People-watching or crowd watching is the act of observing people and their interactions as a subconscious doing. [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, for example 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. Naturalistic observation is used for scientific purposes, whereas people-watching is 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 does people-watching, they do so for the purpose of taking photographs of the people for art and documentary purposes. [6]