Insightful observation. I especially loved how you said, 'The idea that I have an opportunity to capture an idiosyncratic moment in time that will, in a heartbeat, become an idealized version of the past is what keeps me giddy about photography."
I think the article misplaces the source of nostalgia. It originates with the viewer, not the qualities of the photograph, which play only a secondary role. I don’t experience any nostalgia when I look at photos by Leavitt, Winogrand, Freedman, Meiser, and Sandler even though they are in b/w and old. I do experience nostalgia when I look at Steinmetz’s summer camp pictures. Not because they are in b/w and more than 30 years old, but because I went to summer camp as a kid and they evoke that experience. Age is necessary for nostalgia but not sufficient. The past depicted has to resonate in some way with the experience of the viewer. And while b/w may evoke nostalgia for some people, it isn’t inherently nostalgic. Does no one experience nostalgia looking at the color work by Leiter, Haas, Gruyaert, Eggleston, or Sternfeld? Will people experience no nostalgia looking back at contemporary photography, at their own catalog of color pictures? I doubt that. They will experience nostalgia depending on how thier personal experience interacts with the content.
We can also experience nostalgia on a cultural level. In current music past aesthetics are absolutely dominant. Movies get reremakes. Why do young rappers make music videos with old digital video cameras? Aesthetic choices are not arbitrary. Nostalgia does not even require age. Nostalgia can be culturally transmitted. Second hand nostalgia.
I did some reading and this idea of borrowed nostalgia is fascinating. But it still requires the viewer to do the work with the aesthetics playing a secondary role.
I’m fascinated by Tobi’s comment about borrowed nostalgia, a sentimental or wistful attachment to a time you’ve never known. And I think you’re right that some people associate b/w with the past and color with the present and so use b/w to try to manufacture borrowed nostalgia. If not the past, they see b/w as “timelessness”, an association and aspiration I have never understood. Almost all the “great” b/w photography from the past revered today obviously depicts the past. And why try to avoid the present whether you use b/w or color? The present is so interesting.
Agree! Thank you for the great discussion. (boy am I glad to have “replaced” twitter with substack. Now I just need to find a replacement for awful instagram)
Further reading on nostalgia: Simon Reynolds - Retromania, Mark Fisher - Ghosts of my life
Wonderful article, never thought about that subject before but I guess I can relate on the creation of those timeless images once in a while. Just before reading this post I was checking the work of Fred Herzog once again, great coincidence.
This post is great. Your thoughts about romanticizing the past via photography and eschewing markers of the present (a cliche I’ve fallen victim to in the past and even still sometimes to this day) remind me of a quote by Brian Eno: “whatever you find weird, ugly, uncomfortable, and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature.” He was referring to technological mediums but as a technological society and as street photography seeks to document society in a way, I feel like the sentiment is applicable here as well.
This is such a great and important article. It is one that 99% of street photographers fail to listen to. I am sure I am one of them, but I always aspire to better myself.
I remember being in Madrid on a big square taking pictures and always cropping out the huuge iPhone 14 poster above. Later I thought to myself what an idiot I was for doing that.
Martin Parr is a big advocate of the modern sentiment. Pointing out how so many photographers are trying to conserve something that is on the brink of disappearing while failing to document the present.
Finally a question: Should I stop B/W photography and move to color?
Great writeup Dana. As someone who recently started getting into street photography, and someone who took a lot of inspiration from the greats of the 20th century, I cannot help but now really recognize that unconscious bias towards "carless" pictures and B&W (another ones on my list are hats and smoking cigarettes :). Quite eyeopening, thanks for this insight.
Get away from hats, cigarettes, markets, mannequins, people holding mirrors, twins, soap bubbles, cars in blankets, kids with guns… ;) so many cliches to avoid or update in your own way
A great article Dana, I -- in general -- share your opinion. One of the main reasons I prefer B/W for my photography is that feeling of nostalgia B/W evokes. I feel oddly attracted to that aspect, although in my personal life I welcome change and future opportunities
Re: Women on bench photo, see Garry Winogrand's "New York World's Fair" 1964, also women on a bench, obviously no phones. The composition and the postures make the photo.
Insightful article! This is why I love European pedestrian streets, free from cars. Back in the 1900s to the 1950s, cars had unique personalities—each one a distinct character. Today, sedans and SUVs all look the same, contributing nothing but monotony to the scene. The only possible saving grace? Close-up reflections or when the driver adds to the scene.
I think in the 1950s photographers thought that those cars are ugly and nothing compared to the vehicles of the 20s, and with another 50 years our sedans will look just as romantic. I think that teslas will age especially well.
Love your photography in general but I'm wondering what your take is on the ethics of street photography. I'm an amateur, but have taken photos in Paris and Harlem, NY, amongst other cities. Do you ask permission? Or do you just point and shoot?
Insightful observation. I especially loved how you said, 'The idea that I have an opportunity to capture an idiosyncratic moment in time that will, in a heartbeat, become an idealized version of the past is what keeps me giddy about photography."
I think the article misplaces the source of nostalgia. It originates with the viewer, not the qualities of the photograph, which play only a secondary role. I don’t experience any nostalgia when I look at photos by Leavitt, Winogrand, Freedman, Meiser, and Sandler even though they are in b/w and old. I do experience nostalgia when I look at Steinmetz’s summer camp pictures. Not because they are in b/w and more than 30 years old, but because I went to summer camp as a kid and they evoke that experience. Age is necessary for nostalgia but not sufficient. The past depicted has to resonate in some way with the experience of the viewer. And while b/w may evoke nostalgia for some people, it isn’t inherently nostalgic. Does no one experience nostalgia looking at the color work by Leiter, Haas, Gruyaert, Eggleston, or Sternfeld? Will people experience no nostalgia looking back at contemporary photography, at their own catalog of color pictures? I doubt that. They will experience nostalgia depending on how thier personal experience interacts with the content.
We can also experience nostalgia on a cultural level. In current music past aesthetics are absolutely dominant. Movies get reremakes. Why do young rappers make music videos with old digital video cameras? Aesthetic choices are not arbitrary. Nostalgia does not even require age. Nostalgia can be culturally transmitted. Second hand nostalgia.
I did some reading and this idea of borrowed nostalgia is fascinating. But it still requires the viewer to do the work with the aesthetics playing a secondary role.
Nostalgia can be evoked by either BW or color, BW is just a common tool used to do so. I did site Leiter in the article as a source of nostalgia.
I’m fascinated by Tobi’s comment about borrowed nostalgia, a sentimental or wistful attachment to a time you’ve never known. And I think you’re right that some people associate b/w with the past and color with the present and so use b/w to try to manufacture borrowed nostalgia. If not the past, they see b/w as “timelessness”, an association and aspiration I have never understood. Almost all the “great” b/w photography from the past revered today obviously depicts the past. And why try to avoid the present whether you use b/w or color? The present is so interesting.
Agree! Thank you for the great discussion. (boy am I glad to have “replaced” twitter with substack. Now I just need to find a replacement for awful instagram)
Further reading on nostalgia: Simon Reynolds - Retromania, Mark Fisher - Ghosts of my life
Two of my favorite music books.
❤️ now I have to get a paid subscription
Wonderful article, never thought about that subject before but I guess I can relate on the creation of those timeless images once in a while. Just before reading this post I was checking the work of Fred Herzog once again, great coincidence.
This post is great. Your thoughts about romanticizing the past via photography and eschewing markers of the present (a cliche I’ve fallen victim to in the past and even still sometimes to this day) remind me of a quote by Brian Eno: “whatever you find weird, ugly, uncomfortable, and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature.” He was referring to technological mediums but as a technological society and as street photography seeks to document society in a way, I feel like the sentiment is applicable here as well.
Great quote
This is such a great and important article. It is one that 99% of street photographers fail to listen to. I am sure I am one of them, but I always aspire to better myself.
I remember being in Madrid on a big square taking pictures and always cropping out the huuge iPhone 14 poster above. Later I thought to myself what an idiot I was for doing that.
Martin Parr is a big advocate of the modern sentiment. Pointing out how so many photographers are trying to conserve something that is on the brink of disappearing while failing to document the present.
Finally a question: Should I stop B/W photography and move to color?
Only the photographer can answer that question and it all depends on your intent and what you are trying to accomplish with BW vs color.
Great writeup Dana. As someone who recently started getting into street photography, and someone who took a lot of inspiration from the greats of the 20th century, I cannot help but now really recognize that unconscious bias towards "carless" pictures and B&W (another ones on my list are hats and smoking cigarettes :). Quite eyeopening, thanks for this insight.
Hats and cigarettes, yes! Happy this resonated.
Get away from hats, cigarettes, markets, mannequins, people holding mirrors, twins, soap bubbles, cars in blankets, kids with guns… ;) so many cliches to avoid or update in your own way
I have photos of every single one of these. Good list. These are street photography crutches. Not that they can't be done well, but it's HARD.
Haha ok, now I'm completely out of subject matter to shoot!
Great article. Disagree that black and white makes something instantly nostalgic, however.
Not instantly, but it's one of the tools that can be used to evoke nostalgia.
What a great eye! These are so full of feeling.
A great article Dana, I -- in general -- share your opinion. One of the main reasons I prefer B/W for my photography is that feeling of nostalgia B/W evokes. I feel oddly attracted to that aspect, although in my personal life I welcome change and future opportunities
Re: Women on bench photo, see Garry Winogrand's "New York World's Fair" 1964, also women on a bench, obviously no phones. The composition and the postures make the photo.
Insightful article! This is why I love European pedestrian streets, free from cars. Back in the 1900s to the 1950s, cars had unique personalities—each one a distinct character. Today, sedans and SUVs all look the same, contributing nothing but monotony to the scene. The only possible saving grace? Close-up reflections or when the driver adds to the scene.
I think in the 1950s photographers thought that those cars are ugly and nothing compared to the vehicles of the 20s, and with another 50 years our sedans will look just as romantic. I think that teslas will age especially well.
Shoot the cars. In fifty years they will appeal to nostalgia. :-)
Hi Dana,
Love your photography in general but I'm wondering what your take is on the ethics of street photography. I'm an amateur, but have taken photos in Paris and Harlem, NY, amongst other cities. Do you ask permission? Or do you just point and shoot?
https://dinalitovsky.substack.com/p/the-sticky-issue-of-consent-in-street-21-11-12
I have a few posts on that, this is one.
Excellent explication of the pros and cons (why are those weirdly appropriate to street photos?) of street photography.