photography. The question of privacy. I know there are some that say anyone out in public is fair game, but I know for sure, if Bruce Gilden (see him in action here ) jammed a camera and flash 3 foot in front of my face, I wouldnt be all that pleased about it. Having said that, some of his photos are fantastic.

I am also a huge fan of Joe Wigfall’s photography. Some of his photos are taken from the hip, which seems far less intimidating than Gildens method. Joe features in an excellent interview here on James Robinson Photography Blog, an excellent site for interviews of a wide range of photographers.

(c) Joe Wigfall 2008

If I ever did manage to get into street photography a bit more, I would love to be able to produce the types of shots that Vitek takes. I love the way he uses light. He has an eye for detail. I just wish he hadn’t rubbed out a stack of his photos from Flickr.

There are plenty of other photographers who take fantastic street photos, who are your favourites? And what are your thoughts on the issue of privacy and the photographer?