Excuse me, but what are you taking that photo for?

On this lengthy post I continue my pondering about being confronted on the street and provide some ideas on how to prepare for it.

I like all kind of photography. Street photography is something that I’ve gotten into lately. Prior to my street photography endeavours, my photos were lacking an important feature, that has always bugged me — people. My previous big love was nature photography and as much as I love a good campfire shot, it always troubled me, that there was the absence of human. Now that I think about it. I think I’m trying to catch up by focusing so much on the people. I’ve always liked the classic street photos that shows people on the streets doing interesting things in artistic fashion. I’m proud of my nature photos, but at the moment I cannot even think about getting back to that anymore. But while I’m enthusing about getting people into my photos, it has risen few very challenging social and psychological questions.

On one of my previous posts, I mentioned briefly, that I was confronted by lifeguards at the beach when they noticed I was taking photos. The encounter is directly related to just the kind of questions I’ve been thinking about lately, and this post is a sort of a follow-up to that. It was a peaceful encounter and left no hard feelings. It got me thinking once again though. In a nutshell they were concerned what I’m taking the pictures for. I explained that I’m doing a Helsinki related photo documentary and not trying to invade anyones privacy or causing no harm. All was good after that. I suppose they wanted to check that I wasn’t a perv or a weirdo.

Despite the fact that the encounter went as good as it could, I could not help but to think like “oh no, not again”. As soon as I saw the lifeguard approaching me on the corner of my eye, I already knew what she was about to say. And sure enough, the conversation started with the age old question: excuse me, but what are those photos for?

Sometimes it feels like photography is treated like it’s a crime. It is only a camera for crying out loud. I use it to make art. Why does it look so alarming? I’m not sure whether I have any definitive answers just yet, but I want to write my thought process down as I try to learn, because this is one of the biggest underlying questions for me at the moment. People are uncomfortable having their pictures taken and I’m now trying to learn the subtle art of not disturbing anyone. And. I want to get close. I don’t like photos taken from the other side of the street. I don’t like telephoto lenses, because they have a such narrow angle. I’m not able to compose the image properly with them. It is impossible to set the background and give a proper context. They are also too big to carry around and I feel like a stalker using them. The biggest problem is the sense that you, as a viewer, are not part of the image. They look like spy shots. I like 50mm and 28mm lenses because they can produce a nice sense of being right in the image, with the people on the photo. You will have to get very close though. Especially with the 28mm wide angle. You will need to get right into people’s faces with that thing. The challenge presents itself right at this point.

I’ve learned few different methods on how to get close, but I suppose it is a life long learning process. What I can say that works is you will get better at it via practise. It takes some guts, which is a learnable skill. It takes a bit of a ‘not giving a shit’ attitude and determination. ‘In and out in five seconds’ -rule works well too if you’re determined. Being prepared helps. Metering in advance, pre-focusing and taking variables in consideration as you go in. Or just shoot from the hip, but sometimes that’s not an option and that definitely doesn’t guarantee not “getting caught”. There are so much more that goes into it, when you really analyse and break it down.

Some people can be even a bit aggressive when they come up to you. Even if they don’t come up, I can always tell that they got upset or confused. Ok not always of course. Some times I get smiles back too, which is nice. I wish it was more like that. The optimal situation is when they don’t notice you at all, but you can’t expect to be that lucky all the time. Sooner or later, someone notices what you’re doing and will come and ask you.

I’m still trying to figure out why exactly people are suspicious. The question they are always asking suggests, they are uncertain where the photo is going to be used. Maybe they are worried that they are being showed in a unfavourable light or that they will look stupid. The second concern is whether the photo is going to be shown somewhere for a large number of people or whether it is just for a private collection — a harmless photo in your desktop drawer. I don’t know exactly what kind of scenarios they are envisioning, but it always seems an odd question. “What are you taking those photos for?” My honest answer is that photography is my hobby and I just take photos. It is my thing. (Of course for me as a graphic designer it is so much more than just a hobby and relates to my work too, but you get it.) I suppose their worst case scenario is that they will see their faces on a huge billboard while doing something silly. Or maybe they are feeling like they are being spied and having their privacy insulted. Maybe some people are out right paranoid about it. It is just the uncertainty on what kind of malicious, sick purposes are their face being used on. Removing that uncertainty and fear should be enough to resolve the situation. In other words, showing that you are not an apocalyptic beast or a weirdo, should do the trick.

Ideas for the next time someone confronts you

I have some ideas on how to prepare these kind of situations in the future. Assuming that we are not dealing with an aggressive or hostile person, but with someone reasonable, who only wants to check that I am not doing anything disrespectful or offensive (etc), I’m thinking about carrying few example prints on the kinda work I’m doing. If people would only know what a noble quest 35mm street photography is, they’d be more understanding. Showing some images would be a really concrete way to demonstrate and I bet most people would find that extremely cool. (Edit: now that I think of it… why don’t I just show some photos from my iPhone? )

My other idea is to write a legit project description that explains exactly the nature of the project. In my case, I want to document people on 35mm film, at this point of our history, mainly in my home town Helsinki and nearby. The next time someone is suspicious why I’m photographing, I could explain AND hand out the print. I already carry a print of the law concerning shooting on public spaces, which may someday come in handy as well. A written project description could be a useful addition to that.