Repurposing Street Photography and other ramblings…

Since Street Photography  has evolved from the classic to the contemporary form as it is now known, it is then safe to say that the genre is in flux.

The traditional SP that we have come to recognize as leaning on the edge of Art and Documentary is now  undergoing a gradual process of transformation. I for one have slowly veered towards injecting my own sensibilities and beliefs into the genre (I call it a genre but is a debatable term). I myself have failed to come up with a definition for Street Photography so whenever I discuss it among my students in the” Wide Open Streets Workshop” or “Wide Open Workshops in Street Photography”  I always explain it to them in 1001 different ways evry time.

I started out as a photojournalist shooting general and spot news in the early 80’s and in between these assignments, we fill the gaps by engaging myself in long walks around the city and shoot what was popularly called as ” Human Interest”. An old term for a category that is now known as “Daily Life”. which is a lighter a  lighter, feature type of photography showcasing facets of life in the streets. As we know, humans can display a wide variety of notable activity and the photographer has the power to capture them in equally limitless ways. The photographs then become documents of history, social change, and or personal expressions without any public ambitions .

At this point, it is important to also mention that Street Photography has also given birth to different schools of thought and styles…personally, I believe that SP need not be just derivatives of the old and classic images…everyday we must strive to find new imagery and directions. The unbelievable and dizzying surge in digital technology and the real time postings on social media have given birth to the photographers in all of us. We are all photographers now. When we were just starting out, you can even count the practitioners by hand.

Enough with these random ramblings for now..what I am really trying to say is that in my next workshop on August 27-28 2016, I would be trying to discuss how to repurpose Street Photography and veer in different directions.

SP as a tool to record:

•  Changes in social conditions
• an expression of  Defiance and or Resistance (political or ideological)
• Intellectual and pure artistic expression
• Critique of society
• Propaganda

I am not trying to revolutionize Street Photography but will try to make it more relevant to the change that has been promised by our leaders.