Street Photography: The Art of Capturing the Candid Moment

by Gordon Lewis

Since the advent of the camera, there have been photographers whose mission is to record and interpret the public sphere in all its aspects. Eugene Atget documented evidence of everyday life in the streets as well as the buildings and monuments of Paris. Henri Cartier-Bresson pursued what he called "The Decisive Moment," the moment in which the meaning of an event was most clearly captured in a photograph. Their work, and that of many other masters, has inspired generations of photographers to wander public spaces, camera in hand, searching for meaningful moments in time.

Success requires the street photographer to be proficient with their equipment, to be constantly aware of their surroundings, and to have a keen eye. Quick reflexes and self-confidence are essential: Street photographers know from experience that hesitation or procrastination could mean missing a once-in-a-lifetime shot. The adage "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" was probably coined by a street photographer.

In Street Photography: The Art of Capturing the Candid Moment, Gordon Lewis helps readers understand and conquer the challenging yet rewarding world of street photography. The book includes discussions of why photographers are drawn to street photography, the different styles of street photography, and what makes a great street photograph. Lewis then goes on to explore how the choice of location can change a photographer's approach to image capture: from city streets to fairs to beaches, Lewis discusses the impact different environments have on the process of street photography.

Another crucial element to becoming a good street photographer is learning to travel light, with minimal equipment. Lewis gives readers practical advice on everything from cameras and lenses to camera bags and clothing. Lewis also delves into the techniques and approaches that will help novices master the art of street photography.

Whether your style is to engage your subjects or to remain unnoticed and take candid portraits, Lewis offers ideas on how to capture fascinating moments in time: a gesture, expression, or composition that may exist for only a fraction of a second, but can leave a lasting impression of the wonders, challenges, and absurdities of modern life.

About the writer:


"Gordon Lewis is a dedicated street photographer with over 40 years of experience. He began his writing career answering letters from owners of Olympus cameras, Vivitar flash units, and Kiron lenses. From there he graduated to being a contributing editor to magazines such as Camera 35, Petersen's Photographic, and Camera & Darkroom. Through unforeseen but fortuitous circumstances, he leveraged his irreverent wit into a TV sitcom-writing career, with hit shows such as Amen, Family Matters, and In Living Color to his credit. Now reformed, he earns his living as an e-learning instructional designer for Fortune 500 companies. Gordon lives just outside of Philadelphia-which, not coincidentally, is an excellent location for street photography". Amazon website

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art, How To

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Aprile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riprovo a scrivere dopo lungo tempo. L’ultimo testo che è stato in grado di stimolare due righe di riflessione è stato il racconto di quella simpatica canaglia di “Limonov” per voce di Carrère. Poi muta. Come spenta. Sia come lettrice, svogliata, che come testimone di lettura, inesistente. E invece adesso avverto quasi l’urgenza. L’urgenza di condivisione, siamo qui per questo, anche. Sì, perché negli ultimi mesi mi sono resa conto che il tempo che precedentemente dedicavo alla lettura, è stato per buona parte indirizzato all’osservazione del mondo che attraverso vivendo, alle strade, alle costruzioni, all’architettura, paesaggio, natura, persone. Con un gusto che non è voyeuristico, ma semplicemente curioso, interessato, che è un’ammirazione, una sorpresa, una condivisione con gli altri che spartiscono gli stessi luoghi. Luoghi visti da ognuno in modo differente. E attraverso la fotografia ognuno può ‘recensire’ la sua diversa sensibilità, il suo punto di vista, può documentare il giorno specifico, la vita, la sua storia e la storia di chi lo circonda. Fotografia come testimonianza del proprio passaggio in mezzo a quello di molti altri. E questo testo - regalatomi da sensibilità attenta - è molto chiaro in tal senso.

[Shervin R · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتابى كه يه سرى بديهيات در مورد عكاسى خيابانى گفته . شايد اگر به جاى نوشتن اين مطالب ، عكسهاى بزرگان اين ژانر رو كتاب ميكرد ، خيلى خيلى موفق تر مى بود

[Doug Dams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book tries to explain street photography as an art in capturing the candid moment. It does this by going through a list of habits and processes for the photographer to develop in order to find those candid moments. It seems a little odd to try and generate a candid moment. Basically, the best advice the book had was to keep your eyes open for these candid moments and go to places where there are people doing things. You need to be on the street and not in the wilderness to capture candid street photography shots. And you need to be quick to see the shot and take the picture. This book was okay but it didn't really inspire me.

[Vinayak Hegde · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essence of street photography is to "stop time" - to capture a moment, an expression, a composition and light that is unlikely to be repeated and ephemeral. The book covers tools and techniques very well but falls short on composition styles and history. Also while some of the photographs are evocative and composed well while others seem pretty ordinary. Overall I would say it is a good introduction to street photography but I felt it lacks depth.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whets Your Aper-tite

As my interest in photography grows, I'm finding myself drawn to the genre of street photography. I chose this book at the library to explore the concept and found quite a few takeaways. It doesn't go into great depth, but could be a good jumping off point for a budding street shooter. I especially liked the mention of so many renowned street photographers whose work I can look into in greater detail. Overall, you might find that "Street Photography: The Art of Capturing the Candid Moment " will make you hungry for more insights into this particular niche.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview/intro to street photography; it would have been a great series of magazine articles.

As a full length book, I found it a bit simplistic and repetitive. Rather than deep diving into anything, a lot of basic info seemed repeated. There were some great example photos, but in many instances I found they were more isolated great photos rather than chosen to specifically illustrate a topic under discussion. (For instance, when talking about black and white vs. color as a stylistic option, this would have been the perfect place to show examples of great shots of the same type of scene for both color and B&W - just one example off the top of my head.)

It also felt kind of all over the place in who the target audience was: at times written toward a very beginner in explaining equipment, and then at times written as if the reader has a thorough understanding of exposure and composition. Either of these could be fine, but the mash-up was a bit mind boggling.

That all said, I'm glad I read it. I don't do a ton of street photography but am considering taking it back up, and the book did bring up some things I hadn't thought of in that process.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a unique hybrid, both a how-to, an examination of the current trends, but also an essay about the value of street photography. The author Gordon Lewis is a street photographer with nearly 30 years of experience, and the book is well illustrated with his work, and the work of other street photographers.

This book is well worth the price, (with other photography books running 2x as expensive, or even higher). I am glad I bought it.

Street is the type of photography that thrives on spontaneity, and Lewis is absolutely right to point out (Street photography will be the core of my final exam, in mid-December, for the course that I am taking). When I was a Rutgers University journalism major, you could go either the print route, or the broadcast journalism/video route, you could not mix and match. Hybrid skills is the nature of journalism now in the 2020s.

You can capture street photography that is just passable, but you can also capture images that are exceptional in contrast, and in use of color. (4.1-4.34 stars/5.0 stars.(

[Steve Angelkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised by the rating here as being a little low.

A great intro to the genre for the beginner.

I enjoy taking street photos and have been doing so as an amateur for a little under 10 years. I found this book an ideal aide memoire, with some creative ideas.

The reference 'to the masters of the art' is great for a quick google search.

[Goutham Selvakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book just explained about the regular basics like style, tools, ways to bring the street photography lively. No matter how much you try, if your way of taking photo in not unique the street photography is going to be a normal one. I loved the way he explained about the other professional photographers and their techniques.

[Mikey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gordon Lewis provides a short introduction to street photography. He hints at techniques and aims to alleviate concerns about taking photos of people in public. There are numerous shots that are provided in the book to get a feel for his style, and how he likes to compose pictures.

The information in this book could honestly have been left to a blog post.

[Ypatios Varelas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly elementary information, however lots of nice shots used as examples help much more than words! Not all pictures are interesting, but many of them are really good.

[JJ Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book for someone who is just beginning to consider street photography. If you have some to a lot of experience, this is a good review to help measure your skills.

[Celal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daha iyi olmasını umut etmiştim ilk sayfalarında. Öğretici bilgiler elde ettim.

[Bhabani Sankar Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the better ones for people starting out

[Doe · Rating 1 out of 5]

"... buildings can be just as ephemeral as anything else you encounter on the street."

[marcin · Rating 4 out of 5]

a rather straightforward no-bs guide towards street photography.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

very basic. uninspired

[Wondra Vanian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh. You don't need an instruction manual to take random photos. Seriously. I would have preferred a book that was just photography.