Yesterday I saw a well known “street guru” near the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. I was on my lunchtime walk and slowed to take a photograph. I kind of felt someone was watching me. I turned and saw him and I guess someone he was mentoring. They turned quickly away and I heard him say something, not derogatory, but something about shooting styles on the street. I recognized him from a picture I saw of him and of course a Leica in his hand. His “student” had some kind of small digital thing. I was going to stop and talk, but decided to keep walking. It got me thinking. Can, and I hate the phrase, “street photography”, be taught? Mentored? The best photographers I know and respect, just did it. If you just can’t do it on your own, if you can’t feel it, if it doesn’t pull you in its direction, then it’s not for you. Do something else. And that’s ok. Really. It’s ok.
