#2 - the more street photography I see, the more I hate the whole genre. There's definitely more bad "street" than bad "fill in the blanks"
With respect, I think the second sentence of this statement is BS and is a direct result of the first. You hate the whole genre, THEREFORE you perceive there is more bad street photography than bad flower shots or photos of the Eiffel Tower or photos of Ryan Braun or whatever it is you DO like.
I like blues - even really mediocre blues sounds good to me. Even my OWN sorry attempts to play blues used to occasionally sound good to me. I don't like Country music or heavy metal - therefore I perceive that most country music and heavy metal is crap and I only tend to like the very cream of the crop. Only the very best of it sounds kind of OK to me and I don't even spend much time listening to THAT. Same with opera - I can't stand it, but that doesn't make it BAD. It just means I don't like it.
I think 90% of any genre is crap, and that may be a low estimate. And how badly we dislike that 90% is directly related to how we feel about the top 10% - if even THAT leaves us cold, we're gonna have less patience for the other 90...
I'll agree with you in one sense, though. I think street photography is the hardest type of photography (at least of those I've personally tried) to do well. I get a far lower percentage of keepers when I'm on the street than, say, taking pretty pictures of perfectly pleasant Positano or Praiano, which is honestly a bit like shooting fish in a barrel - it's almost hard NOT to. But those pesky
people won't sit still, won't compose themselves the way I'd like and stay there until I can line up the shot, won't maintain the same expression or hand gesture or interaction I'm trying to catch, won't get in the right light, etc. so it's a given that there will be more street shots that won't work out than shots of flowers, which tend to just freaking SIT there with total patience while you find your damn macro lens and screw it on, or landscapes, which are always moving, but only in geologic time. You just have to get there when the light is right and have half an eye for composition and you'll come away with something reasonably nice.
Street is like playing an improvised jazz piece - you have to be quick on your feet and react to what everyone around you is playing at the same time you're trying to play your own shit. Not easy to do at all, let alone well. But some of us us keep trying because on the rare occasion when it DOES work, it's remarkably satisfying. I'll raise a glass to a well intended improvisation that goes astray every time, because I know how hard it is. And trying really hard stuff is a noble act in itself, and if you can't handle learning from abject failure, you should try something else.
So you're probably right on the math, but the spirit of your statement is just bias against something you don't like.
-Ray