Photogestures
There are gestures that photography has literally invented. Created from scratch. They didn't exist before photography. Let's call them photogenic gestures, photo-generated gestures. Photo gestures.
Need an example? Try spending an hour in Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa (Italy) and you'll see what I mean. Very few photo-tourists can help being tempted to pose for a photo pretending to hold the leaning tower. Italians call them 'Pisa-holders' 
(Martin Parr)
mpo dei Mi
These gestures appear ridiculous and insane without a photographer capturing them from the right parallax.
Similar photo-gestures happen in many other places and situations, mostly playing with monuments and 2D.
Then there are the new photo-gestures created by mass photography with LCD cameras and smartphones. They often remind me of weird ballet positions 
And then there are the photo gestures connected to the dreadful invention of 'selfies' and selfie sticks, with the typical selfie poses that go with them...
All these gestures did not exist before photography, and only photography translates them into images.
Enjoy and do not forget to...
Say Cheese!
Relax, We Don't Steal Souls
Taking Photos Of Strangers in Public Places
Photographing strangers without their consent is a thorny issue.
Many photographers feel awkward, shy or embarrassed when they first attempt street photography.
Many are worried about people's reaction to being photographed.
Many are afraid or uncertain about the laws concerning privacy and photography.
Since street photography is candid by definition, these issues can't be avoided.
Let's examine them and find some possible solutions.
"Photographing without the subject's knowledge lays at the crux of potential ethical conflicts: without knowledge there cannot be consent. On the other hand, the absence of consent does not imply unethical behavior. Moral codes come into play for all parties involved: the photographer, who is looking to exercise his artistic freedom while safeguarding an individual's dignity; the subject, who might ask for the deletion of his image, realizing he has no say in the creation or distribution of the photograph; and the public, who demands both access to street photography (in form of entertainment, news, or art), and to be shielded from excesses". (source www.forwardthinkingmuseum.com/…
Question and concern Number One about Street Photography usually is: 'Is it taking street photos legal?' What if somebody finds out I uploaded his photo on the net? 
Should I find myself a good lawyer?
Taking photos of people in public places is legal. Of course laws differ from place to place and you should be aware of the ones in your country. And of course there are different restrictions whether you take, or publish, or make a commercial use of the picture.
But some generalizations are still possible for western democracies, because the concepts of freedom tend to be similar.
The freedom of artistic expression, hence the right to take photos and have them published, is covered in Constitutions and Charters of Rights as the right to self-expression and the right to enjoyment of property: namely your photo equipment.
Street Photography is a branch of documentary photography with a right to exist, it is a form of artistic expression with a history and a culture. For as much worrisome and incredible this might seem to many people, street photography is considered a form of art.
At the same time the same laws state that 'Everyone is guaranteed a reasonable expectation to privacy'. A statement that appears in many countries' laws and that seems vague enough to keep a team of lawyers gainfully employed for some time
Here is why moral codes, ethics and common sense should come into play, and an estimation should be done between self expression rights, documentary reasons, artistic expression, individual dignity and reasonable expectations of privacy.
I hope the following guidelines will help you getting rid of your guilty feelings while taking street photos.
In general, TAKING a picture of a person in a public space IS LEGAL and within your rights. What is a public space? A public space is a social space that is generally open and accessible to people. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks and beaches are typically considered public space.
A public place does NOT mean public property. A shopping centre, library, museum, park, is still a public place although it may be private property.
Common sense says that intimidating someone by shoving your lens up their nostrils or taking action shots of their every step...could be legally interpreted as assault and could be considered invading people's privacy
.Though also taking photos from a distance with an ultra zoom lens, shooting from a hidden location, a darkened room or Oswald-esque 4th floor window rises ethical questions. Plus it is not street photography. Street Photography means to be inside the scene, part of the scene, and still, remain invisible, not affecting the scene.
PUBLISHING a picture of a person in a public space IS legal with some restrictions. The most important restriction is that you shouldn't publish detrimental, degrading, insulting photographs that serve no useful informative or artistic purpose. You can be liable for publishing this kind of photos. Of course what is detrimental, degrading, insulting etc. is quite subjective and there are abysses of grey areas. Though if recognizable. IF RECOGNIZABLE. IF RECOGNIZABLE! IF RECOGNIZABLE! your subject has the right to ask you to remove your published photo.
A release form for a street photo sounds like a bad joke and in most cases it is out of proportion.
And - honestly - this way our posterity watching our photos will think that the decrease of birth rate in our countries was much more dramatic than it is
.In many countries you need the consent of the subject to commercially exploit images of recognizable people.
Concern Number Two about Street Photography usually is: 'People will stare at me, sue me, beat me up, break my camera, think I am a terrorist, shoot me and dance on my grave'.
No, most likely people won't even notice you. Most likely they will think you are taking pictures of something else around you. Even if they do notice you, most likely they will pretend not to see you. Sometimes they will look at you as if you were a weirdo (which you are) and they will keep away, but most often they won't mind being photographed. Sometimes they will even feel flattered by it (well, ok, don't think you will get girls' phone numbers this way, though). I never had problems taking photos of strangers. If after taking a photo you look intensely to something else, people will think you were photographing it. If after taking a photo you turn and take another one...the same. If you get spotted and caught, just smile. People will be less likely to break your nose. If somebody complains about having his picture taken, try explaining why you took the photo. If it doesn't work, don't insist and delete the photo. Avoid dangerous situations, trust your instinct and feelings towards people.
So, even if street photography won't get you in trouble with the Law and with People....
Concern Number Three about Street Photography usually is: 'I feel awkward/shy/embarrassed taking photos of strangers. How can I take photos of strangers in the street?
It might take a while to get comfortable and take confidence with taking photos of strangers but there are so many ways to work around, ease and solve this problem.
Here are some tips:
Start with easy situations: touristic places, the center or square of the city, fairs, public gatherings, protestations, concerts, the zoo, an amusement park and so on. Places where everyone has a camera. And instead of taking photos of all the above, take photos of people and their surroundings.
Make yourself invisible: you don't need to become a ninja or to learn a spell, you don't even need to be a Leprechaun or Harry Potter. The best way to be invisible is to hide in plain sight. Inconspicuous clothes, eventually a tourist map or guide, a backpack, whatever can make you look like a tourist in visit to the city.
There are a few things that can help you taking pictures unnoticed:
A small camera. A silent shutter (remove the blipping sounds and the assistance light! Don't use the flash!). A tilted LCD screen (god bless who invented it!). LCDs in general allow you to focus while watching somewhere else and just taking a glimpse in the LCD.
Shoot from the hip. This technique needs a bit (scratch it, a LOT) of practice not to end up with a series of photos of the sidewalk...but a neck strap keeping the camera at your chest level, a hand keeping the camera steady and aligned, a wide aperture, and lots of practice in evaluating where the camera is pointing...will allow you to take pictures without anybody noticing it.
Take your boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever friend with you and make them place themselves around you, or take photos over their shoulder (though I would advice you against this technique for your relationship's sake. Your girlfriend might feel hurt or pissed off). Go with a company and keep chatting while taking photos.
You could keep moving so to remain unnoticed.
Start with a focal lens that makes you feel comfortable, take shots of the things you find easier to capture. And then step by step get closer and more daring.
A few examples of street photos that won't make you feel uneasy?
Take back shots (but with a meaning): Taking photos of the backs of people is the easiest thing. They can't see you. Just...the backs of people usually are not very interesting. So try to be creative and original doing it.
Take photos from above. Again, your subject won't be able to spot you.
Use shadows. Instead of framing the people, frame their shadows on walls or pavement.
Use reflections. This is a clever and creative way to photograph people.
Line up your shot and wait for someone to walk into the frame. If you are ready you can press the shutter without looking in the camera.
You can even take street photos with only a detail of a person or with no actual people in it! A good street photo can be about people even if people are not in the frame.
Remember that a street photograph is not just the portrait of a stranger. A street photograph is something more and different.
Street photography is an eye focused on the ordinary, on the every day life.
A few links you might find useful:
Yard Tuesdays: Jumpers
Derrière la gare Saint-Lazare, pont de l’Europe (Paris, 1932) by Henri Cartier-Bresson
The photograph above was to Time magazine, “The Photo of the Century”.
By then, photographs of puddle jumpers were clichés, but as New York Times remembered, “Cartier-Bresson brings to his image layer on layer of fresh and uncanny detail: the figure of a leaping dancer on a pair of posters on a wall behind the man mirrors him and his reflection in the water; the rippling circles made by the ladder echo circular bands of discarded metal debris; another poster, advertising a performer named Railowsky, puns with the railway station and the ladder, which, flat, resembles a railroad track.”
“There was a plank fence around some repairs behind the Gare Saint Lazare train station. I happened to be peeking through a gap in the fence with my camera at the moment the man jumped. The space between the planks was not entirely wide enough for my lens, which is the reason why the picture is cut off on the left,” he explained in his usual laconic manner.
This picture became in time the stereotype of Henri Cartier-Bresson's 'decisive moment' : “Photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organisation of forms which give that event its proper expression.” This famous quote is from the lengthy introduction of Cartier-Bresson's book The Decisive Moment, published in 1952. Though, at the time this picture was taken, Cartier-Bresson was only 24 years old, he had taken up photography only a couple of years earlier and had just bought in Marseille his first Leica camera. Only 20 years later Henri Cartier-Bresson theorized the Decisive Moment.
This picture might well be the most imitated, emulated and reinterpreted photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Friedrich Seidenstucker, Auf dem Sprung; Henri Cartier Bresson, Derrière la gare Saint-Lazare; Mike Stimpson, Behind the Gare Saint Lazare
Here is a little dA collection of jumpers. Let's consider it an offering to the god of street photography!
Yard Tuesdays: Mannequin
Mannequins are a bit of a cliché in street photography but they still fascinate and intrigue me for their ability to symbolize or represent the human presence even where no humans are physically present in the scene. Their veracity, their convincing expressions, their perfect features ensure that they can represent human feelings and thoughts, while they offer a variety of possible interactions and connections with real people and with their surroundings.
Here are a few illustrious mannequin street photos:
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Elliott Erwitt
Constantine Manos
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander
And here is a little selection of photos from dA showing different ways to play with mannequins in street photography:
