Artificial rules in street photography

Maybe because of likes or view count, or because of some imagined superiority complex there are some photographers on the internet try to make you believe that there are certain rules that you have to follow in order to be a real street photographer.Let’s take a deeper look at some of the so called rules they think everyone should follow and find out if there are any which we all should consider as real rule.

Rules in street photography

Honestly I already have a problem with this already. Street photography is one of the most free form of photography. Creating or trying to force rules to a free art form is pointless in my opinion. And as we all know, breaking the rules often makes us more creative, so I don”t think we need any strict rules here. Their way of thinking goes like this: “if I don’t like a certain style, then it is not true street photography”.

Artificial rule #1: All photo must have a human element in it

Interesting point, but I disagree. There are plenty of photographs without any human in it, yet they perfectly depicting the mood, the place, the light or even the presence of human interaction in that area, without showing a human in the picture. There’s no reason why everyone always have to take photos only when there is someone on the picture.

Artificial rule #2: You have to use a wide angle lens

Wrong. I use 28mm with the Leica Q3. Some of my favourite photographers use or used: 24, 28, 35, 50, 85. Honestly, who cares and why? It just doesn’t matter. Use what you feel comfortable with. I used to be a the wider the better guy in the past, now I use 28, instead of 16 for example. But I love 50 too. Of course there’s a limit in my opinion. I don’t consider real street photography when someone for example use a 100-400 zoom at 3-400 mm and basicly acting like a real paparazzi, photographing street scenes from far away. I think it doesn’t look good and it is completely disconnected from real life. Maybe I just think it is a really lazy way that doesn’t produce great images. Street photography is more about observation and being there for me.

Artificial rule #3: You have to use a specific camera

This is another one that doesn’t make sense. I know that Leica is considered the real street photography camera, and we cannot deny that it has a pretty big history to be one of the best for this. But I don’t think that a Fuji, or Nikon or Canon or whatever couldn’t produce amazing results. The reason I wouldn’t use a Canon r3 for example is only because it is big. Too big for me to carry it comfortably for long hours daily. And it might more easily scare people off, or draw attention to the photographer.

Artificial rule #4: You must use manual focus

Oh come on, of course not. Use whatever suits your need. It doesn’t matter. Sometimes I use manual focus, sometimes even zone focus, sometimes autofocus. What matters is the result, not the focus mode. There are very few cameras out there where real manual focus is great and not something you would struggle with. In that case any autofocus mode will be better than missing the shot. There are many benefits (and some drawback) to use manual focus, but it is far from being a rule or a necessity for street photography.

Artificial rule #5: Leica is the only proper camera for street photography

Of course, if I’d sit as a well payed guy at the marketing department, I surely would try to make everyone believe that. But as you all probably know, it is just bullshit. The best camera for street photography is what you really know and love to use. A camera that makes you want to go out and photograph. Technical parameters, spec sheet doesn’t really makes sense most of the time. Today you cannot pick a camera that doesn’t have the specs to make great photographs. I love Leica, the next photographer might love Fuji or Nikon, it really doesn’t matter.

Artificial rule #6: You musn't crop or use any post processing

This is complete... nonsense. Famously Cartier Bresson hated cropping. But that doesn't mean that crop should be banned from our tools. There are times when a shot is just almost perfect, but we need a little adjustment with the crop tool. Why throw away a great picture? In the film days the dark room had many secrets. Well, not so big secrets as we all know there were amazing amount of post processing on the pictures. Just take a look at some old Magnum sheets, they selected one or two pictures usually from many shots, then often processed them not so lightly to achieve the end result we all know and love. Dodge and burn, crop, even sometimes removing things. This is not new and even the big photographers use and used these tools.

There are so many so called false rules one can find on the internet that I could even make a huge series out this. But this is the first 6 I encountered so often I felt I need to address them. Don’t fall into the trap of believing any of the so called rules. Just go out, shoot and enjoy the process.