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Photography is a medium that isn't instantly relevant. It ages with time. You photos in 20+ years time will start to have meaning and you will then appreciate them more. Personally, I print my own work regularly, frame it and then archive it boxes. I know in the future when I am nearly dead, I will take a final look at them and smile.

Vivian Maier... perfect example of enjoying the process, no requirement for validation.

"Just becaus you enjoy something, that is enough reason for you to do it." Thank you for this!

The reason why street photos from many years ago are so appealing and interesting is that the streets, the people and their clothes are all so different. In another 50 years, street photos from today will be just as unique.

I've shot for over thirty years. When I look back now at shots I didn't take because the content looked too "Modern" at that time. Now I'd love to have looked back and seeing the 1990s style of the street. I was looking for classic look of the older photographers managed to capture. It's only now that I see that they were seeing what I was (contemporary) just at different times. You make some excellent points. Very thought provoking!

Great video. In terms of one of the issues you raised regarding "older photos" looking more appealing (If I understood correctly), I have some thoughts about this matter. I think many of those photos were shot using analog cameras, which means there weren't any "computer assisted" features. As an amateur photographer, I shoot both digital and analog. I often find that when I shoot analog, I have to put more thoughts and preparation into it since there is no immediate feedback like a digital camera. Also, I feel photographers back in those era also have to have keen eyes for color matching since manipulating colors using computer software was not possible. Also, without the medium of social media, locations, creativities, all seem to have to be "earned through effort much more" than simply geo-tagging hot spots. I think what I am trying to say is that maybe more thought process/fundamental skills/trial and experimentations attitudes, etc. were required, which may have reflected on the creation of many timeless classic photos (such as the one from Henri Cartier-Bresson that you used in this video). Just my two cent. Look forward to your future videos.

I think that you have opened up a really interesting discussion about photos of time gone by. One element which has a huge impact on how we view older photos is that of emotion. How we feel when we see a particular image, or the emotion that it evokes in us is so important. The beauty or impact of a great photograph, like a great painting, is often in the eye of the beholder(s). But then again I may just be spouting B.S. Love your videos, George. They're such a breath of fresh air.

Photography for myself is a compulsion built into my personality like a scavanger hunt where I seek out weird lighting on a benign subject. Been there since I was 8 years old. (50 now)

Again I love the feeling of the video. It feels so cinematic and so deep. You express your feelings with nice footage and well chosen music. The way you explain things just changes my view on streetphotography or just any photography in that matter. It gives every picture you see a new look. A new way of looking. I love looking at a picture and how it feels like if I was at that location or talking with that person. I love the emotions on people faces. Or the scenery of a landscape. I love the old VS new feeling too. Both ways of photography is something I love. But I do what I just love to do and that is to shoot. Even if people don’t like it but I do. Then I feel like I’ve succeeded

Yes, absolutely correct. Just what I needed to hear today

Really needed this at this stage in life. I never really agreed with the phrase "everything worth doing is worth doing badly", but I came across it again today, and it really hit home after watching this video. I'm 100% still stuck worrying about achieving the "profound value" with my creative endeavors and just ended up doing nothing at all. Loved how you said "just because you enjoy making something, that is enough reason for you to do it". Going to hold on to that as I give this another shot🙂 Thank you so much for this refreshing video, and the important reminders. Rock on🙂

You know what I hate?… those sponsorship ads that youtubers slide into their videos… Having said that, they way you've incorporated your VPN rap groups ad, is just brilliant! I laughed so hard and loud!… Well done! This is fast becoming one of my favourite KZfaq pages. ✊🏿

This is like therapy and photography lesson combined at the same time and l absolutely love it

Thank you George! This one was great❗️ Much appreciated.

This honesty is sharp, but refreshing. Thank you for the reminder to shoot more. Great vid.

I needed to hear this right now, excellent advice.

I find great value in your videos. Amazing work. I'll continue to discover more about photography while listening to your adventure.

thanks so much for your words, means a lot to me!

Lovely take on art as artifact. Deeply enjoyed this one.

This was great, thank you. Your channel is offering a unique perspective, keep it up!

After going through the stage of frustration for my lack of confidence and talent, I learned to simply enjoy taking photos. Mostly taking bad to mediocre pictures, but occasionally I found myself in the zone and take a few good ones. That’s enough for me for now.

very good take on the topic. the worst thing is that if you try to come out with your honest work and you will look for validation, you're gonna be missed out on most of the time. and you're gonna feel bad for it, because validation is everything today. and it's not that your pieces are bad - it's just so much content online (mindless, I must add, just look through average tiktok rolls) and the algorythm is that much devastating for small content creators. the amount of work sometimes just isn't enough. just do your thing for yourself and your closest ones, just focus on your closest area. it's just enough, create your story. if you encapsulate what's goin on here and now, there will be time some of it will be appreciated soon enough.

Love it !!! I really needed to hear this, Thank You !

Mate this video was brilliant, explaining that you can do this or anything just for yourself to make yourself happy was a breather of fresh air to me. Have a fantastic day

The perfectionism problem is very familiar to me. Thanks for your video! I'm gonna force myself to finish all the things I have to finish even though they might me imperfect. That's a great motivation!

very cool and interesting conversation to have about street photography

Framing and composition is everything (right after light balance).

I happened across your channel thanks to KZfaq's algorithm and now it's one of my daily gotos!(I even rewatch many of your videos). Great advice and insight and I especially like the little skits e.g the NordVPN one or your MFT nerd (I mainly shoot MFT). Keep it up and thanks

this vid is great. at first I thought it's some of these classic "you do this, this and this wrong"-videos because of the title and stuff but it was really encouraging and empowering. thanks

That is a profundly true message. So many people refrain from doing things that they enjoy, just because other see it as foolish, waste of time, etc.

I've consumed a lot of Walkie Talkie content in the past week (for anybody who doesn't know, they follow a NYC street photographer for a whole day and do a sort of interview and talk about what they do) and I have to say one thing: Street photographers (I'm talking about the in your face NYC street photographers) are incredibly douchy and pretentious. They'll straight up say things like ''if your photos aren't like this or like that, then what are you doing? Literally pointless''. Not everybody lives in NYC where you can shove a camera down somebodys throat and get away with it. Not everybody lives in one of the most interesting cities on earth. It even got to me for a while and I was doubting my art.

I felt the same way about making music... found this video because of my photography hobby. Great vid, it was nice to relate.

You got me to subscribe because of your courage and honesty. I wish you well (in every sense)

Nice video. Very thought provoking.

Hahaha the humor, as always, is on point here. I love how you start with a high level sketch and then go into the deepest reflection ever. Great one my friend!

Well said!

Good Onya mate, that's the shot, loved and believe this so much !!!!

thanks George - I needed to hear 'because you enjoy it, that's enough'. The pressure to get some really good or perfect stuff has actually stopped me from shooting as much as I'd like. Time to change that, thanks :)

Nice, thanks for sharing. I got a lot from this, especially the micro project idea. I went out recently and did something similar without articulating it. When thinking about what I wanted to shoot, aside from practicing looking for colours, shapes and patterns, I was looking for things that were temporary. A food cart, the new casino that was in construction and nearly completed, the big ferris wheel. I didn't think they were the best work, or even my best work, but I enjoyed sharing photos that documented the local area and hopefully can look back on and think "oh yeah, that wasn't always like that".

Great video, focused a new way of thinking about and street photography for me🙏 And that NWA reference alone was worth it!

The deeper profound value & perfectionism. Been there, and with analysis paralysis too. Some good points to help people be more productive or even productive at all. Cheers.

I like your videos a lot. You are one of my favourite youtubers!

10:30 Oooooo thank you! I needed to hear that

Thankyou master🙏👍❤️

Truth !

Great video and very thought provoking. I really enjoyed that! On a side note, what was that book you were flicking through?

Wonderful insights and discussion. Many thanks. I will try to implement your suggestions. Small goals, well defined finish line.

That Henri Cartier-Bresson picture has the logarithmic spiral within it; pleasing mathematicians and art students alike. I watched another video that said that he mostly stuck to a shutter speed and changed aperture so the motion blur may have been either by chance or it was more important than picture clarity in his pictures? I'm sure you and many others are much more knowledgeable than myself though. . Insightful. Thank you😊

This was a great video!!

I like the advice! Completionist project in your head for years but you still plan to do it.

love your video,and after watching your video i bought g9 and gx1,they are really brilliant for street photography.they are now my everyday carry camera.thank you

There are some rules to follow when taking photographs like the rule of similarity and where to place the subject. I have studied those in the past and it helps a lot.

Always introspective, great content as always. Go out and shoot if you enjoy it, period.

What is the name of the title and author of the red photography book you are looking through in the video?

I agree and vibe with the mindset. Do what makes you happy and keeps you curious and thinking, like you're a child. Look at photography that inspires you and what you love about it. Usually, the rest (improvements) comes with it. As you imply the ironic thing about perfectionism is that it keeps people from actually improving the only real way you can---doing. I do a lot of journaling and meditation and reflecting solely on this exact thing. I'm not a stellar or even good photographer, firstly I just don't have enough experience, but there's little like being out there shooting and seeing the small beauties in the world. Probably helps I don't look for an audience, but still.

Well said

Great video. Subscribed.

Fantastic video man - it felt like you were channelling your inner Jamie Windsor. Very thought provoking

So true 32 years in NHS my photography is my outlet despite decline in health.

damn, literally was looking for your account like 2 hours ago cause I didn't see u in the algorithm for a while, Love ur videos and photos man

Hi George. The street pictures looking the same are like the people who've tried to recreate the picture of the cyclist by, Henri Cartier-Bresson, from the same position on the staircase at the original location. They need to find their own equivalent subject to that staircase. I always recommend that people look at a copy of "Polaroids" by Andre Kertesz that he shot on a SX70. More importantly, read the background behind his taking them towards the end of his life. Enjoy the rest of your day.

We should consider that people used to live more on the street, without using always their phones, there was more action and not a lot of paranoy about being photographed. Also everything was more beautiful, even cars, and i don't thing that today we look at the first decade of 2000s aesthetic like the 90s 80s etc. P.S. i'm 35.

I was looking back at the street photos I took years ago and I'm underwhelmed. Between 2018 up to this year, I haven't been active because of work from home lifestyle. It does make me want to go out more often to improve. The shots that I do like atm are the ones are the ones I didn't take.

It’s about difference. This is exotic places such as Hong Kong, Japan, Egypt, Morocco yield amazing photos. They are locations you are not familiar with and so they are special. I am from Australia and in 2016, visited the United Kingdom and came home with thousands of photos as London and its streets and locations are so different to what we have here in Australia and for me it was absolute eye candy

THANK YOU, I feel seen... I have all these photography techniques and many type(compared to a regular person) of camera but I will stop myself to take pictures or taking pictures purely for the sake of instagram.... I have to go back to basic...

Intreresting video, sometimes I think photos need time to ferment, their context shifts over the years. I do wonder how many digital photos will be erased and not last. BTW what was the book you are showing in the video, looks like street photography?

I absolutely love the one at 8:21. A lot of street photography leaves me cold, but I do love those images which spark intrigue. I’m intrigued about what’s going through the girl with the purple iPhone’s mind; she seems oblivious to everything around her.

Interesting! Liked, and subscribed.

This is really wise and good. Shamefully, I've mentally stolen a couple of your photos from the city centre and will be trying them out myself... some really good ideas I'm afraid!!

I enjoyed this video and thank you for sharing your perspective. What book was that you were leafing through? The one with the red cover.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that looks at old photos with the way people dressed and compare it to today. I'm the same way. I was born in 1970 and was a teen in the 80s. I remember a lot of the crazy styles there were back then. 50s had the poodle skirts. The 60s had the go go boys and short skirts. I always think of polyester leisure suits and pointed collars in the 70s. I can't remember a lot of the 90s and after. I just don't find today's style very profound. Skin tight leggings seems to be what women like to wear today. The older I get the more fond I am of the past. Even though we have so much great technology today, I still miss the good old days. I love my Nikon z8 but I just recently bought a Canon AE-1 to play around with.

In my experience most people don’t know why they like a photo, they just react to an emotional response.

Thanks!

The number one "gear" for a photographer, especially for a street photographer, is: patience. It helps if you are a bit of a lazy person who like to just sit and watch their surroundings. This will help you more than running around in search for a subject. And shooting many pictures does not help. Anyone can shoot hundreds of pictures within an hour, without any good results. Tip: Take up drawing street scenes. This will slow you down and improve your talent to observe. All you need is a pencil and a little notebook. Just give it a try! The famous Henri Cartier-Bresson (who took the picture of the stairs and cyclist shown in the video) started with drawing and took again to it later in life...

Thank you for your content! Can you name the book, that you show at 6.40?

excellent inspiring video

The “perfectionist” excuse is prevalent across all creative work. I used to believe it too, about my UX design work. Until I realized that *anything* was better than *nothing* which, incidentally, only occurred to me when I started taking photography more seriously and going out more.

I also think you are so right about photos taken now will be looked back favourably. I think whilst phones are everywhere, in 20 years well look back on this period as the time when our bionic communication devices that controlled our lives called ‘phones’ were all the craze ahaha

yes

Bresson never shot 28mm. He shot mostly 50 and sometimes 35. The reason is stands out is because most of them were artists. They knew the rules of composition. But you mention “rule” now and people freak out. BTW, the reason the bicycle is blurred is the limitations of camera he was using then.

I was so anxious with my marks at university that I totally forgot that I actually enjoy taking pictures, I was too focused on what the teacher will love that I was loosing myself

I agree that there is a bias towards favouring the classic and nostalgic street photography of the past. I also agree that we should document our present time, and our photos will also increase in value as ti.e goes on. That said, I think the part that you miss is scarcity - meaning that many of those classic photos were taken at a time when the average person was not walkong around woth a pro level prifuction studio in their pockets. Thr overwhelming eays that our world is recorded and documentrd today could mean that street photos wont be quite as valuable as they were in the past. What do you guys think?

Not sure what the difference is really. Photographers still had the darkroom where negatives could be edited in a sense ie dodging burning etc . Just fascinating to see what life was like in the past. With everyone owning a camera these days it seems many images just are not seen. Same format but very little in modern times can replicate that of the past.

Blur, grain and black and white are the unique expressive tools that photography has over any other visual art and yet modern photographers and camera manufacturers seem to want us to try to avoid these things. Older images posses an ‘otherness’ often due to technical limitations.

I am a hobby photographer. When I got the iphone 15 I realized how much fun it was to go on hikes or visit other cities and just walk around and shoot images. Everyone was "hating" on me for ditching my real camera, but I dont care...I dont do this to get more instagram followers, I do this because its a lot of fun. :D Especially when its just a hobby people should not stress themselves too much. To me this was the same with painting. I am painting for 30 years and in school my teachers told me I could not draw art with a ballpen, or paint with a certain technique, or mix graffiti and paint on a canvas blah blah blah. Funny enough years later my artworks even sold for some good money. :D So you never know. Dont stress yourself with other peoples opinions too much. Have fun.

Hi! What is the book appeared around at 5:50?

This video appears to suggest that the value of current street photography will not be realized until some future date when it will become nostalgic to view it and then the video goes on to suggest projects are the way to make your videos good enough. To me; my best street photos are spontaneous and have a lot to do with being observant to the constant changing environment around you and a bit of luck.

Obviously we can choose to do things for whatever reason we choose but, the reality is that all human aspiration is about engaging a "higher power". When we were children, our higher power was our parents. As we grew older we looked to sports figures or other artists for inspiration and just like with our parents we compared what we did against what they had done and we hoped, because we recognized that on some essential level, we were just like them, that we could achieve as they did only different. They were "higher powers" to us. No matter how old or experienced we become, if we still believe we can grow, we are looking towards some source that relates to ourselves to show us that there is still potential yet to be fulfilled that we wouldn't know just through trial and error. When there is no reference point for inspiration or goal beyond ourselves to inspire growth the result is stagnation or self-absorption. A "power" in this context just refers to an agent, in whatever form, that has the ability to change, shape or influence through the expression of their self whether physical or spiritual. People use the term "Higher Power" as though its something spooky and unreal (usually a disdain for religion) when it is the basis for human aspiration from day one and continues indefinitely, even when denied. Also, the notion of "good enough" or not is an appeal to a viewpoint other than one's own that has been granted the value of being "higher". That's the whole reason for watching someone's photography video. I will say that everything you value won't be valued by everyone else and you can't trust everyone else's standard to be faithful to or supportive of the expression of your potential. You have to connect your self to the source or standard that you believe offers you self-actualization, granted that you have discovered what your actualized self is to be or is to reflect.

I had a recent chat with a gallery curator from your neck of the woods. We were going through some of my photos with a view to him advising me on the best way to approach a self-published book. But he could not help but keep asking me why I had not taken a photo a certain way, rather than the way I had. And after a while I got a little hacked off with it. I suggested that the best way we approached this advice session was for him to assume that the photos I had taken were EXACTLY the way I wanted to take them. This did not go down that well; he clearly expected me to have taken the type of photos that HE preferred. The advice session ended soon after. 🤣

0:03 So George's Full Frame nemesis (that always appear on the background) is now promoted to Mr. Curator with decent speaking lines. HAHAHAHA.😂 On a more serious note, I truly agree with your statement regarding being a completionist. In jobs / fields that require creativity we often overthink things and miniscule details, this leads us to a perfectionist mindset. Being a perfectionist can be double edge sword, it can make us do wonderful things but it can also limit the things we complete because we always have the thingking that it is not good enough and something needs to be changed or improved. So in my opinion, knowing when to stop / just complete something even though it's not perfect can also be considered as a skill. Because completing more let's us gain more lessons/knowledge from various good or bad experiences. (I hope I made sense 😅)

Nice work George. What book were you using throughout the video? Cheers

When walking the streets in search of a great subject, building, or moment, I run across so many people with dogs, or even cats, I decided to make a dedicated folder on my website for dogs, cats and their friends. This way I can separate the street photography which is more spontaneous, and artful from the times I want to chat with the owners of animals, and take a few shots. People love having their animals get their celebrity moments. There are many great street photography photos taken over all time, of course, and they can be artful / geometry, tell a story, or better yet a mystery, simple show beauty of a scene, or like a beautiful women - timeless. You can mix between street portraits and street photography, as long as it is clear it is a portrait and not some staged event. It's all good! I might change my site with so - so many shots taken every month to one of just ten to twenty best shot. That skill is so dang hard to accomplish --- weeding down the images to what stands out as special. I simply like sharing the adventures, I guess, and in that process no doubt adding too many shots - getting overlap of theme and such. I think, at least in my neck of the woods, have enough images to show what this areas is like, and typical events which occur, so it may be time to prune-down to showing less images each month. I may never accomplish that task, but I certainly will try to be more discerning. What I found is that people view shots I thought to be just good enough, more than what I thought to be a best shot taken. Maybe one must forgo the pat on the back and post shots with the longer view in mind, as in what may stand the test of time? Thanks for the video, Loren

Very tru one was henri Cartier and other was also great..its tru i shoot street for the challenge and fun it..its good for photographers as it teaches you to react faster or also forsee the future...btw any more settings for the powershot cameras coming up mate?

Seriously good, so important, thank you for sharing your vulnerability. It's important to be creative and discover.... also, it's so hard to think that 2023 darlington has any sense of romanticism....

5:58 - "We get to imagine what life was like back then and get go envy the photographers who(m) got to shoot on the streets in that era" - true, but we have the chance to do the same for those that might be around in 50-70 years from no. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the best time for any photography showing everyday life is now - get out and get snapping :-)

❤

Photography is 100% subjective! What you like and what others like maybe polar opposites.

In my opinion, collectively we spend our present tense time trying to reinvent the wheel. It is exhausting! And then when we see these old photographs…. The things within these old photographs, I tend to think that while, yes, we have improved as a species over the decades but in the grand scheme of things…. Things weren’t as bad as we thought they were back in time. I think that is where the rose tinted glasses come from: looking back we see the good, whereas looking at present tense we tend to focus on what needs to Change, or the bad. I believe our grandparents saw things the same way when the past was their present tense.

A good thing to mention is that the environment we grow up in is extremely saturated with photography, wether it's stills or motion. People get born with a camera in their hands. There is a ridiculous amount of visual noise more than any point in the past. Literal chaos. There are many reasons why photography from the 40s, 50s and 60s is better than contemporary, but I think an important one is the fact that photography was not as diluted as it is today. Any moron with a camera nowadays can call themselves a photographer. I support easy access to the arts, I am a product of it, but people need to put more groundwork. There is so much behind those seemingly simple shots from back then that people nowadays cannot even comprehend how much work and practice went into honing the craft. Nobody knows how many years of hard work and planning it takes to make something that whitstands the test of time.