Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama once described street photography as capturing the alien and the unknown. A photographer goes out to the city streets, out of their comfort zone, and shows us different experiences, different people a different world.
The Street Photogprahy subreddit is a place where enthusiasts of this art form can come together and share their work, discuss technique, gear, or their philosophy behind shooting street. At least, that's what their bio states. "Photos in the streets, freaks in the sheets" is how they describe themselves. So, here we have a collection of the most captivating moments shared in the group for you to lose yourself into.
Bored Panda reached out to photographer James Maher to chat about street photography. He kindly agreed to tell us what makes street photography different from other genres of photography, how to shoot street without disrupting the moment, and what's the future for the art form now that we're all armed with tiny cameras in our pockets constantly. Read our conversation with him below!
#1 I Was Lucky Enough To Get The Perfect Reflection Line Up For This Shot After A Rainfall
Image credits: Geardupvisuals
#2 On The Way, Cairo
Image credits: AshrafulArefin
#3 Morning In Himalayas
Image credits: bipolar_but_not
James Maher is a New York-based art and documentary photographer, historian, guide, writer, and educator who dabbles in studio photography. James has 20 years of experience behind the camera and agreed to share some of his expertise in street photography with us.
As a genre, street photography is full of contradictions. "[It's] both a massively accessible and extremely difficult genre," James explains. "It mixes documentary and poetry, searching your surroundings while looking for moments and ideas that pertain to you."'
"The best street photographers bleed their personalities into their photographs over the long run," James adds. "It may seem like a genre of disparate images, and it often is when photographers first start out, but over time the work congeals to have cohesive meaning."
#4 Snowy Night In Sapporo, Northern Japan
Image credits: Prestigious-You8779
#5 One Night In London
Image credits: PresuminEd74
#6 Sometimes You Just Get Lucky
Image credits: oldmanmedium
James says that shooting streets involves some of the things that benefit our mental well-being. "It's healthy, physically and mentally, walking to escape the stresses of life and actively looking and thinking is a wonderful mental exercise," he says. "Over time, you start to recognize yourself in your photos."
He says that the photographer's emotions often can be visible in the photos they take. "When I'm feeling anxious, I capture more anxious photos," he admits. "When I'm happy, my photos are happier. It is a flexible genre that allows you to ultimately take it in any direction you want."
#7 Once Upon A Time In Newcastle
Image credits: langshot
#8 Rainy Day In Osaka
Image credits: sikkik
#9 Street Light Moment
Image credits: Expressir_
Street photography is also relatively easily accessible. "You can do it while you travel looking for spectacular moments or stick to photographing while walking around your block hundreds of times looking for interesting moments in the mundane," James says. He alters his shooting style depending on where he is. He says he'd do more candid photographs than portraits in a busy city.
#10 Some B&w Street Photography Shots Taken These Last Years
Image credits: Adriony
#11 Faces (Patan, Nepal)
Image credits: AshrafulArefin
#12 My Favorites Over The Last 6 Months
Image credits: RedditJMA
"People are used to photographers, but I will use a small camera and prime lens so I am fast and light, and make it look like I am not noticing my subjects," James tells Bored Panda. "Instead, [I look] above or behind them as if I am looking at the background (which I am also doing)."
#13 Toronto, 2021
Image credits: EugeneKleinFoto
#14 Mirror Dimension
Image credits: oldmanmedium
#15 I Was Told This Was A Good Street Photography Shot
Image credits: zefmiller
James has more tips to seem incognito while shooting on the street. "When I capture a photograph, I often don't take the camera away from my eye, which can tip the person off that I took their photo. Instead, he moves the camera away from them or lets them walk through as if they were in his way. "I like to stand on street corners to allow people to enter my personal space," he adds.
#16 Another Philly Photo. One Of My Personal Favorites And Hardest To Take
Image credits: TuGuac_Shakur
#17 In Light Of Recent Events
Image credits: Askedal89
#18 New To Reddit. Deciding To Share Some Of My Work
Image credits: TuGuac_Shakur
If people do notice, James doesn't hide or deny it. "I smile, tell them what I'm doing, and if ever anyone is uncomfortable, I offer to send them the photo or delete it if they would like. And, most importantly, I walk slowly, allowing things to develop around me. It's important to walk slow," he shares his tips.
#19 Shadow And Reflection
Image credits: neloydutta
#20 Vertical Street Scenes
Image credits: noelrojo
#21 Snowy Night In Hokkaido, Japan
Image credits: Prestigious-You8779
When he's in the quieter parts of a city, James focuses more on the environment and the background. "But when I capture people, I will often do more portraits since it is the polite thing to do," he says. "That doesn't mean I don't take candids, but I am much more cautious when I do. You have to be able to adapt your shooting style to the area," he believes.
#22 Should I Crop It Or Keep It As Is?
Image credits: GreenMead
#23 Some Shots From My First Few Months Of Shooting
Image credits: Zaknotwack
#24 Zakopane
Image credits: langshot
We also asked James whether smartphones and social media have affected street photography. He believes that it has. "For photography in general, the algorithm has made many people look for the most spectacular photos that look good on small screens, capturing photos that will capture our attention for a few seconds to click the like button before ultimately forgetting about them forever. This is boring," James shares.
#25 A Rainy Evening In Hong Kong
Image credits: stfeyes
#26 Lonely
Image credits: CopyTop6170
#27 Timing
Image credits: MeaveMeave
"There are so many subtle and mundane photographs that may not do well with the algorithm that are the most interesting photos," James tells us. "I honestly think the single image is [gone]. We are surrounded by so many spectacular single images that it feels like there's no point in thinking that way."
#28 South Haven, Mi
Image credits: Mobile-Low-9370
#29 Motion Capture
Image credits: oldmanmedium
#30 Got Real Lucky With This One
Image credits: madebyjonny
"The true power of street photography is in the series of photographs, the book, the project," James tells us his philosophy. "This is a way to break free of the algorithm and to really send a message, to capture your area, your thoughts, and to break down the barriers between us."
"As for photographing with a smartphone, the accessibility aspect of that for photography is absolutely wonderful. However, I prefer to use a camera because photography is my time to detach, and I just can't do that with my phone," he admits.
If you found James Maher's thoughts as compelling as we did, you can find more at Glass City, where he writes a column about photography, creativity, and urbanism!
#31 Almost 20 Years Later And I Still Can’t Believe I Got My Camera Out In Time To Capture This
Image credits: lookslikesinbad
#32 One Of The Coolest Photos I've Ever Taken
Image credits: vedbag
#33 Good Or Not Really
Image credits: MoneyPen1931
#34 People Of New York
Image credits: aabywan
#35 Quit Photography For 4 Years And Recently Starred Shooting Again. Here’s A Few From The Archives And Recently! Hope You Enjoy
Image credits: IddyBiddyChuck
#36 Street Surrealism
Image credits: noelrojo
#37 Japan
Image credits: Suspicious-Future411
#38 I Had The Light Where I Wanted It For About 3 Minutes
Image credits: yequalsmxplusb
#39 Picture I Took Back When The Flatiron Wasn’t Just Scaffolding ???
Image credits: CopyTop6170
#40 Nikon F - 40mm Pancake - Sf Bus Smile
Image credits: mehoart2
#41 Sometimes, You Get Lucky
Image credits: badaimbadjokes
#42 I Shot A Friend’s Birthday Party Over The Weekend(Fuji X100vi)
Image credits: November11th
#43 A Lady And A Bird In Vancouver
Image credits: SevernDamn
#44 Late Night Rain In Osaka
Image credits: MirrosHill
#45 Street Photo Series With Something Red
Image credits: Ikraaap
#46 Some Of The Last Digital Images I Ever Took Before Switching To Film Fully
Image credits: stevenrlillis
#47 Some Recent Shots From Tokyo
Image credits: JHalay
#48 Boston Streets
Image credits: velvetvapors
#49 I Often Find Myself Shooting In Very Abstract Ways. Is It “Street?” Who Knows
Image credits: IddyBiddyChuck
#50 Some Photos I Took In October
Image credits: stfeyes
