I recently read an opinion piece which listed various kinds of street photography the writer felt we don’t need more of. This person says they have judged photo competitions, I suppose to lend weight to their opinion. They gave several examples of classic street photographers (all well-known white men) who “already did it and did it better”. In their view the things on their list, only one of which involves not respecting people’s personal space, are better off left to those who have done it before.
Outside of agreeing I would be happy to never again see photos capturing people off-guard or in compromising positions, their opinion annoyed me deep down in my photographic soul. Thank goodness it’s an opinion, not a law. I felt especially angry on behalf of people new to street photography who may read that piece and put down their cameras as a result.
The fact of the matter is no one sees things the same way you do. I don’t care who has done it before: they are not you. I don’t care who doesn’t want to see more of that theme: someone else finds it fascinating and may have never been exposed to it, if they hadn’t come across your photos. No one is telling classical composers we don’t need more sonatas or symphonies. No one is telling athletes we don’t need more basketball players. And imagine the uproar, if we decided we don’t need any more white, male presidents in the United States of America, because 45 of them since 1789 is more than enough.
Bottom line: shoot what interests you. There is an audience for it. That audience may be smaller than you fantasized about, and it may take more time than you would like for them to find you. But like my small group of faithful Patreon team members they are out there. Heck, YOU are out there, and why shoot stuff YOU wouldn’t want to look at? So keep shooting what you love, sharing it on social media, and submitting it to calls for entry. Those who aren’t interested will scroll on by and leave space for you to interact with those who enjoy your work.