Why the spectacle? You’re most likely delete the photo anyways so you’re basically being a public nuisance for nothing.

Watching these guys on YouTube get in peoples faces, take a photo and then display feigned interest is the worst. The typical overly enthusiastic “I love your hat” or “nice shades” is to avoid a negative confrontation, not because the photographer is actually interested in them. It almost always looks like a show. There’s a few people I’ve seen that have genuine interest in the subject to be fair, but that’s the minority. The subjects know the photographer is full of it. The interactions are very awkward and the body language tells me the true motive of the street photographer. Which is to get a photo they like without any negative reactions. It’s okay to just want a nice photo of someone without all the antics.

Every time I go to a city center, I feel at home in the chaos and endless possibilities. Walkability and culture. Maybe it isn’t time for the East Coast. Downtown Los Angeles has so much potential for street photography. It’s a grimy and rough place. For these reasons, it’s not well documented. There’s a few dedicated people shooting DTLA but I can add to the conversation.

Study your own photography, not the masters.

The masters won’t help you tweak your style.

Take the above photo for example. I like the bubble exploding against the crushed blacks. This is just an okay photo, but next time I’ll know to simplify the scene. I’d like to have less background clutter which can easily be done by pointing my camera to the right. I also want to be closer to the explosion. There is a lot of potential here.

So how can looking at a photo book improve this? I don’t think it can. Only we know the strengths and weaknesses of our photos and only we know the specifics of any neighborhood we frequent. This is the power we possess. Recognizing patterns and improving the scene through this recognition. Some things are in our control.