In street photography, the main question is if we should ask people before taking their picture, or we should do it in a candid way. There are heated discussions about this in forums and blogs all over. I’m not really experienced enough, or knowledgeable enough, to say which one is better than the other. All I understand is that each has its own merits, difficulties, and rewards. I myself practice both.

I will talk about candid street photography later on, but today I want to talk a little bit about my experience in asking people before taking their picture. So I have just started a small project (which hopefully I’ll write about it soon) for myself. For that, I needed to take portraits with two cameras with identical settings. I have to say that like most other photographers, I’m not exactly comfortable asking strangers for the photo. But the need to do this project urged me to overcome my shyness and step forward and do it!So having two cameras hanging around my neck (already looking awkward I guess!), I started asking people (in my mediocre French!), if I can take their photos. Most people were first shocked a bit and wanted to know why. So I just showed them my two cameras and explained them what I wanted to do (with a big smile! and in a friendly way). I didn’t have much hope in hearing yes, but to my surprise, 8 out of 10 said yes! I even started talking with some of them about random stuff and I just had a great time. I highly recommend experiencing this as it can be highly rewarding!

Here are some of the photos:

All in white

A kind mom