Street photography belongs to the various genres of photography. The subjects appear in the photos in real and spontaneous situations in public places in street photography. And emphasises aspects of life and everyday life.
What it is
© Joel Meyerowitz, New York, 1975.
Street photography captures moments of everyday life so that they can stay in the memory. The aim is to capture events that happen in the street, telling historical facts using a more entertaining aspect. Street photographers capture sincere and unique moments of everyday life of unknown subjects. Alex Liverani is a freelance wedding and street photographer who defines street photography as follows: “Street photography is an image of everyday life around us, told through the eye of the photographer, who is able to document the ordinary, capturing the decisive moment, managing to capture what others often fail to see”. Credits: in this link
History
© Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1945: Kiss in Times Squares
Street photography also originated with the introduction of the first portable cameras in 1890. And it developed mainly in Paris in the early 1900s when Eugène Atget, considered the founder of this genre, began photographing people in the streets of his city. It then spread throughout the world. In the USA, it has connections with metropolises and jazz, whose artistic everyday life it narrates. Over the years, this genre has evolved and told a lot. Alfred Eisenstaedt took a beautiful photohraph in 1945: Kiss in Times Squares. The photo captures a moment of happiness after the end of the war.
The essential elements
Street photography has elements that distinguish it from other photographic genres:
spontaneity: the subject doesn’t appear in a studio or in a predetermined pose, in fact, generally does not know that he or she is being photographed. The photographer must try to capture the right moment;
the presence of people, as street photography generally captures emotions, relationships and everyday events in which people are the protagonists;
cities are also almost always present in this kind of photography. Cities give the photographer with the elements that bring the photos to life. In cities there are billboards, shop windows, lights, which, well studied and used, make it possible to create many photographs.
Giulia Antonelli
