People-watching explained

People-watching or crowd watching is the act of observing people and their interactions in public.[1] [2] It involves picking up on idiosyncrasies to try to interpret or guess at another person's story, interactions, and relationships with the limited details they have.[3] This includes speech in action, relationship interactions, body language, expressions, clothing, activities and crowd behaviours. Eavesdropping may accompany the activity, as documented by the humorous blog Overheard in New York, though is not required.[4]

For some people, it is considered a hobby, but for many others, it is a subconscious activity they partake in every day without even realizing it. People-watching is distinguished from naturalistic observation, a process used for scientific purposes, compared to people-watching as a casual activity, used for relaxation or inspiration for characters or characters' mannerisms in their own creative works.[5] It can also be distinguished from street photography; while the street photographer necessarily undertakes a form of people-watching, they do so for the purpose of composing photographs for artistic and documentary purposes.[6]

Notes and References

  1. News: Davis . Candace . September 6, 2014 . People Watching: Harmless or Perverted? . Huffington Post . December 14, 2015 .
  2. Burton . Tara Isabella . October 2015 . People-Watching in Paris . National Geographic . December 14, 2015 .
  3. Quadflieg. Susanne. Koldewyn. Kami. 2017-04-12. The neuroscience of people watching: how the human brain makes sense of other people's encounters. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1396. 1. 166–182. 10.1111/nyas.13331. 28405964 . 24422967 . 0077-8923. 1983/1e73b5d8-848d-40e0-a5c1-80392dcfae20. free.
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/travel/15weekend.html?_r=0 "People-Watching: Here’s Looking at You"
  5. Web site: How to Begin People Watching. eHow. 3 November 2015.
  6. News: Street photography now. 4 October 2010 . 6 April 2016 . Phil . Coomes . .