Breaking the "Rules of Street Photography" - Part One: Shooting Street Photography only with Prime Lenses

I've talked about Photography snobs in the past, and did an entire post on Gear snobbery and "Gear Gatekeeping". During that post I also touched on lightly on other types of photography snobbery and there are a few I want to address in their own posts.

The next form of Photography Snob I am going to focus on one of the forms of a "Purist", and that is a Photographer who thinks you can only do Photography or atleast Subject X of photography with a very specific set of equipment, settings, composition etc.  

For me, one of the most absurd subjects to be a purist on is Street Photography, yet it is one of the most common topics that hobbyist purists pour out of the walls to die on trivial hills to defend their "Holy method for shooting street". 

If you go on Youtube there are dozens upon dozens of videos all with slightly different opinions that you need X things or you can't do street photography; but many of them share similar rules which I will identify.  

Over the next three posts I will narrow this down to three purist street photography Myths I find common in a lot of these videos.  This post covers the first Street Photography Myth I run into:

Street Photography Myth #1: You need to shoot street a 24, 35, 50 or 85mm Prime Lens or a Fixed Focal Lens Camera (IE Fuji X100)

This one is easily the most laughable "rule" in the whole bunch, yet if you approach a purist street photographer this is also the hill they will almost defiantly die on if you ask them what they shoot on the street.

Don't get me wrong, doing street photography with a fixed focal length lens is a valid tool.  However it is not the ONLY tool that you should be using at your disposal.

Choosing what you shoot can be based on your environment.  Smaller pocket cameras and phones will make you stand out a lot less then lugging around a full sized DSLR with a big telephoto lens.  There are times where being more discreet is a huge advantage.

Does what you carry with you out on the street change your experience shooting on that day?  Of course it does. With street Photography you can take any tool in your arsenal whether its a small pocket camera with a 3x optical zoom or a full on DSLR with a 70-300mm Telephoto lens on it, and you will get a different experience with what you are able to capture with whatever kit you decide to run with for the day.

The is the one argument you can make for Primes and Street photography in my book; usually they are smaller lenses (although not always) to Zoom lenses.  Its easy to get a more discreet look with a small hockey puck of a lens sticking off the front of your camera.

In this situation, I can also point out some really discreet pocket zoom cameras such as my Panasonic ZS100, or folding zoom lenses like the 16-50mm kit lens of my Nikon Z50.  

To me the ZS100 my most perfect cameras for street photography when I'm in a situation I want to take photos on the street and not draw attention to myself while doing it.  It gives me my "Perfect Street Range (25mm-250mm) all in one small discreet package:

I'd end here if "having a prime lens so I can be more discreet" was the primary reason most Street Photography Purists view as shooting street photography, since it is a point I can actually give to them. However most of the time it is not even mentioned as the major reason they shoot with a prime lens. 

Here are some of the more notable "reasons" you will hear watching YouTube videos from "successful" Street Photographers of why you should always and only use a Prime Lens for Street Photography:

Only "Cowards" and Tourists use telephoto lenses or vary their focal length for Street Photography.  You need to use the same wide to mid prime so you can engage close with your subjects for every shot every time!

This mentality will only work with a very specific type of personality known as extroverts.  In making a statement like this you are gatekeeping Street Photography only to those who have an extroverted enough personality to walk up to every random person they see on the street and either ask them if you can take their photo or be ready for a confrontation (or be really good at running away).  

Street Photography should be for everyone, and it should not be reserved only for extroverts who are really good at making small talk with their subjects.  Is this a useful trait to have as a street photographer?  Of course it is, but let's face it not everyone is this way. 

As an ambivert I have a personality that really enjoys getting out of the house as much as possible.  Going on small adventures during the week either by myself or with close friends is what keeps me going.  I do have some introverted tendencies as well namely social anxiety around random people and also a minor case of  agoraphobia- which is fear of large crowds.

It is random how well I will do with an encounter with a random stranger off the street. Sometimes I will handle it just fine, other times I will freeze up not have a good answer and the flight instinct will take over. I can sometimes field the standard questions all street photographers get namely "what are you taking photos of" with short and concise answers but am rarely able to turn it around into a longer small talk conversation (it's happened a few times but it is rare).

Having a zoom lens gives me the option of being able to change my distance away from my subject if it is a person with how I read said individual.  How observant are they and how likely am I to get noticed?  If I am noticed will they confront me?  I could (and possibly will) in the future write up an entire article about social interaction and street photography, but these are questions that are constantly in my mind as I am out and about on the street doing photography while trying to be aware of my surroundings.    

Additionally, in many cases I will find a situation where someone is doing something which tells a story and approaching them, even if they were a subject who was open to getting a street photo ruins that moment.  

You may go from a great candid photo of someone reading a book in a park or feeding their dog part of a sandwich while watching the ducks in the pond to getting emotionless posed photos that look like they came out of a senior photoshoot at best or a mug shot for a church directory at worst.  Personally, with a few exceptions I don't care for either look and would much rather have the candid.

I could make this section longer, as I really believe that having to be stuck at one focal length is absolute rubbish. 

I've done street photography with everything from a 3.2 megapixel point and shoot camera from 2001 up to a modern mirrorless camera with all the bells and whistles and a super zoom lens.  They all have their place. 

One last thing to note:  using a longer focal length you'll get a more natural looking proportion to your subject rather then the "Big body, tiny head" effect of compression you may get with a wide angle prime like a 28mm or 35mm equivalent FOV. This is why a 70-200mm lens is a very popular lens for portrait work in a studio.

But the bigger elephant in the room and case for Telephoto in street is Candid photography.  Its a lot easier to do with a Telephoto zoom focal length.  

Prime Lenses get the best Image Quality and you need it to be good at Street Photography! 

I may write this out later as a seperate post but to keep this nice and clean let's just clear the air here with a short bulleted summary of what I have to say about this:

• Zoom lenses are Valid. Limiting yourself to just using a #2 Philips screwdriver for every task because you are told its the "superior universal tool" is kinda silly. 
• Not all zooms are the same with Image Quality.  Those with constant max apertures (such as a Nikon 24-120 F4 or 70-200 2.8) will have much better image quality over a "kit" lens.
• Street Photography with certain exceptions (such as inside in a mall or done at blue hour and using street lights) almost always happens outdoors, and even on a cloudy day you are gathering more then enough light that you do not need a f1.2-2 aperture and in many cases physically can't unless you attach a neutral density filter.  Outdoor lighting is where cheaper lenses such as kit lenses or superzooms really shine and the flaws in optical quality are really hard to pick out. 
• Since a photo is worth a thousand words, here's some examples of Street photos I've taken with a zoom lens. I'll let you tell me how optically terrible and un-useable these photos really are:

In street photography you can just zoom with your feet!

There is an amount of truth to this one actually.  When you are on the street you should be constantly moving, walking and getting closer to things you want to see.  However I have learned a few truths which often debunks relying on "Zooming with your feet" for me.  It may not debunk it for everyone and if zooming with your feet all the time works for you then great. It may however not be for everyone in every situation because of the following:

• Not everyone is a track star: many people are well let's not sugar coat it: slower then others.  This impacts how easy it is for zooming with your feet to be viable before the moment is gone.  If you are a twenty one year old who works out every day and is 5'2" and weighs 110lbs then you are going to be a lot faster and able to get to where you want to stand to get your shot.  But if you are like me, someone who is in their mid 40s, 6'5" tall and admitedly overweight and out of shape I tend to lumber forward so getting in position to get the shot I want quickly just isn't an option.
•  There are many instances where Zooming with your feet is not an option.  
• See something cool on the other side of a busy street and the nearest crosswalk is 200 feet away?  Well, you could play frogger and hope to not get hit by a car, you could run up to the crosswalk and run back and hope to get your subject before they move or... you could just use a zoom lens and zoom in on your subject getting the shot without risking your life to do so.
• How about seeing something cool from a public sidewalk but what you want to photograph is on private property?  Many urbex photographers would take this risk.  However if you have a clear line of sight and the subject and angle is easily within your zoom from where you are standing why risk this if you don't have to?
• The moment will likely be gone before you get there. Using a zoom lens takes maybe a second to change the framing and get the shot. Even if you are in good shape, depending on how far away the subject is it could easily take ten to twenty seconds to zoom with your feet the same distance and by that time, the subject may have left or turned to a different angle or pose which is far less interesting.

I use a Prime Lens to Challenge myself!  And I'm a much better photographer (then you) because of it!!!

This one hits a nerve for me, if you want to stick to a single focal length because you plan on limiting yourself to street portraits with consent and photos of stuff that you can get in frame at a leisurely pace then great, more power to you, just stop telling everyone that this is the ONLY way to do Street Photography because it is NOT.  Limiting to a prime lens will mean sacrificing a lot of moments that you might have been able to catch had you had a zoom lens on you.  

Putting a challenge on your photography as a personal goal is perfectly valid.  If you want to just create Art with a number 2 pencil then enjoy that; but don't look surprised and start complaining when a lot of your art looks the exact same since you used one specific tool to draw with every single time and refused to try anything else. 

It's the purisim of "I shoot with a Prime because it makes me a better Photographer!" that really gets to me. The whole "Get good, zoom with your feet, only take photos from your current vantage point" might work fine for some, but it doesn't work for everyone nor should you state that it does work for everyone. 

To end this segment:  Zoom lenses ARE valid.  When I am out taking photos on the street I am not limiting myself to one subject, I could be taking street portraits, or I could be taking architecture photography, photos of urban wildlife (such as squirrels and pigeons), photos of cars, photos of signs, photos of window displays (one of my favorite things to shoot for street photography), and candids.  

Using a zoom lens means I am ready at all times for any of these subjects as I see them:  I don't have to miss a great photo of a squirrel digging a sandwich wrapper out of a trash can simply because I have too much pride to shoot anything other then a prime lens.