Making money from street photography, shooting in Shoreditch, Meta specs and Part 2 of the Comfort-Stretch-Panic approach

Most street photographers don’t need more courage, more kit, or a more exotic destination. We need a smarter way to grow on purpose. I take the comfort stretch panic model (a simple framework used in training environments) and translate it into street photography you can actually do next time you head out. The goal is not to feel fearless. It’s to aim for mild discomfort, stay functional, and let that stretch become your new normal.

From there we get practical: changing focal lengths for a month, moving closer without tipping into confrontation, choosing unfamiliar locations, working a single spot for two hours, or committing to a small documentary project instead of hunting for random singles. I also share a simple self-check: rate your anxiety from 1 to 10 and aim for the learning zone around 4 to 6. It keeps you honest, and it keeps you safe.

A listener question shifts us into the business side of street photography. I break down where the money can come from workshops, book royalties, talks, occasional commercial commissions and why print sales are often the toughest route without reach or representation. We also tackle smart glasses and what they mean for candid photography, plus a book recommendation (Fred Herzog’s Black and White) and a Shoreditch field guide covering Brick Lane, Columbia Road Flower Market, layering with a wide lens, and how to avoid the easy clichés.

If you enjoyed this, subscribe, share it with a photographer friend, and leave a review so more street shooters can find the show.

Transcript

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Welcome To The Street Snappers Arms

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Well, hello, Street Snappers, and welcome to episode 15 of the Street Photography Podcast with me, your host, Brian Duckett. Brought to you from the Street Snappers Arms, that virtual pub where we all get round a table and talk all things street photography over a very nice pint. I don't know about you, but I always find August a really strange month. It's a bit like time stands still before we get back to business in September. Everyone's away, nobody's willing to arrange anything, and here in England it's been a bit too hot to take anything too seriously. Silly season, I think we call it, for for very good reason. Anyway, it's a good time to have a reset, isn't it? A bit of a mental clear out before we get down to to it again in the new term. Anyway, I think I've got a really varied and packed episode for you today. And I'm in a good mood, so there are no rants. And uh there will be a joke, as usual, now at the end, at the roundabout at the end, uh and it'll be hidden in the outro music, so do stick around to the end. Right, strap yourself in, here we go.

Comfort Stretch Panic Model Refresher

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Okay, comfort zones again. If you haven't listened to my part one piece about this, which was in episode 12, please check it out before you listen to this. Or maybe even listen to it again as a refresher, just so that you're on the ball for part two, which is coming in a second, because this is something that can really help you develop your street photography. So let's start with the premise that you accept that you need to shift out of your comfort zone. Maybe getting somewhere into the stretch zone. Again, for this to make any sense, you really need to refer back to episode 12, or else this might seem like a bit of gobbledygook. But to briefly recap, the comfort stretch panic model is taught in army training, and it's an extremely useful tool for street photography because it explains where learning and growth actually happen, and it gives us a nice little template for developing ourselves as photographers. So, just as a quick refresher, there are basically three zones we can operate in as street photographers. The comfort zone, the stretch zone, and the panic zone. I explained all these in detail in episode 12, but just to very briefly recap, the comfort zone is where most of us start out and it's where everything feels safe and predictable. For you as a street photographer, that might mean you shoot in the same locations all the time, or you take the same types of pictures all the time. I know many of you will identify with that one. Maybe you shoot from what you think is a safe distance, or you avoid anything that might lead to any kind of interaction or confrontation or even conflict. And the problem here is that this rarely produces new or interesting work. It's all too predictable. Yes, you stay competent, but you don't grow in the comfort zone. Now, where it gets really interesting is where you enter the stretch zone. This is where you're slightly uncomfortable but still functioning well. So for you, this could mean getting physically closer to subjects, shooting in unfamiliar or even slightly uncomfortable locations. Maybe shooting in black and white when you normally shoot colour, shooting projects rather than standalone images, for example. This stretch zone is where most creative development happens. You're challenged, but you're not overwhelmed. Then touching only very briefly on the panic zone, this is where stress becomes so high that performance deteriorates, and it's where you could, for example, force yourself to confront people when you're terrified of conflict, or shoot somewhere that's clearly unsafe. But the panic zone is somewhere we definitely don't want to be. This is where you stop seeing, you become self-conscious and reactive rather than observant. So in this model, the comfort stretch panic model, you really need to get yourself into the stretch zone and gradually push yourself along within that zone. Always trying to climb a little higher within it, but without reaching panic. If you feel that your street photography feels a bit empty or mundane, and that you're struggling to find things to shoot, or maybe you're producing predictable or unmemorable work, this usually means you've you've got too comfortable. And the solution isn't a massive leap into panic, it's a deliberate and controlled move into stretch.

Stretch Challenges You Can Practise

SPEAKER_00 5:00

So, some for example, to put this all into practice, let's say your come your current comfort zone is shooting in the west end of London. Your stretch challenge would be to spend a day somewhere completely different, maybe in a small market town. Let's say your comfort zone is using one lens that is very familiar to you, which is no bad thing by the way. Your stretch challenge would be to use a different focal length. Try it for a month. If your comfort zone is to be a hunter and you're hunting around for single images, your stretch challenge would be to build a story with twelve or fifteen or twenty images. If your comfort zone is just to shoot anything that's interesting, your stretch challenge would be to really focus and shoot only one theme hands, hats, shadows, couples, bald heads, whatever. And if your comfort zone, if your current comfort is to wander aimlessly from location to location, your stretch challenge would be to work the same location for two hours. So with all these things, it's putting you under just a little bit of just a little bit of stress. And this is always a good thing. And what I suggest you do is next time you go out shooting, rate your anxiety, rate your stress from one to ten. And be honest with yourself here. You should be aiming to work at somewhere between four and six. If you're at one to two, then you're just not stretching yourself. If you're at eight to ten, it's too much. So simplify, ease back until you're comfortable again. And here's the key point to bear in mind. The sweet spot for learning is usually mild discomfort. And I know for a fact that many street photographers think growth comes from buying a new lens or travelling to India or something. But in reality, growth comes from moving the challenge slightly beyond your current ability. Maybe a useful question every time you go out shooting is what's the one thing that feels slightly uncomfortable today? Then make that your target for next time. So that's essentially the Sandhurst model applied to street photography. Spend most of your time in the stretch zone, visit the comfort zone to recover, and avoid staying in the panic zone for any length of time. And I'll end on my killer point. Over time, your stretch zone becomes your new comfort zone, and your photography evolves with it. I'll say that again. Over time, your stretch zone becomes your new comfort zone, and your photography evolves within it.

Can Street Photography Pay?

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Let's take our first question, changing the tempo a little, and this one is from Dave. Actually, it's two questions. A double hander. Take it away, Dave.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Hey Brian, it's Dave from Manchester. I've got a couple of interesting questions for you. Here's the first one. There's thousands of street photographers out there, including myself, but only a very select few can call it the day job. How do they get there? Where does the money come from? Is it books, clever marketing, workshops, perhaps? Got another question for you. I saw a recent article about smart glasses, they're back again, and they are looking more and more like fashion items than the way they used to. How would using those on the street be any different from candid street photography with a camera? Is this the death of street photography as we know it, or is it just evolution?

SPEAKER_00 8:36

So that first question is, how is it possible to make money from street photography? Well in short, Dave, it's far from easy, but I'm quite happy to share with you how it works for me. Firstly, there are workshops, and it's certainly possible to make money from this, but it's certainly far from easy. First of all, you need to be a good teacher and communicator. Secondly, you need to be good at your craft, and thirdly, you need an audience. Now I've been doing this for over eleven years now, the workshop thing, and it took a long time to build a brand that would draw people in and bring them back. I see a lot of people offering workshops now. The market is getting fairly saturated, and I look at their work and I think, hmm, really? There are some young Turks out there doing it now who have almost no track record, either as a photographer or as an educator. And they're cashing in on a big Instagram or YouTube following. And okay, maybe they managed to fill a few workshops, but from what I've heard, anecdotal ev anecdotal evidence says that people don't return. They're kind of one-offs. But if you look at mine by comparison, I've got people who have done 10, 12, even 15 workshops with me over the years. But that took a lot of hard work and a lot of marketing, a lot of patience and stamina to build that business, to build a brand around that. So workshops is a potential sort of in source of income for street photographers. Then there are books. I've now written nine photography books, and I'm just about to start my tenth, and seven of those are street photography. This means that I'm getting royalties all the time. And it gets my name all over Amazon and in bookshops around the world, and all this is a great feeder for the workshop program. Another source is I also lecture and talk to clubs and societies around the world, either in person or over Zoom. I was doing one in China recently over Zoom. And again, this provides a nice steady income stream. Then there's the possibility that your name as a street photographer will lead to commercial work, which it did recently for me with a big barrister's chambers who wanted some really kind of raw, gritty images for their website and their marketing collateral, their brochures and their all their advertising. And that they just wanted something that was a bit different to everybody else's and a bit edgy. So this is, you know, these kind of little corporate jobs are great. And then finally, I think the only other option is print sales. But to make this viable, it's the numbers game. And you also need a big name and you need international reach. And for that you probably need an agency or some kind of representation. And I think this is probably the most difficult income stream. So for me, it's a kind of mixture, it's a portfolio of activity that works. But it's also getting really competitive. And I'm I'm just so glad I set up a brand all those years ago, rather than just using my own name, as I think now the brand is a really valuable asset that brings work in. Right,

Smart Glasses And Street Photography

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Dave's second question is all about using smart glasses or metaglasses as they're usually known. If you're not familiar with these, they look like regular sunspecks, and people like Ray Ban make them, so from a distance they look like sunspecks, but they have a tiny, almost invisible camera built into them, which can shoot stills or video. So, Dave, no, I don't think they will ever have much of an impact on street photography, as the real street photographers, like you and me, tend to be enthusiasts who appreciate the art and the creative process. And you can't tell me that the creeps who walk round wearing these things are at all interested in the process. Of course, yeah, that they these things will satisfy the needs of some content creators. Did you hear a touch of disdain in my voice there? Content creators. And they'll certainly satisfy the possibly peculiar needs of some quite strange people, but I honestly can't see them being a real force in the street photography world. And anyway, they'll probably get banned by some overreaching or overzealous government or other. Well, thanks for the questions, Dave. If anyone else has a question for the show, just record a little audio clip and email it to me like Dave did. Or just send me a regular written email if you prefer, or send a message through the show notes page. And thanks to everyone who's submitted a question so far, I'll be using them all. It's just a case of finding the right slots for them. So please, folks, keep them coming. We

Book Pick Fred Herzog In Monochrome

SPEAKER_00 13:24

have a book review, and today's book features the wonderful Fred Herzog, who I could pretty much guarantee wouldn't have been seen dead in MetaSpecs, even if they'd been available in his day. Fred was somebody who really understood composition, somebody who understood colour, somebody who really got light. And we usually think of Fred Herzog as being a colour photographer, and of course, another of his books, Modern Colour, should be on everyone's bookshelf. But the book we're looking at today is by Fred Herzog, and it's called simply Black and White. And that's exactly what it is. It's a collection of Herzog's monochrome images. Published by Hatchia Kantz in 2022. This is a lovely production. It's slightly off-white, 150 gram gallery art paper, 127 pages, mostly of street or at least urban images, some set out as double page spreads. It's it's lovely. And there's a great four-page intro from Jeff Dyer, who's always a delight to read. And I'm gonna paraphrase him a little from that intro. And this is really interesting. So, in the words of Jeff Dyer, several interesting questions are raised by this material. Are these black and white pictures of colour scenes the equivalent, so to speak, of black and white prints made from colour film? If Herzog's name is synonymous with colour photography, how are these pictures recognizably Herzogian? To what extent is Herzog's distinctive vision colour dependent? If colour represented a giant leap forward, what do black and white pictures tell us about what is to come? Are these early photographs valuable only in terms of rehearsal and preparation of what's to come, or are they significant works in their own right? And I think that's really interesting. I actually think they're significant works in their own right. I I just think it's a lovely example of black and white photography. I think when we're these are really interesting questions from Jeff when we're considering black and white as a standalone art form. Take the picture on the front cover, which is of a pool hall. And what a gorgeous atmospheric cover picture this is. It would be easy to think that a pool hall could only work in colour with the green bays and the warm mellow light, but the lack of colour makes us focus on form, geometry, shape. And it's actually much more atmospheric in black and white than I think it would have been in colour. And it's actually good to pick up a book like this and start to consider the why of shooting in black and white. And there's a point where it really starts to make some sense. So if you're a fan of black and white, or if you're a fan of Fred Herzog, then this is the book for you, and it's one that'll stay in what I call my permanent collection hopefully forever.

Shoreditch Field Guide Brick Lane

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Quite a few of you have requested more about street photography locations, so this is for you. And today we're in Shoreditch, the Shoreditch area of East London. I've been running workshops in Shoreditch for over 11 years now, and I've been shooting there for much longer. So I know the area really well. Sorry, I've got a frog in my throat there. If you're not familiar with it, Shoreditch is the area to the east of the City of London, the financial district, and it borders Spittlefield's Whitechapel and Hackney. It's kind of there in the centre of all those things. It's probably famous for its main thoroughfare, Brick Lane, which dissects it north to south. And well, we'll start with Brick Lane. Why not? I've got to say, this is a terrific street for street photography, especially on Sundays when there are loads of markets and it's heaving with interesting people, especially on a sunny day. It's colourful, vibrant, it's diverse, surprising, even shocking. It's creative, energetic. There just aren't enough superlatives to describe Brick Lane, especially on a sunny Sunday. Having said that, there's a caveat. There's a big trap here that many street photographers tumble into. And it's too easy to fall into the world of cliches and tropes in a place like this. The picture of a person simply walking past some striking street art, of which there is a lot, or a street portrait of a character in inverted commas, of which there are a lot. People standing around eating, subjects that happen just to be in good light, but have nothing else about them, and so on and so on and so on. So Brick Lane is, although it's a bit of a destination for street photographers, you need to approach it with a sense of purpose, I think. And what I mean by that, yeah, you you've guessed it, it's a project or two. So to give you an example, I'm currently working on a street stroke documentary project about life in Brick Lane. I've been doing this for a few years, nowhere near finished yet. And this is all about the people who live and work in Brick Lane. It's shot in black and white, and I'm really trying to tell a story about life in that one street in the 21st century. So Brick Lane itself is great, but with these caveats. But Shoreditch isn't only Brick Lane. Staying with the Sunday theme, there's another location really worth visiting, and this is the Columbia Road Flower Market, which happens only on Sundays. It's a six or seven minute walk from Shoreditch, heading north towards Hackney, and it's wonderful. It's incredibly busy, especially on a nice day, but it's vibrant, colourful, energetic, and it's just great. You'll need a white a wide lens for this, 28mm or wider, maybe a 24, even a 21, the wider the better. And I take workshop groups here, especially to introduce the concept of layering. So if you like layered shots with lots of information coming at you front to back from the sides, this is a great way to go and practice. So, Shoreditch. Well, that's the brick lane and the flower market covered, but there is a much wider area to explore. It covers a lot of turf. There are lots of interesting quirky streets with interesting quirky people, interesting, quirky shops, interesting quirky activity, and yes, you you will most likely find some lots of interesting opportunities for one-off bangers. But as I always say when I'm recommending locations, you get so much more out of it. If you've done your research, put some thinking behind it, and you've got a project or two buzzing round in your head. Now, for some good reference material for Shoreditch, I'm going to recommend two books, coincidentally by the same photographer, which is good old Doogie Wallace. The first one of these is one of those great little Hoxton mini press books, and this one's called Shoreditch Wildlife. And believe me, there's a lot of wildlife in Shoreditch, and I'm not talking about giraffes and elephants. You know what I'm talking about. So this is a smallish A5 book, and it's only about 15 quid. It's on Amazon and everywhere else. And the other is a bigger, more of a coffee table book, and this is called East Ended, again by Doogie Wallace. Really colourful, in your face, lots of use of flash, bright colours hitting you between the eyes. And it's another book that will give you a real insight into what this area is really like. If you fancy doing a workshop in Shoreditch, I've only got one plan so far for next year, and it's on the 24th of January, and there are a few places left. Just head over to streetsnappers.com. Of course, at some point you'll be needing some refreshments. There are plenty of bars around Brick Lane, but I prefer a proper pub myself. And a great place to start is the Pride of Spittlefields, which is in Hennage Street or Heenage Street, which is just off Brick Lane at the southerly end. It's a proper old boozer, just like me. Ha ha ha. With a decent range of beers and a warm welcome. Well, warm for London anyway. If you're in Columbia Road at the flower market, the Royal Oak is a belter. Again, with plenty of good beer and poshnosh. It's maybe a bit too gentrified and gastro pub for my uncouth taste, but you know, go when it's not too busy and you'll find a proper detail. Decent old pub. Should you find yourself in a more westerly part of Shoreditch, then I can recommend the Bricklayer's Arms on the corner of Rivington Street and Charlotte Road. It's actually quite close to Old Street, so it's that end of Shoreditch. It's another old school pub, no frills, just a decent honest pint in an old London pub. And I should mention that all these old pubs are great places to do a little discreet street photography photography photography, which as we all know, doesn't always need to happen on a street. These old boozers have a real character, and some haven't changed much from the 1950s or even earlier. You get these shafts of sunlight streaming through through the windows, the old boy in the corner reading his paper, nursing his pint, all the nostalgic pub memorabilia around you, and it's all really quite photogenic. If coffee is more your thing, then you'll find lots of very good coffee shops all around you in Shoreditch. In fact, there are so many good ones to choose from, it's difficult to recommend anything specific. There are just so many. Loads of great little independents who also happen to sell rather scrammy cakes. And that

Zines Sale And UK Shipping Note

SPEAKER_00 23:18

reminds me, I did a Shoreditch zine a couple of years ago, which has long sold out, but I've been having a flash sale of my zines and books, and although the books have now almost all gone, I do have some zines available. They're all at least 50% off. There are two zines from Venice there's a Bologna zine and my latest zine from Prague, which was produced only a few months ago, but I still have a few left of the reprinted second edition. These are all on the website, streetsnappers.com, and I'm afraid I can only ship to the UK at the moment, so apologies to my friends from around the world. Well,

NAS Nerves And Venice Workshop Demand

SPEAKER_00 24:04

here I am sitting in my little studio, and I'm still looking across the room. My very nice new NAS storage system from Ugreen. And it's a really lovely bit of kit, and I just know it's immensely capable, but I'm terrified of it. I just can't pluck up courage to set the thing up. But I desperately need it, so I'm gonna have to bite the bullet, break the habit of a lifetime, and actually read some manuals. Who likes reading manuals? Anyway, I'll do it, I'll do it. In fact, I'm promising you I'll do it. If only to report back to you and say that I've done it, and hopefully how good it is and how useful it is, and what I can what what you can learn from my experience setting this thing up. Anyway, watch this space and wish me luck. I'm also looking at a lovely picture of the Venetian lagoon on my wall. And you may remember that I mentioned on here recently about running a Venice workshop based on the lagoon, and particularly the lesser visited islands rather than the main city of Venice that every everybody knows and loves. Well, I made this a reality, and the good news is that it's happening next March. The bad news is that all six places got booked up within a day of my listing it. So I'm considering running another one next autumn. Probably in early November. And if you're potentially interested, do let me know so so that I can give priority to those of you who are genuinely up for this. There's no commitment or payment needed at this stage, but your name could guarantee your place if you want to join me. As I say, probably in November, when the weather's great, it's a bit misty and mysterious, far fewer tourists around. It's just a great time to visit. Anyway, if you'd like more details of this, just head to streetsnappers.com where you'll find all the info.

Trips Ahead And Last Orders

SPEAKER_00 26:07

Well, that almost brings us to the end of today's episode. And I'm gonna have a few days off, I think. We're we're going to Durham for a few days, which I think is a really lovely city. So I'll take my little Rico GR3 and see what happens. I'm not hoping for great things. I don't think the weather's going to be that great actually over the next few days here in the UK. And then I'm going to Italy soon after that. We're we're going to. I mean, anywhere in Italy is good for street photography, isn't it? But we're going to the Como area initially and staying in a nice little town at the bottom of the hills by the lake called Lecco. And we're having three days there. Then we're going to Bergamo, which is a most delightful place, and again, great for street photography. We'll spend a few days in Bergamo. And again, I'll I'll take my I'll take my little Rico because I can I can get away with having that domestically. So I'll try and get an I will get another podcast in before we go away, that's for sure. Anyway, this is now its last orders in the Street Snappers Arms, and I'd like to say thank you again for joining me, and please do join in next time.

Outro Joke Hidden In The Music

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Now I did promise you a joke, and I always put the jokes at the end of this sort of a little bit embedded in the outro music. Because I know not everybody not everybody wants to listen to a joke, uh especially my jokes, but if you do, stick around for a few seconds. If you don't, bye. And I'm gonna get home, and my husband isn't gonna be there. He'll be with his mates in the pub or playing golf or something, so I'm gonna be on my own. And she sees a parrot in the window of the pet shop, and she's a she's caught by the she's attracted to this lovely indigo and orange plumage, and she thinks, Oh, I quite like the look of that. And there's a sign next to it that says special offer five pounds. So she thinks, yeah, I can do that. Anyway, she went in and she spoke to the pet shop owner to try and get a bit of background about this parrot, whether it's going to be a good buy or not. And he said, Well, it is a goodbye, but the reason it's it's on special offer is that he's been working in a brothel. His previous owner owned a brothel, and his his language can be a bit fruity. But other than that, it's great, great to have around the house. She said, Right, I'll buy it. Can't be that bad, can't be any worse than my husband, I'll buy it. So she buys the parrot, takes it home, puts its cage in a corner of the sitting room. She goes off into the kitchen to make the dinner. And as she's making the dinner, her one of her daughters walks in, and the parrot sees the daughter and said, Oh, I haven't seen you before, you look nice. Anyway, the daughter thinks nothing of it, carries on up the stairs. A few minutes later, daughter number two comes in. The parrot looks at her. Oh, I like I like your dress. You look beautiful in that dress. And she again she thinks nothing of it. And she carries on up the stairs. A few minutes later, the husband walks in. The parrot says, Hello, Keith.