kbg32
neo-romanticist
I have been involved with photography since the mid-1970s. All this talk and apparent research into when the phrase "street photography" came into use got me thinking, a lot, and doing a bit of research on my own.
I'm sure one can find the phrase "street photography" used intermittently before 1980. As far as I can tell, on my limited research, unless someone, somewhere can provide concrete evidence, it is a new term that has became fashionable to describe a genre.
Prior to 1980, I am only using that date as a guide as it could be later, the term that was in fashion, and one that ICP was founded on, was "concerned photography" or "humanistic".
ICP was founded as an institution to keep the legacy of "Concerned Photography" alive. After the untimely deaths of his brother Robert Capa and his colleagues Werner Bischof, Chim (David Seymour), and Dan Weiner in the 1950s, Capa saw the need to keep their humanitarian documentary work in the public eye. In 1966 he founded the International Fund for Concerned Photography. By 1974 the Fund needed a home, and the International Center of Photography was created.
"Humanist photography is the celebration of life and its inexhaustible diversity as seen through the lens of a photographer. Often called poetic realism, this genre celebrates the ordinary, the small pleasures of life, and the daily pitfalls of our existence."
"Humanist photography is an international photographic movement made of photographers whose common interest and focus is the human being in his everyday life. It was very prominent between the 30s and 60s, with names like Willy Ronis, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boubat and Brassai, to name but a few. French photographers played a central and pivotal role in its development, focusing on the subject's environment as much as on the subject itself. The streets of Paris, factories and workshops, bars are favorite decors for intimate yet realistic portraits illustrating simple people's way of life. The underlying guiding principle for this series is the central place of the human being, under his/her most beautiful and ugliest traits."
I'm sure one can find the phrase "street photography" used intermittently before 1980. As far as I can tell, on my limited research, unless someone, somewhere can provide concrete evidence, it is a new term that has became fashionable to describe a genre.
Prior to 1980, I am only using that date as a guide as it could be later, the term that was in fashion, and one that ICP was founded on, was "concerned photography" or "humanistic".
ICP was founded as an institution to keep the legacy of "Concerned Photography" alive. After the untimely deaths of his brother Robert Capa and his colleagues Werner Bischof, Chim (David Seymour), and Dan Weiner in the 1950s, Capa saw the need to keep their humanitarian documentary work in the public eye. In 1966 he founded the International Fund for Concerned Photography. By 1974 the Fund needed a home, and the International Center of Photography was created.
"Humanist photography is the celebration of life and its inexhaustible diversity as seen through the lens of a photographer. Often called poetic realism, this genre celebrates the ordinary, the small pleasures of life, and the daily pitfalls of our existence."
"Humanist photography is an international photographic movement made of photographers whose common interest and focus is the human being in his everyday life. It was very prominent between the 30s and 60s, with names like Willy Ronis, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boubat and Brassai, to name but a few. French photographers played a central and pivotal role in its development, focusing on the subject's environment as much as on the subject itself. The streets of Paris, factories and workshops, bars are favorite decors for intimate yet realistic portraits illustrating simple people's way of life. The underlying guiding principle for this series is the central place of the human being, under his/her most beautiful and ugliest traits."
Sparrow
Mentor
I'm sure it was in common parlance in Fort Wayne, Indiana, long before that
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Stewart......
Sparrow
Mentor
moi? .....
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Play nice.
Sparrow
Mentor
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Good work in realigning a venerable moral/historical compass, Keith. Thanks. Especially this paragraph:
"...the celebration of life and its inexhaustible diversity as seen through the lens of a photographer. Often called poetic realism, this genre celebrates the ordinary, the small pleasures of life, and the daily pitfalls of our existence."
Labels are always the last thing to be sewed into clothes. The cloth and the cut, the craft and the fit and the durability, these matter more than the label.
"...the celebration of life and its inexhaustible diversity as seen through the lens of a photographer. Often called poetic realism, this genre celebrates the ordinary, the small pleasures of life, and the daily pitfalls of our existence."
Labels are always the last thing to be sewed into clothes. The cloth and the cut, the craft and the fit and the durability, these matter more than the label.
back alley
IMAGES
stewart...change in meds?
much feistiness lately...not that i'm complaining!
much feistiness lately...not that i'm complaining!
paulfish4570
Mentor
nice, robert ...
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Thanks Robert. Still thinking about all of this. I'm giving a talk on my work in a few weeks and doing much thinking and realigning of my travels within myself. Just look at the proliferation of "street" threads now. Some are in a rush to jump on the bandwagon, declare themselves the most knowledgeable, and the "leader". I'm always a bit skeptical for any group, especially when they don't fit.
Sparrow
Mentor
oh yes, sorry, but then reduced horizons tend to prompt a surprising directness I've found
kbg32
neo-romanticist
I appreciate your feistiness Stewart, but lets keep it on topic gents.
Sparrow
Mentor
OK, well no sorry, But then I am often surprised how many people accept that todays definitions are a fact of nature. Often I am shocked that todays protocols are thought to be historical in nature ... 'Street Photography' is just one I've come across
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Actually Stewart, if you looked up both definitions - "street photography" and " humanistic photography" or "concerned photography", the definitions do overlap.
I remember quite well the genre we all speak of now as "street", was called "concerned" or "humanistic". "Street" seems to be a latter definition in usage. When did it come into vogue? I cannot find the definitive reference.
I remember quite well the genre we all speak of now as "street", was called "concerned" or "humanistic". "Street" seems to be a latter definition in usage. When did it come into vogue? I cannot find the definitive reference.
Sparrow
Mentor
... yep I asked a while back, I think I understand your question, but we are probably talking about a pre globalised world that we probably understand quite differently
kbg32
neo-romanticist
I was hoping that this thread would generate some conversation.
Sparrow
Mentor
sorry, a while back I raised this topic myself, I thought you would have seen it and this was a response ... but no, prior to 1995 I don't think 'street photography' was in general parlance
tunalegs
Pretended Artist
"Street Photography" as concerns candid photographs made on streets comes into use about 1901, although it does not come into "general" use until a bit over a decade later.
"Concerned photography" is a much, much newer term.
airfrogusmc
Mentor
It was a term used when I was in college in the early 1980s and in the video I posted Winogrand addressed the term in the early 1980s. So I think it was in use in photography circles as early as the turn of the last century. The thing is today everyone is in the photography circle LoL....
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Can you cite a definitive source please? I cannot really find the general usage of the term to define a genre till 80 years later, though I am sure it was used now then.