A renowned Chinese contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, once said: “Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.” It feels like this quote perfectly encapsulates why street photography is so engaging. Photographers, through their skills of observation, capture the most unique life moments that are unscripted, yet are very intriguing. Therefore, today, once again, we have selected from shots shared by the Instagram account Street Photographers, which is dedicated to drawing attention to talented photographers worldwide.
That being said, we are excited for you to see today's picks and let us know which one was your favorite.
More info: Instagram | streetphotographersfoundation.com | Facebook | twitter.com
#1
Photo by Joy Matic.
Image credits: Joy Matic
Bored Panda reached out to Omar Aljiwari, a photographer whose photo caught our attention the most. To learn more about it, we asked the photographer to tell us about the context behind the featured photo.
“I was in Senegal, wandering around. I spotted a hole in a wall and noticed there was a basketball game on the other side of this wall. So, I decided to wait for the right moment to capture a good shot on the basketball court. I waited about three minutes, my eye on the viewfinder of my camera. I felt a presence; it was a child to my left. He was wondering what I was doing, so he also put his head through. I clicked the shutter just as he lifted his head, and then he ran off,” wrote Omar.
#2
Photo by Moises Levy.
Image credits: Moises Levy
#3
Photo by Egemen Demir.
Image credits: Egemen Demir
Street photography comes with its challenges, and Omar shared what difficulties he faces on a day-to-day basis.
“The main challenge in street photography is the people’s wariness of being photographed, especially in Western countries in Europe, notably in France, my country. It’s very complicated to take photos of people, knowing that at any moment, someone might confront us, asking why we’re taking the photo, saying we don’t have the right, etc. For me, that’s the main difficulty of street photography. Everything else is not specific to street photography but to photography in general. Knowing how to compose, waiting for the right moment, understanding how to play with light, working with contrasts, all these general rules of photography also apply to street photography, but they are not the main challenge for me.”
#4
Photo by Jeremy Paige.
Image credits: Jeremy Paige
#5
Photo by Stephen Vanasco.
Image credits: Stephen Vanasco
We were also curious to know who had the biggest influence on Omar’s photography and why. The photographer answered: “In reality, I have several influences; it’s difficult to choose just one, so I will mention a few. First of all, Steve McCurry for his humanistic approach, his use of color, and his portraits, because I love taking portraits too. Then, of course, for me, the absolute master of street photography is Alex Webb because his art of composition is extraordinary, and it fascinates me every time I look at one of his photos. Finally, my idol, I would say, is Christopher Anderson. He’s not really a street photographer, not really a portraitist, he’s a photographer who does a bit of everything and excels in everything he does. He’s really my absolute idol at the moment.”
#6
Photo by William Vanderson.
Image credits: William Vanderson
#7
Photo by Leon Goldenburg.
Image credits: Leon Goldenburg
It's probably sort of obvious that the street photographer is not expected to alter too much in their photos as they are basically a documentary of street life. Therefore, we wanted to know where Omar draws the line regarding editing.
Omar shared: “So for me, editing consists of two parts. The first part, which is pure editing, is choosing the right photos. And this is particularly difficult work because sometimes we are attached to photos that are not necessarily extraordinary because we experienced the moment when we took them. This is not the case for our viewers. It’s very hard to eliminate photos we like in order to keep only the best ones. This part is important in the process. Then, there’s the post-production part. I dedicate a little bit of time to this, but not much. I make sure to correctly adjust the colors and the contrasts so that everything is in harmony for the photo. These are quite basic things, but I try to do them as best as I can. However, I forbid myself from modifying anything in the photo. Because in street photography, we must not digitally alter the scene we captured.”
#8
Photo by Carlo Ferara.
Image credits: Carlo Ferara
#9
Photo by Sally Cooper.
Image credits: Sally Cooper
Omar also responded to what he would like people to take away from his work: “I am quite reserved about my work, which is why it’s difficult for me to answer this question. I think it’s more for others to respond to this question. What inspires them when they look at my photos? Are they inspired at all? Does it make them want to go out and take photos? If that’s the case, it’s already a victory. Besides, I find it hard to be objective about my own work, that’s why it’s hard to answer this question.”
And lastly, Omar shared a bit of advice for aspiring photographers: “Go out and shoot, that’s all. I’m joking, I would tell them that street photography is a 99% failure. So, I would say not to get discouraged if, after a day of shooting, there are few or no good photos; it’s part of the process. Failure is part of the process, and especially in street photography. Because we are often in a situation we don’t control. We don’t know what will happen. All we know is that we are there, at that moment, ready to shoot if something happens, but we are not in control of whether something happens or not. So sometimes, we come back with little of interest. It’s not a big deal. The important thing is to keep that in mind and not to get discouraged.”
#10
Photo by Artin Karakasian.
Image credits: Artin Karakasian
#11
Photo by Chloe Gummer.
Image credits: Chloe Gummer
#12
Photo by Jimmy Marble.
Image credits: Jimmy Marble
#13
Photo by David Mor.
Image credits: David Mor
#14
Image credits: Street Photographers Foundation
#15
Photo by Jay Mor.
Image credits: Jay Mor
#16
Photo by Stephen Leslie.
Image credits: Stephen Leslie
#17
Photo by Ankur Acharya.
Image credits: Ankur Acharya
#18
Photo by John Hedgecoe.
Image credits: John Hedgecoe
#19
Photo by Prashant Godbole.
Image credits: Prashant Godbole
#20
Photo by Steve McCurry.
Image credits: Steve McCurry
#21
Photo by Dima Zverev.
Image credits: Dima Zverev
#22
Photo by Bob Mendy.
Image credits: Bob Mendy
#23
Photo by Elie Beirut.
Image credits: Elie Beirut
#24
Photo by Thomas Mor.
Image credits: Thomas Mor
#25
Photo by Persiflagepics.
Image credits: Persiflagepics
#26
Photo by Robin Fox Photography.
Image credits: Robin Fox Photography
#27
Photo by Steve McCurry.
Image credits: Steve McCurry
#28
Photo by Pierrot Men.
Image credits: Pierrot Men
#29
Photo by Omar Aljiwari.
Image credits: Omar Aljiwari
#30
Photo by Neraz Saeed.
Image credits: Neraz Saeed
#31
Photo by Shirley Baker.
Image credits: Shirley Baker
#32
Photo by Rangefinderx.
Image credits: Rangefinderx
#33
Photo by Brad Jones.
Image credits: Brad Jones
#34
Photo by Shikar Bafna.
Image credits: Shikar Bafna
#35
Photo by David Turnley.
Image credits: David Turnley
#36
Photo by Arthur Pollok.
Image credits: Arthur Pollok
#37
Photo by Prashant Godbole.
Image credits: Prashant Godbole
#38
Photo by Maciej Dakowicz.
Image credits: Maciej Dakowicz
#39
Photo by Thomas Hackenberg .
Image credits: Thomas Hackenberg Photography
#40
Photo by Margarita Mavromichalis.
Image credits: Margarita Mavromichalis
#41
Photo by Helen Levitt.
Image credits: Helen Levitt
#42
Photo by Gregory Crewdson.
Image credits: Gregory Crewdson
#43
Photo by Rony Ford.
Image credits: Rony Ford
#44
Photo by Robert Doisneau.
Image credits: Robert Doisneau
#45
Photo by Thomas Shane.
Image credits: Thomas Shane
#46
Photo by Johnny Keethon.
Image credits: Johnny Keethon
#47
Photo by Gustavo Minas.
Image credits: Gustavo Minas
#48
Photo by Carolina Lopez Bohorquez.
Image credits: Carolina Lopez Bohorquez
#49
Photo by Rober Tomás.
Image credits: robertomasf
