"STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IS COOL"

At last! Here's a truly readable and entertaining book about street photography.

In fact, you don't even need to be a street photographer yourself to enjoy "Street Photography Is Cool" by John Lewell. It's a book to be valued as much for its expression of ideas as well as for its 200+ illustrations.

Yet if you've ever taken photos in the street, as a tourist or travel photographer, you'll gain new inspiration from the author's analysis of this (arguably the most difficult) photographic genre.

Cool Because...
"Street Photography Is Cool" has five sections, each of which supports the title by adding the word "Because..."

1. "Because It's Contradictory, Like the Human Condition"
The author "twins" the 26 short chapters of this section into pairs, such as "It Has An Emotional Side" and "But It's Often Deadpan."

2. "Because It Helps Us View the World As It Is"
In street photography you can't rearrange reality to suit your photo. You have to see the world as it is, in all its imperfections. Working out how to deal with these imperfections can be surprisingly enlightening.

3. "Because It Can Tolerate Many Compositional Structures"
Symmetry, asymmetry, juxtapositions, contrasts, balance, imbalance, layers, the "flat look," the urge to simplify, and more. Street photography's tolerance of compositional experiments allows you to develop a personal style.

4. "Because It's a Very Democratic Art Form"
If you have a smartphone you can take street photos: it's a way of starting and there are no barriers to entry. Some people pick it up quickly, others never do. It all depends on the observational powers of the individual.

5. "Because It's a Tough and Potentially Perilous Activity"
Tough? Perilous? It needn't be, but it can be. The author shares personal experiences acquired during the past ten years of taking pictures on the street.

From Chapter 67: "Celebrating the Ordinary"
"No one is ordinary. Human beings are bundles of contradictions, driven this way and that by conflicting desires, thoughts and motivations. If you see someone you think is "ordinary," think again. Everyone can be unpredictable."

From Chapter 45: "It Depends How You See It"
"If you're reading this book to help you improve your own street photography you've probably noticed that I'm not very prescriptive. I don't say: "Do this, get that."

From Chapter 43: "The Extended Moment"
"You'll recognise an extended moment when you encounter it. It occurs in the tropics when the air hangs heavily and people become listless. Suddenly, you have time to take a proper shot. It doesn't matter whether you take it now or in two or three seconds' time: the resulting photograph will still have vitality because the scene is about to change, yet for a brief while remains more or less the same."

Set in a Wider Context
"Street Photography Is Cool" sets the genre in the wider context of art -- and finds it to be a vibrant, perennial art form which will flourish for as long as there is human activity in the streets of our major cities.

Who gets a mention?
Quite a few street photographers, as you'd expect, but the author also draws material from the literary world: Camille Paglia's "Sexual Personae," Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's "In Praise of Shadows," "E.M. Forster's "Aspects of the Novel," and many other works.

Tips Galore?
Yes, there are hundreds of tips to be found in the book, notably in such chapters as "Bad Weather Street Photography," "10 Strategies for Success" and "Working the Scene."

Inspiration Awaits
Even if you've never taken a street photo in your life you'll still find that "Street Photography Is Cool" is a great read -- and it may even divert you from travel, portrait or landscape photography.

Tradition Renewed
Working within the tradition started by Henri Cartier-Bresson (but using full colour in preference to black & white) the author illustrates the text with photographs from cities in the UK and the Far East.

A Well-Supported Claim
This is a major book on street photography with the potential to inspire original work. There are 89 chapters of 5 or 6 pages each, together with introductions to each of the 5 sections.