Street Photography

by Clive Scott

Street photography is perhaps the best-loved and most widely known of all photographic genres, with names like Cartier-Bresson, Brassai and Doisneau familiar even to those with a fleeting knowledge of the medium. Yet, what exactly is street photography? From what viewpoint does it present its subjects, and how does this viewpoint differ from that of documentary photography? Looking closely at the work of Atget, Kertesz, Bovis, Rene-Jacques, Brassai, Doisneau, Cartier- Bresson and more, this elegantly written book, extensively illustrated with both well-known and neglected works, unpicks Parisian street photography's affinity with Impressionist art, as well as its complex relationship with parallel literary trends and authors from Baudelaire to Philippe Soupault. Clive Scott traces street photography's origins, asking what really what happened to photography when it first abandoned the studio, and brings to the fore fascinating questions about the way the street photographer captures or frames those subjects - traders, lovers, entertainers - so beloved of the genre.In doing so, Scott reveals street photography to be a poetic, even 'picturesque' form, looking not to the individual but to the type; not to the 'reality' of the street but to its 'romance'.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art, History

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clive Scott is professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia. His approach to documenting the origins and development of street photography ("SP") is scholastic, but nonetheless, with applied effort, absorbing and thought-provoking.

His approach is grounded in the tradition of photographic criticism. "My history is … somewhat capricious and designed to serve the specific tasks I have set myself"' he says in his introduction. Hence, it rewards the determined reader.

A very good job is made of capturing the complex relationship between impressionism and photography and putting this into the context of contemporary literary thought.

I particularly liked his discussion of the emergence of photography "out of the studio and into the street"; from the enmity of Charles Baudelaire to the position where photography is seen as the "art of the imaginary par excellence" (Soulages).

For readers who want a simple historical account of the development of street photography, this book will not be for you. If however, you want to understand the history of SP against an emerging tradition of photographic criticism and an interest in the phenomenological roots of photography, then please take some effort to read this book. Effort it will take, but effort reaps its rewards.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

This seems like an interesting book of essays. I was more hoping for a visual history, but this is definitely something I'll want to read sometime.

[AC]

Excellnt collection..every street photographer must keep

[ffender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forty photographs, 200 pages of commentary , out of balance, too much reference to literature for a book about photography.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really dry