After studying Eggleston's work here are some conclusions I have made.
I have realized that in street photography, you don’t always have to capture the extraordinary things in life. Often times the ordinary and the banal can be the most interesting.
Perhaps an exercise can be this (like how Eggleston started off): Instead of trying to photograph the beautiful things in everyday life, photograph the ugly stuff. Go against the grain, against the norms, and it will help your work be more interesting and stand out.
Know that the place you live in is unique. I would say it is even better than if you live in an obscure place, as a lot of street photography probably hasn’t been done in your community. This can allow you to make a unique body of work, whereas all the big cities have been photographed mostly to death (Paris, New York, Tokyo, etc).
So don’t take your own hometown for granted–even if you live in a suburb. Rather than thinking about what you hate about your city, think about what you find interesting about it. Photograph the boring things of your city– and never quit exploring. If you can make a boring photograph interesting, you have done your job as a photographer.
When it comes to street photography, know that your eyes are your most valuable assets. Don’t worry about your camera, lens, or technical settings. If you aren’t a very technical photographer (or don’t care much about settings), just use “P” mode and rather focus on training your eye.
How might one train his or her eye? Well, it sounds quite obvious– but you want to look around a lot and be inquisitive, especially in places which you might intuitively thin is boring.
For example, let’s take a place we take granted for: the supermarket. It is a part of our boring, everyday lives– to pick up food, take it to the checkout counter, and then drive it back home. But if you think about it, the supermarket is a very weird place. What other time in history did we have the chance to go to a central location with all the foods we could possibly want?
And not only that but look at the foods they offer us– most of them artificial and fake. Look at how colorful supermarkets are, and how bored (or excited) shoppers can be. Look at how consumerism and advertising influence people’s decisions with the tacky billboards and pricing labels inside. Look at the long queues at the checkout counter or the plethora of choice we are given as consumers.
If you see the supermarket from an outsider’s perspective– it is a pretty weird place.
So perhaps the thought experiment we can do is pretend like we are aliens from another planet. Imagine if you landed on Earth and you are experiencing human society for the first time. What would you find interesting? What would you find strange? What would you find perplexing?
I think in street photography the main medium people are still drawn to is black and white. Part of this to do with the sense of nostalgia that we get from classic black and white street photographs. Another part is that black and white tends to be simpler to work in. Color adds more variables, which adds more complications, which makes shooting in the streets even more difficult.
However, if you decide to embrace shooting street photography in color, don’t just shoot how you would in black and white and just leave your images in color. Rather, start to see the world in color.
See how you can incorporate the meanings of color into your image. For example, don’t just shoot the color red just because it is red. How does the color red add meaning to your images? Is it a bloody red that adds symbolism of danger, lust, anger, impending doom, or something else?
When shooting the color blue, think about the meaning of the color blue and how you can add meaning to your images. When we think of the color blue, we think calm, peace, and relaxation. We think about the serene waters in a stream or the playfulness of the skies and clouds.
Seeing the world in color is certainly a difficult task, but once you start to train your eyes– you will be surprised by what you see, and the extra layer of meaning and intent you can add to your images.
Don’t fear criticism from others when it comes to your photography. Rather, welcome it. I think whenever you provoke a reaction in which people criticize you, it means you are doing something right. Why is that? If nobody really cared, they wouldn’t say anything at all. But if you evoked some sort of emotional response (whether it be positive or negative) in a person, you have done your job as a photographer.
Everyone in the world can't enjoy your photographs. What matters more is that you enjoy your own photographs. And if a few people out there also enjoy your photos, even better.
I have gotten a lot of criticism and flak on the internet in the past (still today). At first, it used to get to me quite personally, I would honestly lose sleep over it and question why I was doing what I was doing. However, at the end of the day, it was a good thing that I was getting this criticism– as it allowed me to look at my work and approach with a more critical eye, and teach me how to build a thicker skin.
One of the most influential things I have read about criticism is from the infamous Seth Godin, a prolific marketer who also gets his fair share of criticism. In a short essay titled: “You will be judged (or you will be ignored)” he mentions the two ways that people will react to you:
“[There] are pretty much the only two choices.
Being judged is uncomfortable. Snap judgments, prejudices, misinformation… all of these, combined with not enough time (how could there be) to truly know you, means that you will inevitably be misjudged, underestimated (or overestimated) and unfairly rejected.
The alternative, of course, is much safer. To be ignored.
Up to you.”
So when it comes to your street photography you have two choices: to be judged or be ignored. You choose. Personally, I would rather choose the former.
One thing I learned about creativity and psychology is that if you think about something obsessively enough, they begin to enter your dreams.
Why does this happen? Evolutionary biologists hypothesize that it is one of the natural ways that humans approach “problem-solving.” If we ruminate on an idea long enough, the hidden connections often connect and make sparks of inspiration or innovation while we dream– and are relaxed. Relaxation is one of the secrets of creativity, as we cannot make creative breakthroughs when we are constantly stressed and wired.
Perhaps we can learn a lesson from Eggleston is that we should always be obsessive about our photographs, and always think about them. And if we are persistent enough, they can even enter our dreams!
We live in a day and time where everything looks quite boring, usual, and even ugly. We see people walking around with their iPhones, ugly shopping malls, and boring supermarkets.
However, know that the photographs you take today will undoubtedly be fascinating 50 years from now.
I am sure that 50 years from now, people will look at photos we take of people on their smartphones and laugh, “Oh my gosh, they used to use iPhones back then?” (Of course, this is when we have computers embedded into our brains).
So don’t worry about the past or the future. Just focus on life today, and history will take care of the rest.
It is incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to edit your own images. It is always good to get a second opinion, as others are the ones who can be more honest with your images in terms of what works or what doesn’t work.
However, you shouldn’t just take one person’s opinion blindly over your own. What I suggest instead is to ask lots of different people for their opinion, independently, on a 1:1 basis (preferably in-person). Then collect all the feedback you get from others as a whole, and then take a more serious and critical look at your own work.
Of course, at the end of the day, your own opinion is the most important. But still, know the importance of getting others to collaborate with you. This synthesis will ensure that your photos will be bulletproof.
It is very difficult (if not impossible) to see small details in a photograph when viewed 640px wide on the internet on our computer screens.
The way to really appreciate the images by Eggleston is through his photography books. They are printed much larger and have much more detail
So realize that sometimes it is the small details of a photograph and the composition which makes a photograph great. Think about your own photos this way. Don’t just focus on the subject, but the background as well– and everything in-between.
To become great in street photography is a life-long process. I have so much to learn, but I know that with every passing day that I shoot, read photography books, and write about street photography I make a little big of progress everyday.
Know that the greatest street photographers in history have only really achieved their fame after many decades of photographing in the streets. However, they weren’t so concerned about fame or fortune or anything of the sort. Rather, they did it because they loved the challenge and how it pushed their boundaries.
There are no shortcuts in life. You need the grit, perseverance, and the passion to pull you through. Never get discouraged in your street photography because you feel you aren’t making progress. You can never see progress in a short period. Know that if you keep on swinging the axe or playing a few notes on the piano– you will one day reach greatness.
