We spent a good chunk of London Fashion Week people-watching and taking photos for some of the trend-prediction consultancy work we do. Let's face it, if you're at LFW and not taking pictures, something's up! But here's the question, what's the etiquette when photographing street style? One friend thinks it's rude to take a photo of someone's bag/shoe/dress without requesting a shot of their face too. Her strategy is to ask to take a picture of them and then once that's out of the way she asks if she can also 'get a quick shot of your insert-item-here'. Well we don't do that. We ask outright if we can take a photo of said item and don't bother pretending to be interested in the rest of the ensemble. Who's right?
We also routinely shoot from the hip, taking candid snaps as and when they present themselves. Shoes are the easiest, especially at parties where fantasy footwear is at its most evident and you can easily grab a snap without anyone noticing. But at LFW, we tried this on a lady wearing an eyecatching pair of loafer-wedges. Ooh, hybrid trend alert! We quickly aimed the camera and took fire but - damn - shoe lady saw us and deliberately walked off. What a spoilsport. We were hacked off because the way we see it, if you're at LFW, you're gonna get snapped, it's par for the course, right?
What does everyone else think?
2 comments:
I think it's smart to just say, "hey, I like your shoes, can I photograph them?" Why lead the person on and let them think that you're interested in their whole outfit? I also think it's quite flattering to have someone pinpoint one or two things that you're wearing and go completely gaga over them! :)
I totally go for the one item shot, but not going to lie I've done a few stealth shots too. Only if it's somewhere that asking them is not an option. Loving your blog! xo em
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