THE QUICK & DIRTY STREET PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE

By Alex Coghe

A survival sheet for the visual thinker. One-liners, no fluff.

WHAT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IS

  • It's not about the street. It's about life.

  • Real people, real moments. No staging.

  • You don’t hunt beauty, you react to chaos.

  • Gear doesn’t matter. Presence does.

  • Street photography is punk with a camera.

  • To be there.

SETTINGS THAT WORK

  • Aperture priority? Fine. Manual? Better.

  • ISO Auto with a cap (3200 or 6400 max).

  • f/8 and be there. Or f/5.6 if the light fails.

  • Shutter speed: minimum 1/250s if there's movement.

  • Sunny 16 rule when you work with a 35mm rangefinder and no light meter.

SEEING & COMPOSING

  • Shoot with your feet.

  • Eliminate distractions, fast.

  • Look for layers. Foreground–Midground–Background.

  • Light is your real subject.

  • Shadows, reflections, gestures: eternal gold.

  • Wait for the right body language.

  • Don’t center your subject. Unless you mean it.

WHAT TO AVOID

  • Don’t shoot what you don’t feel. People notice.

  • Avoid pity porn: if you photograph fragility, better have something to say.

  • Don’t exoticize what's around you. Just because it's different doesn’t mean it's interesting.

  • Forget the "Instagram shot." The street is not a stage.

  • Don’t chase a story: chase tension, humor, contrast, life.

  • Don’t overshoot. Think more, click less.

  • Don’t fall in love with a photo just because you fought to get it. If it sucks, it sucks.

STAYING INSPIRED

  • Study the masters:
    Winogrand, Friedlander, Moriyama, Ellen Mark, Levitt, Koudelka.

  • But also study yourself. Your city. Your routine.

  • Listen to Coltrane. Or The Clash. Walk with it in mind, not headphones.

  • Read Hemingway. Or Henry Miller.

  • Some days, just observe. No camera.

Shoot how it feels, not how it looks.
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about truth.
And sometimes, truth is blurry.

Want more? Check out my workshops

GEAR TALK

  • Any camera works. Use what makes you invisible.

  • You need the experience with film cameras.

  • Prefer wide lenses (28mm–35mm) : they force you to get close.

  • Manual focus makes you feel the scene.

  • Autofocus misses the moment, your instinct doesn’t.

  • Zone focusing: learn it, use it, love it.

  • Forget bokeh. Embrace depth.

BEHAVIOR ON THE STREET

  • Be bold, not rude.

  • Don’t ask for permission. Ask for forgiveness later.

  • Eye contact can kill or make the shot. Learn to manage it.

  • Confidence beats stealth.

  • Smile if needed. Then move on.

  • Never explain what you're doing.

MINDSET & METHOD

  • Work every day. Rain or shine.

  • Don’t chase. Let the photo come to you.

  • Shoot first, edit later.

  • You only need one good photo per day.

  • Forget Instagram. Think in series.

  • Your voice is in the edit, not the shutter click.

EDITING & CURATION

  • Be ruthless.

  • If it doesn’t speak, delete it.

  • One keeper out of 100 is normal.

  • Think in series. Think books.

  • BW or color? Both.

  • Don’t oversaturate life: it’s already loud.

NOTES TO MYSELF

Maybe good also to you

  • Embrace real imperfection

  • Don’t be afraid to speak your own language

  • Avoid being an accountant and a surveyor

  • Do punk

  • Visual Gypsyism

  • Avoid the descriptive

  • Cause communication breakdown

  • Let the observer build

  • Focus on the atmosphere

  • Build aesthetics even with silences

  • Propose new compositional ideas

  • Define your way of telling

  • Push the boundaries of associations

  • Make open contradiction your trademark

  • Stimulate new visual codes

  • Don't be secretive about the filth on the street

  • Open up new avenues on the road

  • Street is your resistance

  • Art exists only if it provokes and is anti-system

  • Presence is not invasiveness

  • Not real, true

  • Listen to yourself, take pictures later

  • Make your movement felt

  • Get lost to find yourself