A longer focal length - 85mm to 135mm equivalent - lets you work from a distance. Subjects are unaware. Expressions are natural. The compressed perspective stacks elements in the frame in a way wide angles can't.

This is observational photography. Less confrontational than wide and close, but capable of different pictures entirely.

Watch for: camera shake at longer focal lengths - keep your shutter speed up. And watch for the background becoming as prominent as the subject due to compression.

The point: not every session needs to be close and direct. Sometimes the best view is from across the road.