There are a whole set of unwritten “laws” in street photography. Me and my friend Daniel Eliasson frankly claims that all these rules sometimes must be broken. It’s the image itself that must decide whether you break the rules or not…
Rule 1: You must take pictures close up and with wide angle lenses.
“Through It All” – taken with a zoom 105 mm lens at a distance:
Rule 2: Street photos are best in black and white.
“On The Move” – It’s the colours that makes this kind of pic:
Rule 3: The sharp picture is the only accepted one.
“Scared Dog” – to be in a scary place, feels unsharp, right?
Rule 4. You should always take frontal pictures of people.
“Finding Angles” – Sometimes a butt is more interesting:
“Luncheon Profiles” – profiles are not frontal, are they?
Rule 5. You shouldn’t as a street photographer be seen.
“iPad Break” – to get depth in this “Through window” shot, I let the ghostly image of myself appear:
Rule 6. The composition of the original pic shouldn’t be altered.
“Over Shoulder” – the original shot:
“Over Shoulder” – cropped, to get the effect of “dominating eye”:
These are just a few of the unwritten “rules”, there are some more. They are good to know, but don’t worry to much. Ok?
/GFN
GFN Street Photography 