What is #streetsnap, a huge hit on TikTok?
In 2023, the hashtag #streetsnap was a big hit on TikTok, a short video app popular with young people, winning the TikTok Trends Award 2023, which determines the most popular “trend ” within the app. The official page explains as follows:
“Street Snap,” which has spread through TikTok, is a trend where people approach others on streets to take beautiful photos. It has attracted attention as a means of communication that not only enhances and shares charms of various people, but also shares different perspectives and sensibilities. The total number of views of Street Snap exceeded 1.33 billion as of December. (TikTok Newsroom, December 15, 2023)
I am not a heavy user of TikTok and I do not know much about it, in fact. However, as a photo critic and a researcher of the history of photography and art, I can’t ignore the #streetsnap phenomenon.
And it is not just because of the extraordinary 1.33 billion views. It is because the form of “video” and social media has significantly changed the meaning of the act, “taking photos on the street,” which has become almost unacceptable due to people’s growing awareness of privacy and crime prevention.
In general, “snapshot” or “snap” can be understood as “an impromptu photograph of an everyday moment.” In the world of photography, however, the term “snapshot” is associated with valuing elements such as “neutral facial expressions and movement of the subject,” ” photographers avoiding prior arrangements and staging,” and “caution to prevent the subject from performing due to the intervention of a camera,” in addition to daily-life quality and improvisation.
In particular, Japanese photography has traditionally excelled in “street snapshots,” photos of streets or photos taken on streets. This genre of photography was established in sync with the appearance of photographers such as KIMURA Ihei, DOMON Ken, and WATANABE Yoshio in the 1930s. After the war, it played a central role in “serious photography” as one of “expressions,” as seen in the “realism photography movement” led by DOMON and in the active efforts of photographers in “PROVOKE,” such as NAKAHIRA Takuma, TAKANASHI Yutaka, and MORIYAMA Daido
These snapshots do not necessarily require photography subjects to be oblivious to the camera, but at least photographers do not actively approach people passing by on streets, although children might be an exception. Also, they reflect a kind of voyeuristic desire of photographers who are more interested in “the society as it is” and “the subject as it is,” even though degree of desire may vary depending on the photographer. But without that desire, photographs capturing “things as they are” or “people as they are” could not be achieved.
What about #streetsnap on TikTok, on the other hand? Due to the characteristics of the medium, they are in the form of videos that play automatically. A typical video begins with a scene that a Streetsnap shooter (TikToker), who shoots both videos and photos in many cases, approaches a person walking on a street, saying :
“Excuse me, but do you have a minute? I am taking Street Snap photos on social media. I think you are super cool, so I wonder if I could take some shots of you.”
Difference from traditional “street snapshots” in photography
After the approach, questions such as “What are you here (in town) for? What do you usually do?” follow. Then, after the subject has decided how to pose for photos, the shooter films the scene of shooting photos, inserting photo images in the video. Watching the LCD screen of the digital camera on the spot, there is a conversation such as “It looks like this/How do you like it?” and “It looks awesome.” Finally, the video ends with saying “Thank you” to each other.
In short, a completely different format from traditional “street snapshots” has been established here. Even though Street Snap uses the word “snap” in its name, it is not actually just a single photo, but rather a video on social media that uses photos as a gimmick for communication and storytelling.
Originally, when viewing photos on social media on LCD screens, due to the “inflation” of photos, which have significantly increased in quantity, there is a tendency for “a single photo” to hold less meaning, as is evident in the photo sharing app Instagram. Moreover, “#streetsnap” does not uphold the belief that “a single photo can have power,” nor the traditional framework that supports this belief.
In addition, the assumption that a TikToker and a subject have consent indicates the collapse of the voyeuristic orientation inherent in traditional “street snapshots,” that is, the thesis that “in order to capture something as it is, a photographer should shoot unnoticed by the subject.”
However, I do not mean to lament over it now. Especially European and American photographers have been reflecting on the voyeuristic aspect of “street snapshots” since before people became more aware about privacy and personal data protection, in other words, before street photography started suffering severe headwinds.
Looking back at history, in the 1960s, when snapshots on “streets” flourished in the world of photography, such photographs were meant to rebel against the era of photographic magazines, which started with the first publication of “LIFE” in 1936.
In other words, if we suppose that “photojournalism” was a message of “simple justice and humanism” delivered to the public by the Allies during World War II, “street snapshots” existed as a device to convey “thoughts that cannot be expressed by words” through the photographer’s private gaze. The snapshots were regarded as a “new documentary,” and “New Documents,” the exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1967, marked a turning point in the history of photography.
However, this trend seems to have come to an end in the context of the 80’s post-modern criticism of modernism. What was questioned was the power structure based on the asymmetry of the gaze, mediated by the camera that conveniently captures the subject. This is to say that it is a criticism of the dynamics. The possession of the camera itself gives a photographer an advantage while a person being photographed is in a weaker position.
Walker Evans, photographer who confronted “voyeurism”
In short, many people have come to acknowledge that they should be very careful when taking pictures. Under such circumstances, those engaged in “serious photography” sought to respond to the criticism in a way that went beyond merely reaching a “consensus.”
I would like to mention Walker Evans (1903–1975) as one of the pioneering photographers. Evans photographed New York subway passengers from 1938 to 1941. He “secretly photographed” passengers sitting in the opposite seat by skillfully controlling a camera hidden in his coat. This series of photos was an attempt to capture and honor unknown citizens unaware of the camera’s existence.
However, it was in the 1966 photo book “Many Are Called” that Evans released his subway photo series as a complete work. Reasons for delaying publication for more than 20 years include the illegal act of photographing on subway trains in New York, privacy concerns, and the influence of McCarthyism in the early 50s.
However, this can be understood from Evans’s remarks: Even though he feels guilty about the act of “secret photographing,” he deliberately takes on the ethical burden and approaches his subjects with a strong conviction in the photographic aesthetic of the “gaze.” In other words, it may have taken him 20 years to reconcile his right to gaze with his ethical inquiry.
Going back to TikTok’s #streetsnap, the way it shows the process as its content that Street Snap shooters approach people on streets and get acquainted in the short term seems like a negative picture of the reality that “street snapshots” as a “serious photograph” are struggling to survive.
In such cases, photographers humble themselves to gain “consent.” And by leaning on the “consent,” those who are photographed turn into “strong” and “unique” subjects that makes themselves and others more attractive. The asymmetry of the gaze is concealed as if it had been nullified and photographs capturing “things as they are” and “people as they are” are missing the point. Then, only the portraits created through communication is brought to the forefront.
In that sense, TikTok’s #streetsnap is optimized for the modern era as short, momentary content that doesn’t impose a burden on oneself or others; in other words, it is fine to be quickly forgotten or it deliberately resists lasting.
The position of “serious photography” in the age of amateurism
From a perspective of photography history, I should mention one more thing: Going through the big change that cameras were built into mobile phones, now we are in a situation where photos taken with a smartphone can be shared with others instantly. Owing to ever-evolving auto-correction technology, it has become far easier for amateur photographers to release “quality images” without acquiring special skills.
The democratization of technology is wonderful and should be greatly appreciated, but on the other hand, the artists of “serious photography” are in trouble. Snapshots have historically embraced amateurish qualities like camera shake and blurring as a form of “beauty,” so drawing a line between them and amateur photography is becoming more complicated than ever.
In my opinion, such aesthetic of photography with amateurism is fundamentally different from the the values of TikTok’s #streetsnap. However, in any case, with the sheer volume of images on social media, there is a chance that what was once called photography will be represented only in lower categories, such as in TikTok-style videos, or even as mere “content” for videos.
In today’s social situation, taking photos on streets, which can be regarded voyeuristic, will surely become more difficult. Will the new style on TikTok be intermingled with the “serious photos,” or will it be thoroughly segregated?
The immediacy required of photography until the 20th century has mostly shifted to video media. We should take a positive view of the time lag and delay between shooting and publishing of “serious photographs” in the modern era, pinning our hopes on a strategy to repeat trial and error or detours, which can be said to be foolishly honest in a sense, so as to compile records in the form of a photo book over time. I would like to endorse the idea.
* The information contained herein is current as of April 2024.
* The contents of articles on Meiji.net are based on the personal ideas and opinions of the author and do not indicate the official opinion of Meiji University.
* I work to achieve SDGs related to the educational and research themes that I am currently engaged in.
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