Rara Avis

Martin Parr’s tips on street photography

After Nick Turpin’s tips on street photography, there are five Martin Parr’s tips published in Financial Times:

1. Change your approach. Consider yourself to be a documentary photographer and take this duty to record your family seriously.
2. Don’t get everyone to smile; otherwise you’ll end up with the same old family propaganda.
3. Photograph people when they aren’t posing. If your kids are sulking, take a picture of that.
4. If you have a special meal out, photograph the food of that meal: record the whole event.
5. Even if you take photos digitally, print them up, make them into an album and then caption it. Though you remember it now, you won’t in 30 years when you have dementia.

Allow me a personal comment: I think one of the most important tips is the first one – change your approach. Not everyone of us lives in London, Paris, or NYC. And it might seem more difficult to shoot street photography. On the other hand, it is also chalenging. Let’s take pictures which no one else takes. Focus on details, colors, framing, one street, or even one building.

Image: my picture taken at Martin Parr’s exhibition in Prague (2011)

Nick Turpin’s street photography tips

As a part of London by bike photocompetition, Nick Turpin shares his five tips on street photography.

1. one camera (preferably) with wide fixed-focal lens,
2. think before shoot (use frame and time wisely)
3. focus on small part of the city
4. you can’t make street photographs happen, you can only make sure you are ready when they do
5. use bike to increase your invisibility (for London by bike photographers)