Teddy Bear Street Photography - How to Deal with Conflict

asian man next to red teddy bear painting

DON’T BE RUDE

I’m possibly not the best example of how to deal with members of the public. If someone asks me to delete an image … I’ll do it. If they are blunt, I’ll still delete it. If they are rude, likely I’ll delete it. If they are overly rude … I WON’T delete jack sh1t.

If someone starts getting out of their box and overly dramatic with me it’s not long before they realise they’ve stumbled across the wrong street photographer. The way I see it is I’m not kidnapping your partner here mate. I’m not stealing money off you. I’m taking a photo. Have a sense of perspective. If that annoys you … go and talk to a counsellor. I’m too busy changing batteries.

Question?
Gary … what if someone came up and put a camera in your face and took a photograph without your permission … what would you do?
A
I have no idea? And the fact of the matter is I’ll probably react differently on Monday than I would on Tuesday. Life is full of contradictions. Get over it.

(which is where all the juicy stuff is)

DON’T BE SNEAKY

If you’re just shooting with a long lens from across the street, then you’re less likely to run into trouble. Unfortunately for me … I can’t shoot like that. It’s sneaky. I’d rather people know I’m photographing them. I’m not waving a flag at them saying ‘hello I’m here’ but I’m at least give them the opportunity to see me.

PEOPLE WILL POUNCE!

Everyone is different. We’re dealing with people, and people by their very nature are contradictory. In fact the way you will deal with Josie Bloggs in the morning may very well be different to how you will deal with that same person in the afternoon. The best advice I can give is to always be alert and on the balls of your feet, and don’t appear scared. If you do … people will pounce and I’m telling you now it’ll more often than not be a bully or at the very least a drama king/queen.

LET’S BE REAL

All of these images were taken on the Fuji XPRO III and the 16mm 1.4 lens. I got the images during my last street photography workshop in London. We shot in and around Shoreditch and Whitechapel. There was a little conflict on route with someone getting annoyed at us taken photographs. It’s important that people who are starting out in street photography are not under any illusions about this kind of thing. Conflict and/or confrontation can and will happen especially when you are taking the kind of photographs that I am getting.