Street Photography: A Candid Perspective, Shooting from the Hip

Apr 21

A couple wearing sunglasses shops in Ueno, Tokyo. — **Shooting from the hip in Ueno**

Shooting From The Hip:

What is shooting from the hip?

Shooting from the hip in street photography involves capturing images without raising the camera to eye level. This technique enables quick and discreet shooting, often capturing candid moments. By keeping the camera at waist level or lower, photographers maintain a low profile, which minimizes their influence on subjects' behaviour.

I rarely shoot from the hip. The images made this way are often extraordinary. Many of my peers shoot in this style. One of my favourite images was shot this way, it is by a Tokyo photographer, Lee Chapman. Although we are not personally acquainted, I have been a fan of his work for a while. His blog is fantastic, offering a part of Tokyo that tourists don’t often experience.

Lee provides an example of how to shoot from the hip the right way. Spending so much time in Tokyo, I see tourists, vloggers and even street photographers thrusting their gear into people’s faces just for the reaction. This is precisely why I don’t shoot from the hip. The other reason is that I shoot with previsualization. I am wrong on both accounts.

The role of etiquette in shooting from the hip:

I feel a great sense of pride when a street photo leaps from my mind into reality. Almost instantly, I aim to improve it. Seeing people being aggressive to capture something is more than inappropriate behaviour; their art becomes a manufactured manipulation of another’s emotions. It may still be art, but not the type I want to make.

My etiquette is simple: not to take a picture, but to create one. Not to take a picture, I wouldn’t also be the subject of it, if roles were reversed. Shooting from the hip skirts that line heavily. Or so I thought until I tried it.

An older man wears a mask walking in Ueno Ameyoko market. — **Shooting from the hip in Ueno**

Shooting from the hip in Ueno, Tokyo:

I decided to give this a try on the busy streets of Ueno. The sun was bright and everyone’s face was illuminated. I gave myself three rules: smile, only shoot until you make eye contact, and try to position the subject to include other visual elements.

These rules satisfied my etiquette. However, it proved more challenging to get what I wanted than I expected—this challenge I love. After several passes through Ameyoko Market, everything came together. My framing got stronger, the images improved, and my heart began to accept what it was being forced to do.

The images began to fill my mind as a potential subject approached. I started to angle right or left to capture the best of them and the surrounding market. The process quickly began to feel comfortable, even familiar.

I was by no means as successful as Lee, but it exposed me to a new way of shooting. One that will be added to the bag tricks once experience has polished it a little more.