1. A camera

Whatever kind of a camera is good. Either it is a ridiculously expensive rangefinder or an unbelievably cheap point and shoot compact. Either it shoots digital or it shoots film. Either it weighs a ton or it weighs few grams. ANY camera is fine as long as you have it with you.

2. A public place

This can be out in the streets or at the beach or inside a hotel's lounge or in a diner place or inside a supermarket or a mall or a school or whatever PUBLIC place. This public place must be visible in our picture. And things must be happening in this public place.

3. People

Exactly, people! We need people in candid situations. Definition of "candid" from Merriam-Webster's online dictionary: "subjects acting naturally or spontaneously without being posed" Definition of "candid" from Wikipedia: Candid photography is best described as un-posed and unplanned, immediate and unobtrusive. This is in contrast to classic photography, which includes aspects such as carefully staged portrait photography, landscape photography or object photography. Candid photography catches moments of life from immersion in it.

4. A story,

a unique moment, an interaction between people and their environment or between people and people, a special "something" that is being happening in front of our eyes and it is worth capturing in a picture.

There's nothing special in people strolling down a street if we can't focus our attention in something special that's being happening in front of our lens.

Let's see now some examples of pictures that I don't consider as  "street".


We have the street, we don't have the people here. 




Here we have the people but we don't have the environment, the place.


Both people and environment are present here, but there isn't really a strong interaction between them.

Colour vs B/W

Street photography is very much about composition. Sometimes colour can be distructing. Sometimes colour adds to the frame. Try both. Decide yourself what suits you better in every particular picture. Avoid selective colouring, partly desaturating or tinting. Street needs no cheap frills which make a good image bad and a bad image worse.

Street, Photojournalism or Portrait?

Very often, the line between Street Photography, Photojournalism, or Portrait Photography is very THIN and responsible for endless arguements. Many times there are subtle differences between these 3 categories. But these differences are not the subject of this SIMPLE street photography guide.


Useful resources and articles

For a more complete guide about Street Photography make sure to click on this [link] and download the 160 pages book included. It's mostly full of great examples of what Street Photography really is.


Another article certainly worth every minute of reading it, is this: [link]
A bunch of links from the #The-Yard-Collective [link]

Please feel free to ask me anything, concerning the Street genre. I'll do my best to answer you.

See also: Street Photography for experts