The streets in which we walk are a perfect source of inspiration as there are many things that you can photograph, but how to photograph them? There are many streets inside our country and outside it in the countries that we visit and these streets are full of buildings, people, art and more. You may think that it is an easy thing to photograph what can be found in the streets because everything is available in front of you and you do not need to exert a huge effort to find something to photograph. As a matter of fact, street photography is not easy and you have to learn more about it as a beginner to be able to capture your photographs in a creative way. You have to carry your camera with you wherever you go to be ready to capture photographs at anytime. There are also other things that you have to consider when you capture street photographs such as smiling during photographing strangers to get a good response, waiting for the right moment to capture, trying to tell a story through your photograph and more factors that can help in capturing stunning street photographs. In order to learn more about street photography, take a look at the following top 10 best street photographers in the world with being based on their experience and creativity.
10Chris Arnade – United States
Chris Arnade started his career as a trader on Wall Street and after 20 years he decided to be a photographer. He started capturing his photographs in 2012 to be a unique photographer who differs from other photographers whom we know. He does not use photography to show the beauty of the surrounding nature or to record the happy moments that people live. He uses street photography to focus on addiction which is one of the worst and most serious problems in our society. He tries to help his subjects by giving them the chance to share their dreams and burdens with us. The addicts tell their stories and Chris Arnade posts them the same they are trying to allow those addicts to solve their problems and live a better life.
Danny Santos is a creative photographer who specializes in capturing portrait, commercial and street photographs. Photography started with Danny Santos as just a hobby. He was capturing photographs of strangers every weekend in the streets of Singapore but now it is completely different since he spends most of his time in creating his personal photography projects and capturing commercial photographs for his clients. His clients include Yolk SG, Brilliant Agency, Tolleson Design, Agenda NY, National University of Singapore and more.
John Diaz is a Colombian freelance photographer who specializes in capturing lifestyle and street photographs. His work is based in New York and he is the owner of New York Street Photography. He believes that the streets and the different public spaces which are available to anyone are the best source of inspiration because they always present what is new especially for photographers who look for capturing what deserves to be immortalized.
7Thomas Leuthard – Switzerland
Thomas Leuthard is a professional street photographer who travels to different countries all over the world to visit the big cities and document the life in their streets. Thomas Leuthard loves street photography because it allows him to experience the life that people live in different places all over the world in addition to making new friends. His goal is to capture the soul of strangers in his photographs and to show amazing things that are difficult to be observed by other ordinary people walking in the streets. If you are interested in Thomas Leuthard’s photographs and want to learn more about his style of photography, try to make use of his workshops and the photo walks that he organizes.
Eric Kim is a street photographer whose passion for photography and studying sociology have helped him to capture amazing photographs. He travels to different countries all over the world to document people’s lives in the streets. He did not find it easy to capture street photographs when he started his journey in street photography. This is why he now tries to allow others to make use of his experience and knowledge through his blog and the street photography workshops that he teaches in different cities around the world such as London, Paris, Beirut, Dubai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Zurich and more famous cities all over the world.
5David Alan Harvey – United States
David Alan Harvey is a creative photographer whose passion for photography motivated him to start capturing photographs at an early age. In 1956, he started his journey in the world of photography by capturing photographs of his family and neighborhood. In 1966, he published his book “Tell It Like It Is”. In 1993, he joined Magnum to become a full member in 1997. David Alan Harvey is the founder and editor of Burn Magazine and there are also other books that he has published such as “Cuba”, “Divided Soul” and “Living Proof” which is about hip-hop culture.
4William Klein – United States
William Klein is a professional street photographer who specializes in capturing street and fashion photographs. He produced several books of photography such as “Rome” in 1960, “Tokyo” in 1964, “Moscow” in 1964 and his famous book “Life Is Good and Good for You in New York” which shocked many people especially those who live in New York for being aggressive and crude and this is why the book did not find a publisher in America. William Klein left photography in 1965 and returned to it again in the 1980s. He received several awards for his creative work such as Prix Nadar, the ‘Medal of the Century’ by the Royal Photographic Society’ in London and other awards for his creativity and unique style of photography.
Vivian Maier is an American street photographer who was born in 1926 and died in April 2009. She travelled to different places around the world such as France and when she returned to the United States, she worked as a nanny and caregiver to be her main work for the rest of her life. Vivian Maier started capturing photographs in 1949 and left it in 2000. She was photographing in her spare time to show us the real life in the streets. Vivian Maier’s work is being archived and cataloged to allow other generations in the future to enjoy it.
Benoit Rousseau is a creative street photographer whose passion for photographing strangers and desire to show his love for Paris with its stunning places are responsible for motivating him to capture these amazing photographs. He started his journey in the world of photography in 2008 to be his main work. He tries to improve his work for creating good photographs and he focuses in his photos on shooting strangers to keep himself happy. In addition to photographing strangers, Benoit Rousseau captures photographs of nature and events.
Rui Palha is a professional street photographer who is passionate about capturing photographs and being in the street. Photography allows Rui Palha to discover more about the surrounding world, immortalize special moments in life and document what the heart feels and the eyes see. According to Rui Palha, being in the street is also a good chance for the photographer and anyone to experience, understand, learn and practice the freedom of being, thinking and living. Rui Palha’s work has been featured in several national and international magazines and books and he has received many awards which show his creativity and unique style in capturing his photographs.
What do you think of these photographers?
Do they really document what happens in our streets?