Style

Are you a hunter or a fisher?

This is one of the first choices you make as a street photographer, and very little thought goes into it. How come? 

A hunter is always on the move, scanning every street and individual for candid magic, hoping to be in the right place at just the right time. A fisher, on the other hand, is more patient, quietly blending into a street scene they like the look of and waiting for the right set of events to unfold.

Unsurprisingly, we instinctively gravitate towards one style based on our preference and comfort level. Unless you are brave enough to get close to subjects from your first outing, the odds are you will start as more of a fisher due to its less invasive nature. This way you can spend more time scoping out locations, slowly blending in to the everyday canvas while you wait for the right subject (you will get the occasional funny look when loitering in  seemingly mundane spots though). Fishing requires a certain level of patience to stick to one spot for a significant period of time, hoping for a spot of magic, taking in the frustration of seeing your ideal subject cross to the other side of the street, and either sticking around or reluctantly moving on to another location.

A 'Fishing shot. I waited 45 minutes for someone to stand in the right spot.

The alternative is starting as a hesitant hunter roaming the streets, slightly bewildered and without ever getting quite close enough to get the shots you hoped for.  This will also involve some amusing reactions from onlookers as you challenge the boundaries of personal space, pretending to be lost, gazing at buildings like a tourist while “accidentally” taking photographs. While neither approach is better than the other, as our competence grows, so does our ability to switch between the two as we pound the pavements. We are then able to identify an interesting character walking towards us in the distance, remember that amusing billboard we just crossed, and adapt our movements to manipulate them into the ideal position.

A ‘Hunting’ shot

Two techniques that come in handy for both hunting and fishing are known as ‘shooting from the hip’ and ‘pre-focusing’. Self-explanatory as it is, shooting from the hip involves holding your camera near your torso and clicking away without looking through the lens, seemingly invisible to your subject, although it is not always as discrete as you may hope! Pre-focusing, on the other hand, involves anticipating where subjects may appear in your frame and focusing on that spot before they arrive, sometimes even pretending to shoot so it is a convenient “accident” that they are in your shot. Again though, some members of the public are polite enough to wait when they see a photographer lined up, at which point you are forced into an awkward acting sequence of pretending to take a shot, letting them walk through, and trying to discretely steal a quick photo; this is bad viewing for all involved!

Shooting from the hip while 'Hunting & Fishing'

Whichever method you adopt, you will inevitably develop an appreciation for a concept known as ‘the decisive moment. This is the English title of a famous book called “Images à la Sauvette”, by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a man often viewed as the Grandfather of street photography. This literally translates to “images on the run” and, even though “on the run” implies more of a hunting approach, clearly a “decisive moment” can be witnessed either through hunting or fishing. 

In both styles, it is up to the photographer to seize this moment, because once it is gone, you cannot get it back, and therein lies the magic and frustration of street photography! 

“I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.”  Trent Parke