Street photography? Or just random photos of random buskers?

Street performances are arguably one of the most popular and clichéd street photography topic. I must admit I’m also guilty for this, but who else on the street’s more willing to be shot than a busker? You ain’t gonna be told off, no one’s gonna mistaken you as a creepy psychopath, most performers don’t mind whilst some others do encourage you to take photos if not videos of their performances for the sake of some free online promotion.  Killing two birds with one stone, why not?

Just several things I always bear in mind when I take photos of buskers:
1. Find an act that you are really drawn into, i.e. you won’t mind spending half an hour seeing
2. Don’t just shoot, enjoy the performance
3. Maybe you would like to interact with the performer to learn his story behind
4. Don’t tell them to pose for a photo
5. Incorporate the surroundings into the composition rather than doing a shallow depth-of-view portrait of the performer

Cheers,
Boris