Back to Earth, Street Photography

Essentially, Street Photography brings you down to earth

And not in a metaphorical way. It literally plants your feet back on concrete, pulls you away from glossy studios, overproduced shoots, and hyper-controlled lighting setups. It puts you face to face with raw reality: with people, chaos, light you can’t control, and moments you can’t rehearse. That’s why I love it. That’s also why it drives many people crazy. _That’s why many hate Street Photography, sometimes taking refuge in a snobbish attitude or in declarations such as "it's always the same" or even “it is not respectful”.

The thing is, street photography tricks people. On paper, it sounds easy. Grab a camera, step outside, shoot what you see. You don’t need a permit. You don’t need a model. You don’t even need perfect weather. But once you're out there, you realize the street doesn't care about your intentions. It throws everything at you: moving subjects, harsh shadows, unpredictable moments, distractions at every corner. You're trying to fish in a sea of noise, and most of the time you walk home with nothing. Or worse: with bad pictures and sore feet.

But here’s the truth: street photography lives in that noise. It feeds off imperfection. It’s built on a foundation of mistakes and near-misses. That shot where the focus just barely missed the eye. That moment where a passerby walked into your frame a millisecond too soon, or too late. That brilliant shaft of light that disappeared just before you clicked the shutter. These aren’t failures. They’re the soul of Street Photography.

You see, other genres allow for retakes. You can ask the model to move slightly left, or change the lighting setup, or wait for the golden hour. Not here. The street gives you no do-overs. And that’s what makes it both brutal and beautiful. You train your reflexes, your intuition. You learn to accept what the street gives you, or learn to see what you didn’t even know you were looking for.

And despite the miracles of modern tech, street photography still rewards the ones who go old school. Shooting in manual mode is not a hipster flex: it’s survival. When light changes second by second, when subjects move in and out of shadows without warning, relying on the camera’s brain isn’t always enough. You need yours. You need to understand exposure like a reflex. Sunny 16? It works. Zone focusing? Essential when you don’t have time to mess with autofocus, and it can be a totally rewarding experience. Back button focus? Probably the smartest thing you'll ever set up, especially if you're moving fast and want control without hesitation.

Street Photography reminds you that control is mostly an illusion. And that’s liberating. It teaches you to observe rather than direct, to anticipate rather than dictate. It doesn’t reward perfection. It rewards persistence. And humility. You shoot a hundred frames to get one that matters, and even that one is probably not what you had in mind.

But when it works, when all the variables align, when the light hits just right, when the subject unknowingly collaborates with your frame, it’s magic. It’s a split second that becomes eternal. And no studio, no staged portrait, no perfect bokeh can replicate that feeling.

This is why Street Photography isn’t just a genre. It’s a practice. A daily meditation. A slap in the face and a lesson in patience. It’s getting lost in your own city and seeing it for the first time again. It's about being present. Fully. Eyes wide open, heart engaged, finger ready. It is not for anyone. Certain brains simply don’t work with Street Photography.

So no, it’s not glamorous. It’s often frustrating. It’s slow. It's full of failure. But it’s also one of the most honest ways to create images. And maybe that’s why it keeps pulling us back to the street, again and again. I get why some art directors hire photographers just like some of them did and do with me and other street photographers. If I were an art director I would have no hesitation in hiring street photographers. Because they, thanks to that experience, are always ready. They (we) are photographers really shooting everyday.