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The Beauty Of Street Photography
Street photographers strive to capture the life and culture of city streets, searching for what Henri Cartier-Bresson, probably the most famous street photographer of all, termed the ‘Decisive Moment’.
When it comes to street photography, many photographers traditionally choose to work in black and white, focusing the viewer’s attention on the subject by eliminating the distraction of colour. Wide angle lenses are used by photographers who like to get in close to the action, a method that encourages interaction between the photographer and subject. Another technique is use a lens with a long focal length to take photos from a distance and throw the background out of focus.
Smashing Magazine celebrates the diversity and livelinesss of the world’s streets by presenting you 50 excellent examples of street photography, urban photography and photojournalism. There are links to the photographers’ websites and also some useful links to articles and tutorials at the bottom of the post.
Please notice: we didn’t feature Garry Winogrand, Bruce Gilden, Martin Parr, Henri Cartier-Bresson and other famous photographers — their works deserve a single post.
You may be interested in the following related posts:
- Beautiful Black and White Photography
- 60 Beautiful Examples Of Night Photography
- 50 Stunning Examples Of Reflective Photography
- The Showcase Of Rain Photography
[Offtopic: by the way, have you already visited Smashing Magazine's Facebook fan page? Join the community for a stream of useful resources, updates and giveaways!]
60 Incredible Street Photos
Narelle Autio
Lisbon, Portugal.
Egill Ibsen
Madrid, Spain.
Craig Martin
Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
Ransom Riggs
Dublin, Ireland.
Claude Renault
Patna, India.
Adriana
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Claude Renault
Chennai, India.
Richard Ford
Beijing, China.
Stefan Nielsen
Venice, Italy.
Umberto Verdoliva
Italy.
Richard Ford
Beijing, China, but it could be everywhere.
Jimmy Dovholt
Stockholm, Sweden.
Mario Jean
San Francisco, United States.
Moses Stell
Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Nino Cannizzaro
Savoca, Sicily.
Last Click
Hamed Masoumi
A photo of Curig and Esther, a beautiful Iranian couple.
Resources
- Documentary and Street Photography
Street photography tutorial from Luminous Landscape. - Street Photography
Tutorial by Philip Greenspun at photo.net. - Joel Meyerowitz on Street Photography
New York City pro photographer Joel Meyerowitz gives a video tutorial on street photography. - iN-PUBLiC
iN-PUBLiC – a home for street photographers. - Raw Street Photography
Official website of the Flickr group Raw Street Photography. - Masters Of Street Photography
- Masters Of Street Photography
- 50 Master Photographers
- The Real Street Photography Flickr Pool
- Just Street Photography Flickr Pool
- Extreme Street Photography
- Street Or Studio Flickr Pool
- 5 Fav Street Photography
- Street Noir Flickr Pool
- WNYC’s Street Photography Challenge
- hello, stranger Flickr Group
- Hardcore Street Photography
- Street Noir Flickr Pool
- Street Photography: The Suchness of Life
Famous Street Photographers
- Henri Cartier-Bresson
The French photographer who coined the term ‘The decisive moment.’ - Bruce Gilden
American street photographer famous for getting extremely close to his subjects. - Martin Parr
Quirky and colourful photography from a master documentary photographer.
Related posts
You may be interested in the following related posts:
Andrew Gibson is a photographer and writer. He runs Magical Places Fine Art, an online photography magazine and another great photography resource.
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Loading ...- 81 Comments
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December 14th, 2008 2:57 pm#10 with the little girl dancing.. good stuff
- 3December 14th, 2008 3:03 pm
Wow, this is cool :D Great for my monday morning inspiration!
- 4December 14th, 2008 3:03 pm
The collection is so real – you can FEEL them inside
- 5December 14th, 2008 3:29 pm
Nice collection… seems a lot of photographers over-baked their images in post production… Very talented shots though!
- 6December 14th, 2008 3:35 pm
Awesome post. Really inspiring.
- 7December 14th, 2008 4:07 pm
Narelle Autio is Australian not “Lisbon, Portugal” and makes photos mainly in Australia, at least those shown were made there… just like her husbands’ – Trent Parke, Magnum Photos member. great post :)
- 8December 14th, 2008 4:42 pm
Some of those pictures gave me so much emotion! I feel strange now.
- 9December 14th, 2008 5:56 pm
Nice collection of inspirational street photography.
DKumar
http://www.instantshift.com - 10December 14th, 2008 6:00 pm
Love this type of photography very inspiring. I like the dove shot!
Great post!
- 11December 14th, 2008 6:10 pm
Love this post! Thanks :)
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- 13December 14th, 2008 6:35 pm
Wow…what a great collection of street photography/photographers…This is definitely more photography than I can digest at one sitting…a must-have bookmark…I have featured a short post of this wonderful article on my photo blog…thanks again.
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- 15December 14th, 2008 9:32 pm
This is a great collection. They are all wonderful in their own journalistic sense; Photographs that encapsulate moments of purity, a snap of time as if the camera wasn’t even there.
A few of my own photographs (Feel free to add me as a contact)
- 16December 14th, 2008 10:06 pm
Thank you SO much for the inclusion of my picture on your list. It’s a big honor to be featured among such amazing photographers. And thanks to all of them, too, for the great inspiration provided by their photos when I’ve seen them.
Sion.
- 17December 14th, 2008 11:07 pm
Nice collection. Love the picture of Moses Stell.
- 18December 14th, 2008 11:46 pm
The last click makes me believe in a better world…
thanks for the fantastic post smashing magazine!!! - 19December 15th, 2008 12:27 am
Beautiful pictures.
I especially like Matt Stuart’s and Nick Turpin’s photos. They have brought the word “pun” to another level through images. Very English humour :)
- 20December 15th, 2008 1:03 am
Fantastic set! I’ve been waiting for one like this for a long time.
Jaden
- 21December 15th, 2008 1:56 am
#10 Zwarte piet :D Dancing fantastic
- 22December 15th, 2008 2:18 am
Why not just say great photos.
A train is not a street, nor is a seaside cliff or an art gallery or a cafe or bar ……BTW, they are great pgotos
- 23December 15th, 2008 3:16 am
my favorite set would have to be misterkey’s. the last pic with the shadow… looks as if they shadow was about to tap on her shoulder, when it’s actually her hand near the wall. pretty good angle!
- 24December 15th, 2008 3:25 am
Should’ve been 40.
- 25December 15th, 2008 3:51 am
Bonjour, j’aime bien la photo du caricaturiste … Les autres sont biens mais celle-ci est ma préférée !
Hello, I like the photo of the cartoonist … The others are property, but it is my favorite!
- 26December 15th, 2008 4:13 am
Truly beautiful collection you guys. It’s articles like this that keep me coming back.
@ John who posted at 2:18 am
Among the many accepted definitions of the word street are:
- the inhabitants or frequenters of a street
- coarse; crude; vulgar</cite - 27December 15th, 2008 5:14 am
“The Decisive Moment” was not the book’s original title but that of its English language version.
Its original French title, “Images a la Sauvettee”, means images taken on the wing, on the fly, stolen images, a somewhat less positive connotation, - 28December 15th, 2008 5:58 am
That is, in my opinion, the best photography post I’ve seen yet on Smashing Magazine. Absolutely love it and will be forwarding on to friends.
- 29December 15th, 2008 6:05 am
I completely agree with Nathan.
Great pictures…Most are B&W by the way. - 30December 15th, 2008 6:18 am
oh nice pic`s
- 31December 15th, 2008 6:20 am
some of these are kinda “blah”
- 32December 15th, 2008 6:30 am
This is great inspiration for us amateur photographers who want to be more pro-like.
- 33December 15th, 2008 7:15 am
Not a bad collection, a few good ones in there, some “urban landscapes”, some that seemed poised or setup which throws out the whole “Decisive Moment” mantra.
Look at any Magnum photographer for more fine examples of Street Photography
- 34December 15th, 2008 7:25 am
These photos are really amazing. There’s just so much vibrancy and life here.
- 35December 15th, 2008 8:21 am
Great post thanks! Here is a load more from another guy i found on flickr. Some of them are simply great! Tony Littlejohns on Flickr
- 36December 15th, 2008 9:37 am
Wow!… Isn’t photography awesome?!!!!
- 37December 15th, 2008 10:07 am
Great post. Inspiring stuff. Definitely need to step my game up.
- 38December 15th, 2008 10:51 am
What’s the deal with model relseases for street photography? I was always under the impression that they were necessary.
- 39December 15th, 2008 3:40 pm
These photos are truly amazing and I think the best part about them is the moments they capture, you really feel like you are there.
After my fiance proposed to me with a gorgeous diamond engagement ring from http://www.idonowidont.com we are looking for a photographer who can get natural moments photographed, where its just us just being us, not formal.
We would totally love to find someone who can take the knowledge of capturing street photography and translating them to our engagement photos!
- 40December 15th, 2008 10:30 pm
nice pict’s :)
love it all… - 41December 16th, 2008 2:46 am
To ANN:
Congratulations on your engagement!!! I don’t know if you would consider my style fitting, but if so, I would gladly try my best to make you guys proud of your union and get your complicity put into images…. you can check my style at my Flickr page… available if you click on my picture on this post…
Thanks!
- 42December 16th, 2008 6:06 am
Fantastic post and many of these photographers are just the sort of people I would get n with.
I too am a urban photographer and have my own website about the subject of urban photography and its beauty. If any one is interested it is at http://www.urban-photography-art.com
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- 44December 16th, 2008 9:42 am
Great post – really beautiful shots. I love this type of photography x
- 45December 16th, 2008 10:58 am
These are so nice. Its amazing what you can do with a camera and just the right moment in time. It’s sometimes hard to find the perfect moment to capture and better yet, be ready for it when it actually happens. Beautiful.
- 46December 16th, 2008 2:00 pm
Impresionantes!!
Awesome!! wow!!
- 47December 16th, 2008 9:40 pm
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Is that just black and white, or is that clown in blackface…?!
- 48December 17th, 2008 4:53 am
No words to describe my surprise !! Really cool post.
Expecting such posts in future also. - 49December 17th, 2008 7:20 am
Some of these might be considered “street” photography; some are not, and, what’s worse, some are posed. But better than the hideous “Fantastic HDR” nonsense.
- 50December 17th, 2008 8:38 am
Hi the link to my flickr stuff above is incorrect try this instead
http://www.flickr.com/photos/devtank/
thanks for the exposure.
- 51December 18th, 2008 6:50 am
I am just getting started. You are an inspiration.
- 52December 18th, 2008 7:06 am
i need help,im trying to become a photojornilst can someone help?
- 53December 18th, 2008 7:18 am
Stumbled into smashing magazine and wow.. Gorgeous pictures! Hope to pick up the techniques that you have shown so beautifully… =)
- 54December 18th, 2008 9:21 am
Wow! Great photos. If you love street photography and travel, you could write about it. I’m sure you’d have interesting articles. By the way, I really liked the Venice, Italy and Stockholm, Sweden photos.
You may want to check out Travel-Writers-Exchange.com. You could combine your love of photography with writing. It’s another way to reach many people.
- 55December 18th, 2008 12:31 pm
Thanks, Rebeca!
And thanks to Andrew for including me in this very fine collection of streetshooters. It´s not every day my images get 15 minutes of exposure ;D
/Jimmy
You´ll find a nice compilation of some of my images at Onexposure, http://1x.com/?member=2594&jimmy-dovholt
- 56December 19th, 2008 2:32 pm
another of the best Helen Levitt [http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/levittlist.htm] and someone might be interested in my own: photography [http://www.i-am-z.com/photoz.html]
- 57December 21st, 2008 11:42 pm
You can also see a few other photographs that I’ve found! Beauty on the street I and Beauty on the street II
- 58December 26th, 2008 9:32 am
that’s grates. like before
- 59December 26th, 2008 6:15 pm
A very nice group of street photos!
My 70’s Street Images…
- 60
- 61December 28th, 2008 9:06 am
Great choice of photos – gives the essence of real street-photography
- 62December 30th, 2008 10:14 am
Very nice collection!!
Congratulations! - 63January 5th, 2009 1:06 pm
Hi Andrew,
I ad a link to your site on my site because I like your site :-)
grtz, Nico
- 64January 10th, 2009 7:07 pm
Killer, I love street photography, Nice gallery
- 65January 15th, 2009 10:57 pm
hey its beautiful photography……….thnx a lot……
- 66January 27th, 2009 12:14 pm
this sucks
- 67January 28th, 2009 3:06 am
As the article stated some truly awe inspiring images.
- 68January 29th, 2009 8:51 am
reminds me of his photo’s: http://www.vanilladays.com/hdr-guide/ check de menu: recently
- 69February 1st, 2009 5:47 am
Beautiful selection of street photography. Many favorites here, especially work by Trent Parke and other In-Public photographers. Bravo!
My street work can be seen here:
robertbrownimages.com - 70February 1st, 2009 9:16 pm
There’s something so magical about street photos…now I’ve got to check out the links included above…
- 71February 2nd, 2009 2:22 pm
Wow, wow, wow, absolutely beautiful shots…where is my camera, I’m going out!!!
- 72March 8th, 2009 1:05 pm
I Like them all, no hipshot fucko’s…well framed.
Thank You
- 73March 21st, 2009 10:40 pm
the phote so so so cute
- 74April 25th, 2009 7:05 am
thank you for showing this beautiful street photography….and thank you for posting!
- 75June 17th, 2009 2:07 am
Thanks for publishing some of my pics. One digital (bleah) and one my lovely TMAX-400!
@ John
Street shooting isn’t about being on the street. It is just a label. Street shooting is about creating or freeze framing the random and fleeting juxtapositions of real life.
I also second the fact that Mark Kitaoka should be looked at. He is one of my influencers and is a damned sight better than I.
http://www.markkitaoka.com/photo-blog/
Cheers,
RF. - 76
- 77August 23rd, 2009 1:02 am
Great post, still amazes me everytime I visit it..
- 78August 25th, 2009 8:11 pm
Thank you for publishing my photo!!!
- 79August 30th, 2009 8:37 am
Really great examples, makes me want to go out and shoot street myself! This is a site I never get tired off.
iarehuman.com
updated everyday so theres always good street stuff to look at.
- 80October 23rd, 2009 7:04 pm
Really great examples.
Here you can find some interesting gallery of street photography and reportage. Thake a look becuse are really nice. - 81
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That’s great inspiration post. Thanks for this post. More beatiful is David Solomons.