Street photography and the Dérive

Street shots in snow storm, Bloomington, IL 1950. Wilma Tolley, photographer. January 30, 1950. McLean County Museum of History.

As the technology of the camera developed and changed, so did attitudes about photography. Gone were the days of the static camera that was only used to take posed, formal photographs. For the first time, photographers were able to carry their cameras with them as they made their way through the streets. Writer Susan Sontag, in her 1977 book On Photography stated that “the photographer is supertourist” [1] -- while she does not say that she specifically means street photographers, her idea of the “supertourist” does encapsulate well the position of many street photographers. 

[1] Sontag, Susan. On Photography. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977), 42.

Lamp post, 1946. Phyllis Lathrop, photographer. June 22, 1946. McLean County Museum of History.

Being immersed in and attentive to a space has always been key to how street photographers work. French theorist Guy Debord’s practice of the dérive and its relation to psychogeography can help one understand the practice of street photography. The dérive (or “drift”) essentially describes a practice in which one makes their way through a city or space while paying close attention to the psychogeography of their surroundings – that is, the connection between the people and a place, and the impact that one can have on the other. The figure of the flâneur, or the “stroller” who seeks to explore and understand the city, has also been associated with street photography over the years. The idea of losing oneself in a place, of being an invisible bystander who remains alert and attentive as they wander through a city, has long been central to classic street photography. It allows the photographer to be ready to take their next shot, wherever it may be.