Blog: Street Shots

While we we were making our video of Jamel Shabazz, he stopped to talk with a group of street fighters in Union Square. They were tough looking guys, with hoods over their heads, tear drop tattoos, and their fists were raised.

“Can I take a picture of you fighters of men?” Jamel asked.

The street fighters looked back him, confused. Jamel continued, “What I like to do with martial artists is get them with a strong stance. I know you guys can do that because you’re legendary.”

This is an approach Jamel has mastered over the years. When he first started asking for permission, he found that his subjects were always asking him back, “Why do you want to take a picture of me?”

Needless to say, Jamel’s picture came out great. As he walked away, he was sure to thank his new friends. He lamented, “I would love to fight with y’all, train with you… too bad I’m not dressed right.”

The surprising thing about Jamel, and the secret you’d never hear behind all the smiles in his books, is that when Jamel approaches someone he’d like to photograph, he still worries he’ll be told no. After each picture he took with us, Jamel would smile with relief and say, “I was really expecting a no.”

Asking permission always changes the picture you take, but possibly for the best. Check out the discussion over on our the Street Shots Challenge page.

Photo by Didi S. Gilson

This picture comes from Flickr user whirrdz. While she was walking in the Bronx one day, she spotted her friend’s neighbor tending his sunflower garden. She writes, “When he went to move out of the way, I said ‘Oh, no — with you, please. That would be even better.’”

So, let’s continue the conversation. Whose bedside manner do you prefer—Bruce Gilden, who doesn’t want you to notice him until you’re blinking the flash out of your eyes, or Jamel Shabazz, who wants to tell you how nice you look today?

It’s hard to watch Bruce Gilden in action, and not feel a strong reaction to his methods. Take the members of the Flickr group Hardcore Street Photography. One member wrote, “I got nervous just watching that” and another member asks, “I wonder how many times he gets thumped for doing that?” And over on the Rangefinder forum, Alex from Holland laments, “If i do that over here i get home (if i am lucky) with 2 blue eyes and a broken nose!!”

But some photo forum members say that they can relate to and learn from Gilden’s questionable methods. Back on Flickr, a member of the Kuwait Science Club, of all places, wrote, “watch and learn. I did.” And one photographer from the Rangefinder forum, has brought Gilden’s style to the terrified streets of Stockholm, Sweden:

So, how does Bruce Gilden get away with this? When I was on 5th Avenue with him, watching him cram his flash into the faces of unsuspecting pedestrians, we asked him, “Does anyone ever get mad at you for doing that? What do you tell them?”

Want to ask him that yourself? Bruce Gilden will be on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show this Friday, discussing what you can and cannot shoot with Eileen Clancy, a representative from PictureNY.org. You can give the show a call this Friday, May 23rd from 11:30am-12:00pm EST, or you can chime in by leaving a comment here.

While you’re at it, who do you think is the tougher photographer—Bruce Gilden, for sticking his camera in the faces of strangers, or Sandra Roa, for braving the streets of Jackson Heights to tell stories?