What were itinerant street photographers called?

July 29, 2013 8:05 AM

Im the mid 20th century there was a thing where photographers would snap pictures of people, usually groups of people – on major streets, in nightclubs, at the seaside – then give them a business card and shill them to buy prints. What's the phrase for this trade, or this job?
posted by zadcat to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

Best answer: They were called sidewalk photographers in San Francisco, where I had many a picture taken by them in the 1950s.
posted by Carol Anne at 8:30 AM on July 29, 2013

Best answer: Newspaper accounts of the time usually just called them "street photographers." Unlicensed photographers in the UK were called "smudge grafters."
posted by Knappster at 8:30 AM on July 29, 2013

Best answer: The street photographs were often called "walking pictures" ("walkie snaps" was a UK variant). "Itinerant photographer" is a term I've seen used often to describe the photographers themselves.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:37 AM on July 29, 2013

The Museum of Vancouver has an exhibition about Foncie Pulice, who the museum describes as "the last man standing from Vancouver’s great era of post-war street photography."

I saw the exhibition a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it.
posted by quidividi at 4:29 AM on July 30, 2013