The first images that provided an example of street photography were those of French photographer Charles Nègre, who used his camera in the 1850s to document architecture as well as shops, workers, traveling musicians, peddlers, and unusual types of roads. Street photography essentially means honest photography of humanity. A street photo is a real moment. If you must use an SLR camera (and I’ve used one for street photography for over 10 years, so don’t feel bad), pick up a lens with a light prime length such as a 35mm or 50mm lens (the two most popular lenses used by street photographers).
When an image is considered art, the courts also consider the photographer’s freedom to express himself artistically. This means that artistic street photography can still be published legally in certain cases. Photographing someone in front of an adult bookstore even though they were just passing by would be an example of a possible defamation of the character. However, the edition for street photographers and photojournalists was still of professional quality. At the turn of the century, however, the development of new digital technologies and exhibition platforms for social media opened up new opportunities for street photographers such as Paul Graham, Laurisa Galvan, Carolyn Drake, Mark Alor Powell, and Matt Stuart.
The classic technique of street photography involves attaching a wide-angle lens (20 mm for a full-frame camera) or a medium-wide angle lens (35 mm) to a camera, setting the ISO setting to a moderately high speed (400 or 800) and focusing the lens in advance. It can be compared to a visual form of poetry — while beauty and form are important aspects of street photography, something often happens beneath the surface when it comes to great street photography. While working on assignments for Harper’s Bazaar, Frank met Russian art director and photographer Alexey Brodovitch, and it was the Russian who encouraged Frank to pursue his creative goal of developing new and authentic photographic art. The judge dismissed the lawsuit and found that the photo of Nussenzweig, taken on a street and sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, is art and not commerce and is therefore protected by the First Amendment even though his religion prohibits it.
Photographers like William Eggleston often produce street photography in which there are no people in the picture, but their presence is suggested by the subject. Street photography may restrict photography to protect privacy, but it may still be legal in France if it is practised as an art form under certain circumstances. It is generally said that you can do street photography with any camera, and while this is true, some cameras give you a significant advantage. In the 1930s, Levitt began photographing children playing on the streets of New York, for which she is best known.
Platforms such as Instagram and Flickr, as well as the website In-Publica, have made it possible for street photographers to form online collectives and to display their work across international borders.
