Being An Invisible Street Photographer

Reading time: 3 mins

I was watching Paulie B's Walkie Talkie with Aaron Berger ages ago and something Berger said has stuck with me ever since. He mentioned thinking a lot about what kind of photos he'd take on the street if he was invisible.

That’s something I used to think about a lot too, because to be honest - most of the street photography moments I miss come down to bottling it. Worrying what someone will think if they notice me. Wondering if I'm being creepy. Talking myself out of the shot before I even raise the camera.

None of that would matter if I was invisible, would it?

The Wrong Solution

My first thought was: right, I need to become invisible. Dress boring. Act casual. Blend in. Shoot from the hip. Use a quiet shutter. Be sneaky.

And sometimes that works. But it's also exhausting and feels a bit dishonest, and you still end up missing shots because you're so worried about not being noticed that you're not actually present.

Then I came across something the photographer Johnathan Jasberg said (seata1flyer on Instagram if you want to see his work - it's excellent). He never tries to be invisible. Instead, he interacts with people, chats, hangs about, and waits until they get used to him and started ignoring him. Then he'd fire off some images.

That flipped my thinking. The goal isn't invisibility. It's being ignorable.

The Difference Matters

Being invisible means people don't see you. Being ignorable means they see you, clock you, and then stop caring. And that second one is way more achievable.

If you think about it you ignore loads of people every day. The person sitting on the bench reading. The guy having a coffee outside a cafe. Someone standing on the corner looking at their phone. You register them for half a second, decide they're not relevant to you, and forget about them.

That's what you want to be. Present, but not threatening. There, but not important.

How to Actually Do This

The practical bit is simpler than you'd think, but it does require getting used to and a lot of practice.

Stop lurking. Lurking is what makes people uncomfortable. If you're hanging around trying to be invisible, you look suspicious. Instead, just be there. Stand in a spot. Lean against a wall. Sit on a bench. Exist in the space like you have a reason to be there.

If someone clocks you with a camera, acknowledge it. Nod. Smile. Don't immediately spin around and pretend you weren't there. That's what weirdos do. Normal people with cameras just... have cameras.

Stay in one place longer than feels comfortable. This is the big one. We get a shot (or don't), then immediately move on because we feel awkward. But if you hang about, people's attention moves on. They've already filed you under "person with camera, not my problem" and they get on with their lives.

Shoot more than one frame. This goes with the above. If you're already there and people have already clocked you, take a few more shots. You've already paid the social cost of being noticed. Might as well get your money's worth.

Chat if it feels natural. This is Jasberg's approach, and it works because it breaks the tension. A quick comment about the weather, a "nice dog," whatever. You've gone from potential threat to just another person on the street.

You're never going to be invisible. You're a grown adult with a camera pointed at strangers. People are going to see you.

But they don't have to care. And once they stop caring, you can get to work.