Public disconnect

In this Huck article on her street photography in London in the 1990s (now published as a Cafe Royal zine), Joan Piekny makes an interesting observation: "Back in the '90s, the vibe was different. People would hang around on the streets, taking a break from work to smoke a cigarette, people watch, and sometimes strike up conversations. There was eye contact, communication, and people were more approachable. In the earlier era the only distraction was people lost in their own thoughts, and that could create a beautiful mood to photograph."

It's an intriguing point: has the advent of the smartphone, which monopolises people's attention even when they're out and about in public and on the move, made it more challenging for street photographers to find engaging subjects, and for them to then engage with those subjects? Piekny implies that it has.

Of course, smartphones have also impacted street photography in a more obvious way: by giving anyone the means to take pictures in public without a giveaway long lens. While this might seem democratising and may have facilitated more candid images, it has also reinvigorated decades-old debates around legality, ethics and consent.