As the tattoo says 35mm is my favorite focal length. In this post I explain my reasons.

A premise: Most of the current street photographers around the world prefer the 28mm lens. This is simple to explain: a 28mm lens is more capable of bringing a scene into a view due to simply being wider. I can concede that at the beginning, with little experience as a street photographer, a 28mm lens for street photography can be more difficult than a 35mm lens in terms of framing and composition, but when you get used you can take advantage of the greater depth of field, because the greater the focal length, the shorter the depth of field. A 35mm lens in this sense is more difficult and the out of focus error is more likely. Adopted by Garry Winogrand the 28mm is currently converted into the preferred lens of most street photographers, but i am not like the most of street photographers and this is why my reasons come now.

I am on old school Street Photographer

When we see in front of us our vision manages to reach 60/70 degrees and the 35mm lens coincides with this measurement. My main goal when I photograph and share my vision is precisely to show those who will observe my images what I saw and perceived when I was there. This thing of making you feel like you are there is a great and unfriendly inspiration and motivation for me.

WHAT I SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

This motto identifies my visual pursuit as a street photographer all the time. However, this lens is still wide-angle enough to allow me to anticipate the action that will happen a few moments later.

2. I'm not usually an interventionist photographer

Although I have no problem shooting in your face, approaching and sometimes interacting with my subjects, when we talk about real personal satisfaction I prefer those photographs where I have remained invisible and my action of photographing was not the cause and effect of the generated photo.

The 35mm focal lenght allows me to maintain that discretion that sometimes it is not possible to achieve in 28mm.

3. Consistency of my work

Girls- Fashion District, Los Angeles, California-2011

Since I have been doing street photography, the 35mm lens has been a constant for me. I was in Los Angeles with a 35mm equivalent for my Olympus, then the Leica X2 and now the 7 Artisans lens. Despite I worked also with 24mm and 28mm, my way to see is with the 35mm lens and this contributed to give consistency to my work.

Many people say me that they can recognize a photograph when is made by me. And I am pretty sure that my lens of choice influences this perception.

4. 35mm is a documentary lens

I have always maintained the fact that I am first of all a documentary photographer and this is also the essence for my street photography. If I forget the documentary value, I'm not doing a good job as a photographer. Of course, this is just me. And not pretending for other photographers is the same.

When I see visual jokes made by other street photographers, I get bored soon. This is because they are photos for their own sake, which do not describe the place and do not offer social reflections. They are only visual jokes aimed at showing how good the photographer was at capturing them but nothing more. And the content can make you smile and surprise at the moment but then there is very little left.

From before I became a photographer I was a writer and always oriented towards the human, its psychology, the human condition that is and what still remains for me the greatest inspiration for my photography. This is why I am a photohournalist, a portrait photographer and, yes, a street photographer.

I am not going to say that 28mm can not be: a photographer like Paolo Pellegrin uses a 28mm lens for his documentary work. And speaking in general: it always depends on the photographer's eye and approach. With 28mm is possible to make a great work too. It depends also by your position respect to the suject and what you are photographing and how you photograph it.

However, I can say that my aesthetic is with 35mm lenses.

5. A always ready lens

The fifth and final reason is that this lens is perfect for the way of photographing. A way that uses speed, shooting at the last useful moment, instinct as a philosophy applied to my photography. I photograph everywhere. I photograph in places where you can’t think to get close all the time like tough hoods. And I photograph from the car, from the bus. This also counts in my assessment.

For the past three years I was anchored in my landscape project and the 28mm focal length worked quite well for me. But when I think to photograph people 35mm is the way to go. Soon I will back to Oaxaca for my expedition where there is no gap between street photography and journalism. The 35mm lens is the always ready lens. You can consider it as the must for travel photography too.

Conclusions

This post doesn’t want to apologize that 35mm is the best lens for street photography. Also for Joel Meyerowitz it is the preferred lens when it comes to street photography, but as I said for Garry Winogrand and Daido Moriyama was the 28mm. Man is a complex animal and beauty is precisely from not thinking all the same. This makes photography more exciting which would certainly be flatter if everyone used the same focal length.

Choose the focal lenght that works for you and make it your own vision & style lens.

With this post I just hope to inspire someone.

5 reasons why 35mm is my favorite focal length when it comes to street photography

Street Photography: the sense of community

10 of the most inspiring street photography video on youtube