Street Photography: Even snapshots have value

I watch a lot of YouTube photography content, if I am not shooting or working then I am usually trying to develop my photography by learning either by reading, studying structured courses online or if I am not in a position to concentrate I will often have something like “The Grid” a magazine show from KelbyOne presented by Scott Kelby.

As an aside if you haven’t heard of KelbyOne check it out it’s a great educational resource for photographers, you should sign up for a free account at least and check out there free courses at least.

It was a recent episode of the Grid which prompted this post, during the episode Scott Kelby heavily bashed one of his own Street Photos as having no value, essentially because he sees it as just a snapshot and to be honest it is.

If the video above doesn’t work for some reason this link will take you to the right place in the video on YouTube https://youtu.be/DMmWkBqEWc4?t=1510

.As you can see though his main reason for bashing the image is that it has no artistic merit. Now as someone who shoots street photography myself I totally get this I am always chasing the light, pursuing the composition and trying to tell an interesting visual story with my images….I’m not that successful but I feel shooting street is a great learning tool. If you want to see any of my street I tend to post it on Flickr along with my other personal projects.

Anyway to my actual point about why ‘Snapshots’ actually have value. You may or may not be aware that when I went to University my subject was History – if you know that you might know where I am heading with this post.

Laymen might think that History is all about great figures and decisive moments but actually a HUGE part of history is about society in general, establishing how people lived, how they spent their time, behavioural trends etc. And finding that information about people a hundred years plus ago beyond, address and occupation can be quite difficult.

Your snapshots therefore have a value beyond an artistic one they have a value as a historical record that will grow in value as time goes on. For that reason I would encourage you to consider putting the images you would usually hide out there even if you do it under a pseudonym because you don’t want to be associated with it for work reasons – stick it on flickr under creative commons if you want to make sure it gets out there, and consider doing it in colour. One day someone studying now might find them to be a resource much more valuable than an artistic silhouette etc. But don’t stop pursuing the art.

Agree with me or think I’m an idiot…..comments section below.