I have placed this in the Critique section, rightly or wrongly.
My question really is, are the three photographs more consistent with Street Photography than Scenes of the Road.
There probably is not a correct answer. My test for street photography is a two part test.
1 The photograph should be taken in the street
2 It should incorporate one or more persons who should be the main theme of the photograph.
The picture should not be posed and represent something which happened in the Street. The photograph is probably taken candidly.
Scenes of the Road, however I wonder if there should be a bias towards the road scene rather than towards persons or animals present.
Probably the truth lies in between. My view is that the first two are towards Street Photography whereas the later is more Scenes of the Road. What do members think?
I think of street photography as chance encounters or random events but I consider scenes of the road more static. Something that is not going to change in a few minutes. I guess I think of scenes of the road more like a landscape or building that is seen from the road. I'm not sure that there is a specific defination for scenes of the road. Maybe its more broad as in anything you can see from the road you are travelling...either driving or walking, riding a bike or on your magic carpet. I love the top image. I would say without questioning that this is street photography and I would probably put the other two some place in the middle. Looking forward to reading other peoples thoughts :) Oh just a quick thought as I was going to post....What about street art? Where would that fit?
Interesting question. First off, I'd note that Street Photography is more of an established genre. It even has a definition in the encyclopedia Brttanica: "Street photography, a genre of photography that records everyday life in a public place. The very publicness of the setting enables the photographer to take candid pictures of strangers, often without their knowledge. Street photographers do not necessarily have a social purpose in mind, but they prefer to isolate and capture moments which might otherwise go unnoticed."
On the other hand, Scenes Of The Road is (to the best of my knowledge) a challeneg created here at 365project... If you look at the most recent edition, it is eplained as follows: "Capture a scene off the road, of a road, next to a dirt path, of the traffic during your commute, from the platform of a train station, people waiting at a bus stop, out the window of a plane, or the scope of a submarine...etc. Show us something in your travels. Capture something of the world, of life we pass by every day." I looked back, the first Scenes Of/From the Road Challenge was started 1/2019, here's the original announcement.
https://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/32621/scenes-from-the-road-challenge
I think one key difference (to me at least) is people. Street photography generally (almost always?) includes people as key subject matter. If you look at "Scenes of The Road" entries, that's generally NOT the case.
https://365project.org/tags/scenesoftheroad-15
From a personal standpoint, I don't do much "street Photography", becasue I'm quite bad at it. But I rarely miss entering "Scenes Of The Road"...
All that said (above), you did ask for opinions on where your 3 photos fit.
In my humble opinion, all 3 could be put in either category:
I think the 1st is solidly more street than scenes.
I'd give a slight edge to street for the 2nd one.
Flip a coin for the third .
Or put all three in both buckets and see what happens.
I like street photography as a genre. About half the photography books in my bookcase relate to it, principally the works of Robert Doisneau, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Willy Ronis. But I find putting a definition into words is not easy. Perhaps, "photo-journalism of the mundane (rather than the newsworthy)" would do. In any case, I think a good street photo should have people, action, emotion.
So I think No.1 is an excellent street photo (assuming it wasn't posed). Henri Cartier-Bresson would say it captures 'the decisive moment'. It is a moment in time, a glimpse into human activity, with some humour.
I would not describe 2 or 3 as 'street photography'.
Dittto to TimL and Larry L...
I think the second photo does not fit any category.
It does not capture my interest like the other Two pics.
People are always an "necessary element" in street photography. A "scene" does not always involve people.
In street photography, one "captures a moment"
the street photo is definitely " a still moment in time"
When we view the street photo, i think the pic always succeeds in evoking emotion every time and is ergo, more powerful than "scene" photos.
To me, for the purpose of this website, "Scenes of the Road" and "Street Photography" are largely synonymous. The only caveat I would add is that "Street Photography" should contain some sentient being or a reference to a sentient being. For example people doing something or abandoned shoes in the road. Hope this makes sense!
For me all three are conceptual and would be classed as street photography in that they are all public places and all candid shots, all good street photography is about capturing a moment in time to tell a story to the viewer
I prefer to judge a photo on it's merit than on it's adherence to the arbitrary rules of one genre or another. I don't like putting photos in boxes........ unless it's my box Brownie. :)
But having said that,
I would have called photo 1 street photography or a candid portrait...... and it is a most excellent capture.
2 & 3 are more street scenes to me and I would have trouble shoe horning them into a box labelled "Street Photography"
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Thanks. Whilst in different terms I don't think that is significantly different to my views. I look forward to other members views.
On the other hand, Scenes Of The Road is (to the best of my knowledge) a challeneg created here at 365project... If you look at the most recent edition, it is eplained as follows: "Capture a scene off the road, of a road, next to a dirt path, of the traffic during your commute, from the platform of a train station, people waiting at a bus stop, out the window of a plane, or the scope of a submarine...etc. Show us something in your travels. Capture something of the world, of life we pass by every day." I looked back, the first Scenes Of/From the Road Challenge was started 1/2019, here's the original announcement.
https://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/32621/scenes-from-the-road-challenge
I think one key difference (to me at least) is people. Street photography generally (almost always?) includes people as key subject matter. If you look at "Scenes of The Road" entries, that's generally NOT the case.
https://365project.org/tags/scenesoftheroad-15
From a personal standpoint, I don't do much "street Photography", becasue I'm quite bad at it. But I rarely miss entering "Scenes Of The Road"...
(phew, that got long winded)
In my humble opinion, all 3 could be put in either category:
I think the 1st is solidly more street than scenes.
I'd give a slight edge to street for the 2nd one.
Flip a coin for the third .
Or put all three in both buckets and see what happens.
So I think No.1 is an excellent street photo (assuming it wasn't posed). Henri Cartier-Bresson would say it captures 'the decisive moment'. It is a moment in time, a glimpse into human activity, with some humour.
I would not describe 2 or 3 as 'street photography'.
I think the second photo does not fit any category.
It does not capture my interest like the other Two pics.
People are always an "necessary element" in street photography. A "scene" does not always involve people.
In street photography, one "captures a moment"
the street photo is definitely " a still moment in time"
When we view the street photo, i think the pic always succeeds in evoking emotion every time and is ergo, more powerful than "scene" photos.
But having said that,
I would have called photo 1 street photography or a candid portrait...... and it is a most excellent capture.
2 & 3 are more street scenes to me and I would have trouble shoe horning them into a box labelled "Street Photography"