Foreword

This book is the result of over 40 years of practice as a dedicated street photographer. My interest in this photographic genre began in the late 1960s, when I was a student in high school, before I was even aware that such a thing as “street photography” existed. I simply felt moved to take candid pictures of people and things that interested me, wherever I might happen to find them. This interest continued during my undergraduate years at Harvard, when I became aware that there were master photographers who shared the same inspiration and passion—photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Roy deCarava, and Gordon Parks. From them and their work I drew deeper inspiration, insight, and encouragement. This passion for capturing candid expressions of life continued through the ’80s and ’90s, when I lived in Los Angeles, a city where pedestrians and their habitats are few and far between. The introduction of digital photography and a move to Philadelphia, as fine a city for street photographers as one can hope to find, gave me new subjects and a new digital medium with which to capture them. My desire to share my work and thoughts with a larger audience inspired me to launch Shutterfinger, a blog about photography. Precipitation (page 113), a photo I published on a different blog (The Online Photographer), attracted the attention of George Barr, who included it in his book, Why Photographs Work (Rocky Nook, 2010). This photo caught the eye of Rocky Nook’s publisher, Gerhard Rossbach, who asked if I would be interested in writing a book on street photography.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to muster the sustained effort it would take to pull off an entire book. I write full-time for a living, so the idea of adding to my writing load (as well as time spent sitting in front of a computer) was not instantly appealing. The common doubts, fears, and insecurities involved with writing a book also contributed to my reluctance. The realization that this would probably be my only opportunity to publish my work for a broad audience motivated my decision to go for it, despite my doubts. I hope you’ll enjoy the following work as much as I enjoyed producing it. I hope these photographs inspire you to try, enjoy, practice, and improve your own street photography. May the only limit to the amazing photographs you will capture be the time and interest you have in capturing them.