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How street photography changed my life

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Today marks 10 years since I attended a photography walk that would change the course of my life.

If you’d have told me at the time that this would lead me to photograph Arnold Schwarzenegger from just metres away, spend an evening alone drinking cocktails in a bar where the drink chooses you (before then going to sleep in a nuclear bunker), star in a toothpaste advert (ironic, given my British teeth), or be chased down an alleyway by an angry Danish man, I’d never have believed you.[Read More…]

Ditch these five bad habits to become a better street photographer

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Street photography is one of the genres I personally find the most challenging. Even though I love street photos, I’ve never really managed to master this genre myself. In this video from Roman Fox, I learned why it may be so. He talks about five bad habits that can hold our street photography back, and I recognized myself in most of them. So, if you’d like to become a better street photographer, keep reading and make sure to watch the video.

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Focal length feud: 28mm vs 35mm for telling a story

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From April to August 2020, our small co-operative of photographers decided to apply our documentary photography skills to tell a story about what seemed to be coming together as one of the most unique summers in recent memory. We started out with the intention of documenting an account of life under the shadow of an emerging pandemic, along with the adjustments required to prevent its spread. We looked at the consequences of lockdown, social isolation, supply shortages, and a permeating sense of unease towards the status quo.

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The importance of background in photography composition

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Today I will discuss the importance of background in photography composition illustrated with some examples of mine.

Part of a larger series covering elements of composition in photography for which you’ll find links at the end of this article.

I taught myself photography in quite a specific order, I navigated / progressed through various urban photography genres:

Graffiti Photography > Urban Landscape Photography > Street Photography

It’s the reason I realised early how important an image’s background really is, allow me to explain:

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Art and coincidence: perfect examples of the decisive moment

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Photography has been with me for as long as I can remember. In my childhood, my father had an old Zorki camera, the Russian Leica II copies, and he had a habit of developing films from our trips in the darkroom. That place with unfamiliar smells and substances had a unique charm for me.

I always asked to be there and learn myself the process of film development, as seeing the blank paper turn into an image was magical to me. Later on, I was accepted to the Faculty of Art and focused on visual arts and analog photography.

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Photographer rigs an IMAX projector lens to a Canon EOS R

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When shooting street photography, you’ll most likely choose a small and discreet lens. But sometimes it’s worth experimenting with bulky ones, and Jay P. Morgan sure took it to a new level. He rigged a huge IMAX projector lens onto a Canon EOS R camera. He used a very DIY approach to make it work, but it was worth the effort because the photos are truly something else.

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These 22 “street photography” pictures are just what you need if you are in lockdown

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In this gloomy time, I think we all need a bit of laughter, but also a bit of inspiration to start observing the world around us. Hong Kong-based photographer Edas Wong brings humor and street photography together. His “accidental” photos will give you the giggles I’m sure you need, but also motivate you to get outside with your camera and look at the world from another point of view.

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This article sparks outrage after calling street photography “gender-based violence”

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An opinion piece in the NY Daily News recently caused quite a stir after referring to street photography as “gender-based violence.” The author shares her encounters with street photographers, two of which ended in her calling the police. She even proposes a law that would “protect women against all nonconsensual, exploitative photography and videography.” As you can imagine, her opinion wasn’t appreciated by street photographers or anyone who appreciates this photography genre.

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How to take street photos like Vivian Maier

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Vivian Maier is probably the biggest photographic phenomenon of 2010s. After her negatives were discovered, her immense talent was shared with the world, and there’s even a documentary about her. If you look up to her work, Frederik Trovatten has a really interesting video for you. In the very first episode of How to Take Photos Like…, he analyzes Maier’s work and tries to replicate her unique style.

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If Sharpness Truly Mattered Cartier-Bresson Would Be a Joke

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While teaching a recent workshop I joked that street photography was the only genre where people would buy £3k worth of cameras and lenses and then deliberately use them to make out of focus, grainy, imperfect images. This led to a pretty interesting discussion about the merits to imperfection, and I think some of those points are worth sharing here, as it really helped contextualise some of the students ideas about their work, and allowed them to shoot a little more freely, chasing down perfection in moments rather than technicalities.

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