Street photography is one of the most difficult forms of photography out there. Not only do you have to rapidly compose, frame, and approach strangers, but you have to do so with the risk of “injury.” They might injure you verbally (threaten to break your camera, give you a dirty look and call you a creep, or curse at you) or they might injure you physically (try to grab your camera, hit you, shove you, etc).
Dear Mr. Kim,
I read a blog post of yours titled "Advice to Aspiring Full Time Photographers" reposted on PetaPixel.
It’s filled with lots of exciting tidbits like:
“I think being a full-time photographer is overrated.”
The best camera in street photography is the most expensive one.
If I gave myself advice in street photography if I started all over again I would tell myself, “Eric, buy yourself the most expensive camera out there for street photography. You are a newbie and not very good at shooting street photography. You are nervous. You don’t know any technical settings. You are afraid. You aren’t inspired. You don’t have any good work. Buying a really expensive camera will make you great.”
The folks over at F8 Photography recently got a chance to sit down with well-known, love-him-or-hate-him street photographer Eric Kim. And whatever your opinion of the successful street shooter, the advice he offers in this short video interview about fear, book recommendations, and figuring out the 'why' behind your photography is well-worth 4 minutes of your Saturday.
Dear Eric,
You are 18 years old. You just got a point and shoot digital camera from Mom as a high school graduation present. You are super excited, as you never had a camera before. A lot of exciting things will happen in your life surrounding photography. I wanted to write this letter to you and give you some advice I wish I knew. This is coming from your 26-year-old-self.
There's something inspirational about watching a seasoned photographer work at his craft -- whether it's a studio photog who molds light to his will or a street photographer whose demeanor and results both scream professionalism.
Jack Simon falls under the latter of those categories, and in the video above, fellow street photographer Eric Kim takes us behind the scenes with Simon as he walks the streets of San Francisco.
Whenever I look online for information or advice relating to street photography, Eric Kim’s name regularly surfaces. I’ve been reading his blog for a couple of years and in that time; I’ve watched his career and online prominence grow.
In comparison to other areas of photography, there’s relatively little advice online about street photography. But a number of photographers like Eric are helping to tackle this problem as well as build a solid and much-needed community for street photographers.
Street photographer Eric Kim has always believed in the value of 'open source.' Usually a term reserved for software and code, open source is a development model that promotes free public access and redistribution rights for a product.
Much of what Kim has put out into the world -- be they videos or ebooks -- he's made available in the same way: use, alter and share as you'd like. And now, he's adding his photos to the list of things the public has almost unlimited access to.
Street photographer Eric Kim recently found himself in New York, and on his last day there he visited Kane's Diner, a spot that all his NYC friends insisted he must go before he left. After a meal of steak, eggs and conversation with his friendly waiter, he decided he would get his courage up and ask the waiter if it would be ok to take his picture.
Fortunately for us, he was able to attach his GoPro to the hot shoe on his Ricoh GR and capture the entire experience -- from momentary hesitation through impromptu photo shoot -- in the above POV video.
Many photographers get nervous when the talk turns to street photography. There are step-by-step plans laid out for those who want to get over their fear of street photography, and entire articles dedicated to using telephoto lenses when taking candid street shots so you're less likely to invade someone's personal space even as you're photographing it.
But on the other side of this spectrum are photographers like Bruce Gilden and Eric Kim, who make no apologies about getting in their subjects' faces and practicing what might be called "invasive street photography." And if you've ever wondered where this cringe-worthy technique was invented, you need look no further than the above video of photographer Mark Cohen.
If you've ever gone out to try your hand at street photography you probably experienced your fair share of anxiety once you were out there. Taking photos of strangers, even on crowded city streets, takes practice and time, time that's mostly spent getting over the natural fear of taking people's photos without their permission. But the fact that it requires practice and time doesn't mean that a few good tips won't speed the process along significantly.
Street photographer Eric Kim and DigitalRev host …
Street photographer Eric Kim created this video showing what it’s like to photograph …
Street photographer Eric Kim generated some buzz last month by recording …
Street photographer Eric Kim wanted to capture what it’s like to roam around on the streets and shoot photographs …