Professionals do it, amateurs do it, even kids do it. Street photography on the web: its not just big, its huge. Most often, people take pictures of other people and post the pictures on their blog so the rest of the world may be inspired to dress better.
Observing people can be an interesting pastime, but for some it is more than just a hobby. Street photographers are among those people that enjoy staring in public as much as biologists enjoy watching animals in the wild.
When I saw the photograph of Munkacsi of the black kids running in a wave I couldn’t believe such a thing could be caught with the camera. I said damn it, I took my camera and went out into the street, said Henri Cartier-Bresson.
With his first books in the 50s and 60s, William Klein (New York, 1928), began a quest for the zero degree of photography. Rushing into crowds and shooting from the hip – bang! bang! – he was among the first to break the visual taboos of the medium by introducing blurry, out-of-focus shots taken with a wide-angle lens.
Puma trainers with fat laces. Tracksuits. Flax moustaches, Kangol safari caps and, of course, a pair of sunglasses. Men walk the streets with pride and women are treated respectfully. Kids call each other brother, their smiles innocent, and soul music pops from boom boxes. It is the time before crack. An interview with Jamel Shabbaz.