Many street photographers find portrait photography to be very cliche but don’t often talk about how it can and should be made better. And unfortunately, lots of street photographers don’t understand how to express why that’s the case. So instead, why not just show portrait photographers how it’s done? A while back, we talked about a what it’s like to transition. But as a photographer that shoots both street and portrait photography, I’m going to talk about how to do it and get started. Don’t think of this as an end-all-be-all. But instead, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Oh, and this has nothing to do with gear. Use whatever you’ve got on hand.
Table of Contents
Start in the Streets
Since street photographers know and understand the streets, they should start by doing portraits there. It’s how photographers like the Sartorialist got started. When you’re trying to take a portrait of someone, you need to see — not look. That requires you to start talking about your creative vision. Describe it, and start to tell your subject about how to pose and move. Get specific about it and don’t touch your subject. This is an exercise in both communication and connecting the artistic and technical side of your brain.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Considering what this person is wearing, how do you see them being photographed?
- Some street photographers look for emotional and candid moments to photograph with intent. How can you make those genuine reactions come forth?
- Some photographers look for irony in scenes. One great example is Gretchen Grace. How can you create that in your portraits?
- How would you frame this scene to get your viewpoint across?
- What creative processes can you use? Depth of field? Slow shutter speed?
Essentially, you’ll need to create your own story. Sure, it’s not real street photography. But it’s real portraiture. And once you start thinking about in different ways, then it gets easier. It’s not posed street photography. It’s more of candid portraiture.
Notice The Light
Lots of street photographers notice the light on the streets and often wait for something visually fascinating to happen. Then they time it just right and shoot. Try moving a subject to one of those places and doing the same thing. Sometimes, it might be a special little tidbit of light that makes a scene look all that much better. At other times, it’s all about smoke in the streets or some other defining feature.
Good Portraiture is All About Good Communication
Good communication is the foundation of solid portraiture. And for that to happen, you sometimes need to show someone what your idea is. That’s why we use moodboards. Here are photographers that we’ve interviewed over the years to help you out.
- Miguel Raimundo: A more basic approach to make really nice portraits of people that tell a story.
- Iwona Pinkowitz: She literally just asked strangers for a portrait.
- Debabrata Ray: These are more portraits in the street than anything.
- Maxence Dedry: A great photographer who tells stories about people in the street.
Otherwise, we recommend using Behance — which is Adobe’s social media platform, to research street portraits. Eventually, you’ll realize that in order to get the expression you’re looking for, you have to play a bit of a psychology game with the person you’re photographing.