I originally published this about eight or nine years ago. I removed it soon after I published it, but apparently someone saved it. I just found it on a Russian website today! Really strange, because I mentioned the incident with this lady in today’s livestream. I couldn’t remember her name, just what she had done. I was checking my stats on the website when I noticed a strange link that was bringing in traffic. It was from the article I mentioned in todays livestream. I figured I may as well re-publish my own article on my own website. I’m SO pleased I got away from street photography. What a sham! (I had to put the article through Google translate)
Bad street photography?
“Street photography is not a capture of reality as it is” – Marie Laigneau
Contrary to popular belief, street photography is all about shooting reality as it is. The whole philosophy and history of street photography is about reality and realism. In today’s world of street photography, the less a photo says, the less emotionally, intellectually, the less a photo has a social impact, the more popular it is. Today, the masses tend to avoid reality, they want to be entertained. Like other aspects of modern society, this is a crisis for street photography. It rolls down to meaningless pictures – that is, to the photo-game. I think Laigneau’s works are much closer to street fashion than true street photography. They are more of a school of romanticism than realism. Here’s a typical shot of Marie Laigneau taken from a distance. No emotion, no message and bad composition. A perfect example of photo-pollution.
Here’s another pointless photograph of Marie Laigneau – a classic shot, when an object froze in the center of the frame with a pipe sticking out of his head – a meaningless photo. At the last check, this photo received 110 likes on Facebook and many comments with praise. Let me go against the crowd and celebrate the fact that this photo really sucks! Oh I know… you can’t criticize in our little soft world… that’s how bullshit gets a free pass.
For me, a good street photo is much more than just taking pictures of people passing by. Street photography is about intellectual, social and political activity. In some comments on Facebook most people agree that this photo is very bad, and is a sign of the low standards that we have today. These photos should have been removed from her memory card. A few more examples of emotionally, intellectually and socially empty street photography:
What is the story in these pictures? The lack of emotion and creativity in this meaningless photo is quite deep. Again, there’s not much going on in the frame. At best, it can be said “very simple”
I find Marie Laigneau’s work extremely simple and much more “street fashion” than the true “street photo”. The work of this street photographer is an example of the postmodern tendency to appreciate meaninglessness. As one person remarked: “No one can take off the reality because it’s just “unreal”
EVERYBODY STREET RUSSIA https://everybodystreet.ru/plohaja-strit-fotografija/
I thought I’d check and see what she is doing all these years later. Same old stuff! https://www.facebook.com/marie.laigneau83