Shooting From the Hip

How do you take photos? As a photojournalist, chances are that you peer through the viewfinder, find the right exposure, discover a sweet-ass background and wait. And wait. And maybe wait a little more.

Hell, let’s get fancy and refer to this process as “composing a photo.” You waited for that picture, and you probably got it. Good for you, right? Give yourself a pat on the fucking back. Too bad that’s out of style now.

It stems from the daily struggle in which photojournalists go out of their way to point out that no, they aren’t “art photographers” while at the same time envying the shit out of those who are.

That photo with every element in just the right place? Hate to tell you sweetheart, but it’s shit. It’s stuffy. Composition is for losers. Welcome to the new, radical, never-before-seen method of shooting from the hip.

Shooting from the hip is exactly what it sounds like. You hold up the camera, and click away without looking through the viewfinder when you see something interesting. I mean, why would you want to take the risk of making good photos?

You go home and check out your take after this motor-driving blind bonanza, and what do you end up with. Hm, well this one is kind of blurry. This one is kind of cool…but it’s so tilted that it looks like a scene from Vertigo. Oh, this one’s great! Wait…is that a penis in the corner? Maybe this didn’t work out so well after all.

Let’s face it. You have a few good accidental frames, but most of your take is of stranger’s crotches. Give it up. You’re no fucking Scott Strazzante (unless you actually are, and in that case, hello!).