Bystander: A History of Street Photography

This comprehensive history, first published in 1992, traces street photography from its beginnings in 1843, when British photographer William Henry Fox Talbot traveled to France to capture images of cathedrals, to the rise of digital photography and its current ubiquity. Meyerowitz, a professional photographer, and Westerbeck, who teaches the history of photography at UCLA, organize the book into five “key periods when street photographers came together to share their work, their ideas, and in some cases a sense of social purpose.” Each part of the book includes an assortment of photographs that define the time in which they were taken, as well as a discussion of the photographers or artistic movements that most influenced the street photography genre. Photographers working in the post-WWII era—Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, William Klein, and Weegee among them—exhibit “a darker view of Western society,” according to the authors, compared to the lyrical images of Henri Cartier-Bresson from an earlier period. In this updated edition, the authors note that street photography is more popular today than ever before, but the ability to capture and view multiple shots instantaneously alters the component of spontaneity of a single shot, which was a defining characteristic of previous eras. This book serves as a definitive history of the simple art of taking candid pictures of everyday life in the street. Photos. (Nov.)