Each Saturday, I will post the assignment here. During the week, complete the assignment and upload your 1-3 best photos from the week to this thread. Feel free to add your own reflections on the assignment: What were your challenges and successes? Each photo you upload, you must provide constructive critique on 3 other photos uploaded. At the end of the week on Sunday, Eric and I will choose our favorite images and explain why.
HAVE FUN! Love, Cindy & Eric
Street Notes Week 1 Critique with Cindy & Eric
1. FIVE YES, FIVE NO ASSIGNMENT:
Take photos of strangers on the street and ask permission to take a portrait of them. Try to get 5 people to say “yes”, and 5 people to say “no.”
Purpose: One of the best ways to overcome your fear of shooting street photography is to start off by asking for permission. A lot of people are afraid of upsetting other people if they photograph them candidly and without permission. However if you ask for permission, you give your subject the opportunity to say “no” and prevent them from feeling upset. Furthermore, if you do this assignment it re-wires your psychology a bit by getting use to rejection. I think one of the biggest fears that we have in street photography isn’t getting rejected, but the fear of getting rejected. The fear of rejection is often the biggest barrier. But like a child, sometimes you need to fall a few times in order to realize that falling itself isn’t that big of a deal. You will get a lot of “no’s” but perhaps fewer than you expect. Sometimes the people you expect to say “no” actually end up saying “yes.”
Reflection Questions:
1. Are you more afraid of getting a ‘no’ or‘yes’?
2. If someone says ‘yes’, how many photos will you make of them?
3. How many ‘no’s’ do you think you willget before you get one ‘yes’?
For some inspiration, check out Keenan Rivals using Street Notes on the streets of Detroit working on the assignment “5 Yes, 5 No”:
