I have recently returned to using prime lenses for street photography. Bulky telephoto lenses are just too cumbersome. I want something as inconspicuous as possible.

Trudging through YouTube street photography videos, one of the most ferocious debates is around lens selection. The 35mm lens is a favourite, it is the Goldilocks lens. Not too wide, and not too narrow. However, I have decided to go for a 50mm lens and want to tell you why. I have a Canon R6, so I have chosen the the Canon RF50mm. It is cheap, light and compact.

Why the 50mm Focal Length?

The 50mm focal length is often regarded as the most “natural” field of view. Photographers call it the ‘nifty fifty’. Unlike wide-angle or telephoto lenses, the 50mm closely mimics how the human eye sees the world. It provides an authentic perspective which neither distorts the scene nor pulls the viewer too far away. This is particularly useful in street photography, where capturing the moment exactly as it is, can make all the difference.

Compact and Discreet

One of the key challenges in street photography is the need to be inconspicuous. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself or your gear; otherwise, you risk losing the candid nature of the scene. The 50mm lens, especially in its prime form is small, lightweight, and unobtrusive. It doesn’t scream “professional photographer”, but allows you to unobtrusively slip into the background.

The Balance Between Distance and Intimacy

A 50mm lens offers an excellent balance between distance and intimacy. While a wide angle lens forces you so close to your subject that it may feel intrusive, telephoto lenses keep you too far in the distance. The 50mm lens lets you stay engaged with your subject while maintaining a respectful distance.

Aperture Flexibility

Many 50mm lenses, especially those with f/1.8 or f/1.4 apertures, excel in low-light situations. Whether you’re shooting in the golden hour, at dusk, or indoors, the wide aperture lets in plenty of light. This is especially important in street photography, where you have to capture the action at 1/400 sec or above, without any control over lighting conditions.

Restricted apertures also create a shallow depth of field which can separate the subject from the background. In bustling urban environments, this can be incredibly useful.

Encourages Composition and Creativity

Because the 50mm lens lacks the ultra-wide field of view or the zoom capabilities of telephoto lenses, it encourages you to think more about composition. You can’t rely on zooming in or out to adjust your frame, so you must move to find the best angle.

Limitations of the 50mm Lens in Street Photography

While the 50mm lens has many strengths, it does have its limitations. Its field of view is narrower than a wide-angle lens, meaning you might miss some context in busy urban scenes.

Additionally, because you’re not zooming in, you need to be comfortable and confident about getting closer to your subjects.

My View

YouTube street photography influencers would have you believe that the only camera for street is a compact camera, ideally a Leica. I don’t want to afford a Leica, just because they are ‘de rigour’. I also do not want a Fujifilm X100Vl, the influential street photographer’s second choice, (mainly because it is cheaper than a Leica). It is too small to handle, and the 35mm equivalent lens is stuck firmly to the body.

I prefer to use the camera I use every day for landscape, portrait and everything in between. So a 50mm prime lens on my Canon mirrorless camera seems just right, and I can switch to a 35mm or 28mm lens if I need to. The 50mm lens is versatile, discreet and great value, but it is also all great fun.

It is just occasionally that you realise that you know more than everyone around you. It is a heady experience and it happened to me with the publication of the Princess of Wales, Mothers Day photograph.

Suspicious Activity

 As these pages show I do know a bit more than average about Photoshop (PS), I use it every day. So, when saw the picture I was immediately suspicious. To me, Catherine’s face was a softer focus than that of her children, and her right hand was definitely out of focus, but the child’s jumper was in focus.

Then it happened the picture agencies put a kill notice on the photograph because it had clearly been doctored in PS. Others came out and pointed out all the inconsistencies. The red sleeve, no wedding ring, and visible joins where images had been merged. Gaps in the background where the windows did not quite come together.

The Press Agencies Withdraw the Royal Photo

The agencies were right to withdraw the royal photo because this was an untruthful press / PR picture. If a press photographer is ever found to have changed an allegedly ‘news’ photograph, they could lose their livelihood. Reputation is built on providing genuine photographs of what is in front of you, not a confection of images joined together as in this instance.

Palace Statement

However, for me, the biggest mistake was the Palace PR machine compounding one inconsistency with another. We know now that Prince William could not have taken the royal photo, we know now that the photograph was made up. The Palace then released a statement from the ‘Princess of Wales’:

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing, I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”

The message was signed off “C,” indicating it came directly from Catherine.

Implications

Although the princess does not actually fess up, the clear implication is that she did it. How can this be true? As I said, it is just occasionally that you realise that you know more than everyone around you. I know PS and I understand the general level of expertise of most amateur photographers. I am an amateur photographer myself and through these channels, I communicate with others all the time Although this photograph is a botched job, it does not look like the work of an amateur.

You need professional PS skills to attempt this type of composite and ironically it would take considerable expertise just to create what is there.

This photograph and the following statement create more questions than answers. Do the Palace take us all for fools or is there something far more sinister going on that requires one piece of misinformation to be followed by another and then yet another?

Photography is driving me to abstraction. That is why I have included the video above. Because Valda Bailey can describe far more articulately than I can, why some photographers are trending towards expressionism and abstract photography, rather than sticking with the more usual genres of landscape, street and portraiture.

For that reason, I wanted to understand more about abstract photography. I knew that it appealed to me, so I recently attended an exhibition, celebrating photographic expressionism. Coincidently organised by Valda Bailey and her colleague Doug Chinnery who together are baileychinnery.com

Some Abstract Photographers

Some of the best abstract photographers working in the UK were represented at the exhibition. If you view some of their work then you will get an idea of how some photographers are moving from reality to the abstract.

Ivana Lazdina

Iveta Lazdina is a fine art photographer from Latvia, who works with ICM, and multiple exposure to produce abstract photographic art.

Alison Buchanan

Using ICM and multiple exposure to ‘simplify the image and using a limited colour palette to convey feelings of calm and serenity’

Jan Beesley

‘I use photography as the medium to express myself creatively and I enjoy the playfulness of using camera techniques such as multiple exposure and intentional camera movement to capture my impressions’.

Jocelyn Horsfall

Jocelyn Horsfall specialises in ‘atmospheric images inspired by flowers and foliage and the natural world’

Howard Rankin

‘For my abstract work my inspiration comes from my friends Valda Bailey and Doug Chinnery, working with multiple exposures and ICM . It can particularly gratifying to apply some of those techniques to the more conventional genres of Landscape, Music and Wildlife.’

Laura Goin

Laura Goin uses ICM and multiple exposure to capture the countryside that reminds her of home in Missouri.

Annemarie Hoogwoud

‘For me, the landscape is a means of expressing how I look and feel about what touches me. The way a painter uses brushes and paint. I paint the landscape with my camera to create my images’.

Why the Trend to Photograph the Abstract?

There is a trend towards abstract photography, but compared to other genres it is still minuscule. On Instagram the number of abstract posts is 3.2 million, compared to landscape photography 68.3m, wildlife photography 27.2m and a whopping 114.5m for street photography. So we need to get this trend into perspective. It is a road less well travelled.

That however is part of its appeal. When I was into landscape I was always turning up at sites to put my tripod into the holes left by others. The likelihood is that they were up earlier than I was, had better light or better kit etc, all of which made their images far better than mine. When I was into street photography there were photographers with New York or London on their doorstep. My opportunities in rural Bedfordshire were far more limited.

Do We Need Another Selfy?

In 2023, 54,400 photos are taken every second, 196 million per hour, 4.7 billion per day, 32.9 billion per week, 143 billion per month, and 1.72 trillion per year. With too many photographs in the world is it surprising that some photographers are moving away from representational photography?

Abstract photography is moving beyond a literal interpretation, it is art and photography combined. There are no longer boundaries, creativity becomes more important than technique and technology. Photography is all about seeing. About making versions of what we have seen before

Expressionist photography is more about seeing what isn’t there.

It has been remiss of me but I had not updated my Images of the Month page since around May. Where have I been? Well if the November image above is anything to go by it would seem the past few months have been a bit of a dream.