I have always felt that when people pose for pictures, they frame an idealized portrait of themselves that often differs from reality. While I understand the desire to look better than reality, just viewing these photos on social media and otherwise gives a very unrealistic picture of the world. This has contributed to depression among teen social media users who don’t see their lives living up to the unrealistic image of their friends’ lives they see online. However, with street photography, people throughout history have been able to gain an unfiltered idea of how the world works.
CNN has recently posted an article detailing the history and influence of street photography and how the artistic leeway that provides gives greater flexibility to realistically describe life. I highly recommend looking through the other pictures and reading about it at the link below: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/magnum-street-photography-stephen-mclaren/index.html
ADDC 401 Fall 2019 