Books containing definitions of the street:
Street Art: The Graffiti Revolution
Walls, historic, public space, illegal
Tokyo Street Style:
Fashion, subculture, individuality, snapshot
Harlem Street Portraits:
Everyday, humanity, portraiture
Carnaby Street: 1960-2010
Historic, fashionable, evolution, change
Hard Furnishings: street furniture
Features, practical, objects
Compositions in Architecture:
Geometric, practical, design
Images inspired by my research:
Moth Muse, Miss Van, 2019
Mural, Street Art, Public
Carnaby Street, Graham French, 1973
Snapshot, fashion, historic
New York, Garry Winogrand, 1969
Candid, portrait, everyday, documentary
The street by dictionary definition is a public road, and there is therefore an architectural, geometric, practical design aspect to it. These buildings can in themselves be artistic, both in their construction, and the design externally. Murals are an example of this, where the art has been planned and commissioned, but street art is not limited to this. Though graffiti is illegal the artists in cities have created their own rules, for example the biggest offence would be to graffiti or sticker over someone else’s artwork.
The street is a public space where people can show their style and individuality, but is conversely a place to pass through for the everyday worker. Street photographers can take a further away, more removed viewpoint, documenting the landscape of the street, or they can go further in. One approach to this is to take candid photos of the ephemeral moments and interactions taking place. But street photography can also be more posed or planned, especially when the main subject of the photo is fashion. Taking this concept further would be those that photograph members of a certain subculture, as the everyday photographer is able to take a glimpse into a culture they might not be a part of.