“Street photography” got a name from 20th century photographers who acquired new, inconspicuous hand-held cameras, and who roamed the public streets looking and reacting to what they saw. The word ‘moment’ was defined anew. With opportunity to photograph people without intrusion, big events and even non-events became subjects of art. The genre continues, though the stage has broadened beyond the street. The artist, the art lover, and critic, justifiably, ask “Why? and, How?”. Typically these photos are taken without confirmed permission from persons in the view. Though the public is becoming jaded to the idea of “having their picture taken” in public, the rule of law protects the taking of pictures of persons and places, except under circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Privacy would prevail at home, or, at a private party or gathering place not viewable or accessible to the public.
Humor arrives at the Portrait Museum, Washington, DC: two standing in a window well, as if they were waiting in a short line, to nowhere?
Passers-by notice but may not acknowledge.