How Youtubers Ruined Street Photography (myself included)

Important note. IM NOT done with street photography. These are just some thoughts youtube, creativity, and the photography world. Thanks for watching!

Tiktok photographers asking people to post for portraits on the street and calling it street photography ruined it 💯%

I believe there is value in sharing the bad photos. Not for the sake of pumping out content, but to show a clear and realistic view on what street photography is and how even someone you might look up to also takes bad photos..

These videos are not about the final result but about seeing how people view things differently while photographing. I find more value in picking a photographers brain over just seeing their quality photos

Finally someone said that. Unfortunately most of the creators running up and down the street with gear and shooting people's back in bookeh or using telephoto zoom in front of them. These photos are mostly amazing and great looking that's why good cameras are in high demand, but these photos are all the same, snapped without thinking about composition and story telling.

"not all photo days are successful" that statement you made boosted my confidence in my photo taking.

Walkie Talkie's with Paulie B is the best Street Photography-focused thing on YouTube. Nothing compares IMO. Most of the people being interviewed aren't YouTubers and have been doing it for years and are actually know as street photographers, not YouTubers doing Street Photography.

I’ve always found Kai’s photography and personality so inspiring. Especially for me showing that you can have fun with it and not take it too seriously, but also create good stuff

I guess I'm in the minority here and will disagree. Weekly or Bi-weekly videos that are street focused....are just that. I can go out every night to capture images but it may only be one of those days that I am able to capture something I'm proud of. YouTubers putting out videos - Good or bad images....is all great. It is a reflection of all of us. We don't only go out and capture bangers ever time. Seeing others going out and having great days or bad days is fine. I'm not going to stop watching because you had a bad day or the images were crap. Overall I don't care for overly saturated "fake" color street images. But I still enjoy watching those Youtubers go through their process. Maybe for the Youtuber you have in the back of you mind you want a GREAT image / Great video or the views will be down, the income won't be as high. I'd think most people that watch these videos aren't just looking to see the amazing shot. They are watching to see the process. The wins. The losses. The person. So from a viewers perspective I'd disagree with this "ruined" street photography idea.

It's not just the photography that people are tuning into, it's the experience. Walking and travel videos also experienced a surge during and post-pandemic for the same reason... people like to live vicariously through the Youtubers. I stumbled into street photography on Youtube not as a photographer but coming from my fondness of walking videos. It just seemed a natural progression.

Yes I'm so tired of all the Leica F-boy content in New York. It's all the same and I'm so tired of hearing about your M6 and how you load film.

As someone who wasn't on photography YouTube at all, I didn't even realise YouTube was responsible for the street photography revival. When I was first learning about photography in my early teens, the energy of street appealed to me and was always the main thing that I wanted to do. I never thought it would be a money maker so it was always my creative outlet. It's always been where I experiment and centre myself. This was a fascinating look into how so much of modern street became "leading lines, natural framing, rule of thirds, objects in the foreground, reflections" as basically a repeating thing to the point everyone's work looks the same. I think Paulie B's Walkie talkie series solves the problem here somewhat. You don't need great photos with that because the purpose is the person he's spending the day talking to and hanging out with, not the photos. It kind of allows either of them to have bad days because the photos aren't the main draw.

Let's face it...Youtube has ruined a lot of things but if it wasn't for Youtube, I would haven't found people like Kai, Evan and Taylor.

If I see another street photo of someone walking into a shaft of light I thing I’ll scream.

The thing that gets me with many things in photography (and art related fields) is it used to be about total FREEDOM. Now, everything has to be labeled and stuffed into a genre. Everything seems to have to look a certain way, or have certain elements. This whole current trend on YT of "street photography" is a double edged sword for me. It's getting a ton of people into photography with actual DSLR/Mirrorless cameras, but it's creating a whole slew of people who are thinking photography HAS to be a certain way. Creating followers doing what others are doing, not leaders/free minded artists. Not saying it has to be groundbreaking difference, but for example...there's this MASSIVE trend, especially with YT creators (not you, but many others) that are overly obsessed with sharpness. The photos look flat, feel flat, and just don't grasp my attention at all. But as long as the photo is so sharp it can almost slice your retinas, then somehow it's a 'great photo'. I recently looked at some of the classic famous photos and one thing I noticed in most every single one of them was they ALL had flaws....extreme grain, some slightly out of focus, etc. In 2023 with YT photographers, they would have been written off as bad photos. Unsurprisingly, they are legendary for a reason and grasp peoples attention. More importantly, they actually tell a story without words. They make me think deeper about what's actually going on. Many 2023 YT channel photos just make me think, "Ok, someone's drinking coffee next to a window...anndddd...?". It's almost as if YT photography has become doing pictures without thought, not putting the ideas first then taking a photo. I still watch your videos and content, but I've stopped watching a lot of other people's channels because I'm tired of them being about specs, about trying to hawk a Fuji, and just doesn't have any photos or anything new that catches my attention, usually HDR'ed to death. Sorry for the long rant! Keep up the great content on the channel and keep shooting great photos!

I really miss the “Evan’s voice over days” ; I discovered your channel during pandemic and it really helps me in a healthy way! And yes, YouTube is nowadays a constant marketing campaign...

Youtube and Instagram have made street photography homogenous. Everything looks the same and there are very few unique voices because photographers are following trends, using the same gear, following the same advice and taking inspiration from the same handful of photographers (Fan Ho, Saul Leiter, Alex Webb, Daniel Arnold etc). When they should be attempting to photograph the world from their own unique perspective. I don't agree that it's ruined it though. There's just a lot more of it and most of it is boring. -Shane

Spot on! A great analysis of a phenomenon that has been growing over the years of pretty boring photos classified as "street" photography just because the arena was the street!

Famous last words! That’s why I print and that’s why I won’t stop. Btw, I don’t have a single YouTube video:) and not planning to. What I leave is tangible, flick-through books I prefer to ‘sell’ to conversations with people I meet - and their words are currency I save and value more than real money. Great video Evan! Loved the thoughts shared!

I think you've got this wrong. Seeing a YouTube photographer pump out mediocre photos doesn't degrade the art form, it makes it real. It reveals that even an ostensibly great photographer still has to take dozens of photos to get a banger.