Your Street Photography Sucks! So what?
I frequent several street photography forums on Reddit. I find them to be positive overall. That’s why, for me, Reddit is one of the best social media for photographers. A common question I see people post is “Does my street photography suck?” The answer, well it isn’t black and white.
The Value of Street Photography
In a recent post on Reddit, one user asked, “Acceptable to use? Or Shite?”, in reference to a recent street photograph they made. By unwritten street photography standards, it wasn’t a good image.
It lacked strong composition, the blur did not add to the narrative and the scene in general was void of a compelling story. That’s my take.
But, street photography isn’t only about fulfilling certain standards. It’s also about keeping records of your life, connecting with society and having a place and time to look back on in years to come. Did the photograph have the potential to fulfil all that for the creator? Yes, it certainly did.
Many of us carry this idea that if your street photography isn’t ticking off quality control boxes, then it has no value. This is nonsense. I would argue the emotional impact street photography has on the creator, is more valuable than creating high quality images.
Peak Street Photography
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being an excellent street photographer. And there’s no reason you can’t also get the other benefits I spoke of, that’s the peak.
But I feel as a community the balance is off. We use quality standards as the metric of if someone should continue to pursue street photography, or if their work has value.
To lean on an old cliche, photography is very subjective. When we look at the greats, the likes of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Bruce Gilden et al, they all have their detractors. Despite their success, there will be people that refer to their work as “average” or “overrated”.
I found an old post on Reddit in which one user had this to say: “I have always hated Bruce Gilden's photographs and it annoys me that he is so revered”.
There are plenty more. If you look for it, it’s not hard to find people discrediting those who helped build the foundations of the street photography community.
Signing Off
This highlights that no matter how talented you are, how successful you become, your street photographs are always going to suck. In fact, the higher up you go, your images will suck to even more people, that’s the nature of having a large amount of reach.
With that said, so what if your street photography sucks? Who cares if people think you’re not very good? It’s never going to stop, almost to the point the opinion of others is redundant.
Of course, perfect your street photography skills, but you don’t need to put the value of your work in the hands of others. Be your own measurement of how good your street photography is — and how important it is — because you’re the only person who can feel the relationship you have with the craft.
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Do you think you're street photography sucks? Check out this article to learn why it really does not matter.