civilized ku # 189 ~ real street photography

Cafe ~ NYC • click to embiggenI've never been a devotee of street photography, at least not as far devoting any energy or time to picturing in the vernacular of the genre.

Which is not to say that I don't appreciate what others have created within the genre - I very much appreciate and admire the work of Frank, Cartier-Bresson, Brassai, Winogrand and others. It's just that I have never really had an opportunity to do any extended work in this manner. Which is a little odd considering how much time I have spent in NYC over the years but the fact is that I've never got bitten by the bug.

That said, this past weekend, I did start to do my own version of street photography and in a way it truly is street photography in as much as my pictures were made from the POV of the street, not from that of the sidewalk as is most often the case.

This stems from the fact that, when I am in NYC, my time is very limited relative to what I want to do/see. Consequently, I ride in taxis much more often that I walk around Manhattan. Hence, my view of the "street life" is much more influenced by that perspective than it is as a pedestrian. Add to that the fact that potential subjects are totally unaware of my picturing presence, I am very comfortable in my taxi-stealth vantage point.

On hindsight, my picturing may have been subliminally influenced by my viewing of the aforementioned Vector Portraits exhibit. In any event, I am giving serious consideration to the creation of a camera-w-flash, passenger-side door attachment for my car which I might put to good use during a day long drive around Manhattan the next time I'm in town.