Street photography is a tradition almost as old as the invention of photography itself, capturing the essence of urban life. For a street photographer, the street is like a stage full of possibilities, the cast unknown until the shutter is pressed.
And it looks easy, right? Many think it’s all about being in the right place at the right time and capturing daily life, but as much as this is undoubtedly helpful, a lucky shot here or there won’t make you a stellar photographer.
This article will examine 24 street photographers who have changed the genre as we know it today!
The Pioneers of Street Photography
During the earliest days of photography as an art form, what we now call street photography hardly existed. Hand-held camera designs took a while to be feasible, exposure times were very long, and the techniques that now define this genre needed time to mature.
So, who were the earliest pioneers of street photography who got the ball rolling? What made their work so special and era-defining? Let’s find out!
1. Henri Cartier-Bresson
Well known as the founder of the decisive moment and one of the founding fathers of street photography, Henri Cartier Bresson is one of the most famous street photographers in history, and he is celebrated for his famous work.
His favorite subjects included everyday people in the streets of France, often capturing them in the style of documentary photography. Additionally, Bresson enjoyed sharing the human condition and the stories of the lower and middle classes around the city streets of Paris, exploring the depths of human nature. Lastly, he is one of the founding fathers of the Magnum Photographers group, founded in 1947. His use of 35mm film is iconic in many ways.
2. Helen Levitt
The most celebrated and least-known photographer of her time, Helen Levitt’s work was exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in 1943. Helen Levitt shared playful and poetic images that delighted generations for nearly 60 years.
She loved capturing fleeting moments around New York and gave a glimpse into her humor through her photos.
3. Robert Frank
American street documentary photographer Robert Frank, who was Swiss-born, became largely known for his work in America. His images explored the nuanced views of outsiders in American society.
His most notable work is The Americans, published in 1958, which explored the social landscape of America.
4. Diane Arbus
Best known for her “photography of freaks” Diane Arbus her work tries to normalize marginalized groups. She spent many years photographing people around NYC with disabilities or those living on society’s fringes.
Sadly, like her mother, Arbus suffered from depression and violent mood swings. She committed suicide in 1971 at the age of 48.
5. Bill Cunningham
A Harvard University dropout, Bill Cunningham began his photography journey and became famous for his work with the New York Times. His photos, which combined fashion and documentary style, changed street photography in many ways.
He often found trends that no one else saw, from fanny packs to sunglasses. Lastly, his work is worth millions today and still inspires many fashion blogs.
6. Vivian Maier
New York street photographer Vivian Dorothy Maier was not recognized for her iconic photographs until long after her death. She worked as a nanny for 40 years, carefully documenting the world around her and many fascinating pictures of herself. In 2013, John Maloof directed and wrote a film exploring her life, “Finding Vivian Maier” (2013).
The film won him an Oscar in 2015. Maier’s street photographs are still some of the greatest of all time. She was intensely guarded and private and seemed to use street photography to express herself privately. Furthermore, her work is comprised of over 100,000 images! She was the queen of the decisive moment and someone you should study.
Mid-20th Century Innovators
The decades surrounding World War II were an immense period of creative growth and technological refinement in the world of photography. Of course, that applied to modern street photography too, which evolved dramatically during this crucial period.
Here are some of the greatest creative voices to emerge out of the midcentury era.
7. Joel Meyerowitz
Next is Joel Meyerowitz, who began photographing in color in 1962, which was advanced for the time. Most street photographers were still shooting black-and-white images. Meyerowitz shot many street portraits and landscapes; he was considered a pioneer of color photography.
His photos have been exhibited in 350 exhibitions, and he’s published over 30 books. He now splits his time between New York City and Italy.
8. Garry Winogrand
Garry Winogrand was one of the most influential photographers in America of the mid-20th century. He is best known for portraying American life and its social issues.
Many believe that Garry Winogrand transformed street photography because he used a 28mm wide-angle lens. In film, he could have his subjects perform and tell stories in every image. He shares images that make the viewer feel like they are looking at a piece of fine art instead of someone else’s everyday life.
9. Jill Freedman
Long before the days of Instagram, Jill Freedman became a highly respected New York City documentary street photographer. Her images are still part of the permanent collections at The Museum of Modern Art and the New York Public Library. Additionally, she is regarded among the best photographers of her time, as she tells stories of oddballs, activists, and protests around New York. Freedman’s photos show the darker sides of living in the city.
Freedman said activism and protests inspired her to shoot and pick up a camera. She joined a circus for a few months, where she shared the world of performers, elephants, and clowns! She also enjoyed following around NYC firemen and policemen, photographing their daily jobs. “I set out to deglamorize violence,” Freedman told the New York Times in 2015.
10. Lee Friedlander
In the 1960s and 1970s, Lee Friedlander influenced the world with his “American Social Landscape” project, leaving a significant mark on photography history . By sharing fragments of his subjects’ lives, he became one of many award-winning photographers. His photos include posters, street signs, reflections, and photos framed by fences.
He spent a lot of time following jazz bands and using self-reflection in his images. He helped many discover new perspectives and gain self-growth through their work. His work proves that you don’t just have to photograph people to become a famous street photographer.
11. Bruce Gilden
Of all the photographers on our list, Bruce Gilden uses the candid close-up method the most in his iconic images. His favorite camera is the Leica M6. After studying acting and a few other subjects at university, he dropped out of school and started taking photo classes.
The first time he developed his own photo, he said, “I had done something besides sports for myself, and it was incredible.” Additionally, he has taken many road trips across America, which he enjoyed shooting for himself and no one else.
12. William Klein
Noted for his ironic approach to imagery, William Klein used more unusual techniques than other famous street photographers of his time. His work often blurs the lines of beauty and rawness, and his images are often grainy and gritty.
He was born in New York in an Irish neighborhood and spent much of his time escaping to museums to find inspiration before enlisting in the army. He was sent to France, where he studied history at the Sorbonne. From there, he was hired by Vogue to shoot fashion, which greatly influenced his street photography work. Furthermore, combining street and fashion photography inspired many of his peers and is still something we see today in many fashion images.
13. David Alan Harvey
A full-time member of Magnum Photos, David Alan Harvey has worked extensively for National Geographic magazine, significantly impacting contemporary photography. He has traveled all around the world, shooting a lot of his work in South America. He is considered one of the best street photographers of yesterday and today because of his use of light and color to evoke emotion from the viewer. Furthermore, one of the most essential things for Harvey is having something to say in his images. His photographs share a common theme of raising questions.
When asked about the role of social media in photography, it seems that Harvey enjoys using platforms like Instagram. Harvey says, “The new platforms of online and the social media—I use it to build an audience, to number one teach—and number 2, to put out my own work. Like the new book that I did in Rio de Janeiro, I put an online paywall for $1.99. That helped finance the project and sell the book. So I’m very comfortable with Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and the digital age online.”
14. Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt was an American photographer whose images explored absurd situations in everyday life. His black-and-white candid photos are still iconic today.
He was born in Paris in 1928 and immigrated to the US, where he spent his adolescence living in Hollywood. It was here that he took an interest in street photography, which later led him to New York, where he worked alongside Robert Capa. Today, Elliott Erwitt still works for many magazines, including LIFE.
15. Josef Koudelka
Josef Koudelka is known for his images of the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968. He was only 30 when he began snapping away during this harsh time.
Magnum Agency smuggled him out of the country. Later, he would continue to travel around Europe as a nomadic photographer, exploring themes such as freedom and using walls in many of his photos.
16. Saul Leiter
Painter and photographer Saul Leiter worked as a street photographer in the 1950s and would later be recognized for his work at the New York School of Photography.
While his family expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Rabbi, Leiter chose the path of photography. He was fascinated by abstract art; his work is considered less humanist and more artistic.
17. Bruce Davidson
Most of the photographs of Burce Davidson were taken in Harlem, New York City, but have been exhibited worldwide.
Additionally, his images explore communities that are typically hostile to outsiders. He is quoted as saying, “If I am looking for a story at all, it is in my relationship to the subject – the story that tells me, rather than that I tell”.
Contemporary Street Photographers
The early twentieth century may have laid the groundwork and the creative energies of the forties, fifties, and sixties refined it, but that does not mean that more contemporary street photography is anything to sneeze at.
Far from it – as the following creative minds prove too clearly, there is still a lot of amazing urban photography being shot up to the present day.
18. Paola Franqui
Puerto Rican-born Paola Franqui is an expert in visual storytelling. She has a BA in Criminal Justice but turned her hobby into a full-time career instead.
Franqui constantly pushes boundaries and tries to master timing in her work. Lastly, she has worked with many major brands, including Uber, Sony, and ESPN. You can see more of her work on her Instagram.
19. Girma Berta
Girma Berta is an avid user of Instagram, a tool to show brilliant street photographs. Her images are often colorful and tend to play with shadows and movement.
She is a self-taught photographer based in Ethiopia. Her work fuses street photos with fine art and is a commentary on the digital revolution in Africa.
20. JR
When I first heard of JR, it was as a reference to ‘the French Banksy’.
Certainly, the comparison seems apt. Both of these men have fundamentally changed street art. Both remain anonymous and only recognizable by their pseudonyms. And, of course, some of their most iconic images can be seen on facades and even in galleries in major cities around the globe.
Still, to describe JR even as derivative would be to sell him far too short. A self-described ‘photograffeur’, something of a photographer-street artist, JR started out in the world of grafitti. Eventually, inspired by street and documentary photography, he began using a camera to create lasting impressions of his work.
This later evolved into a unique style and art form, which he is an early pioneer of.
Often covering social and political issues in his work, JR remains a highly provocative figure in France, though the contemporary art world would definitely not be the same without him.
21. Sebastián Bruno
Argentinian photographer and filmmaker Sebastian Bruno is far more than a master of street scenes.
His photography takes cues from a cornucopia of styles and influences, and it is clear Bruno enjoys a challenge. But what unites it all is his ability to combine a candid photography aesthetic with a deep, realistic portrayal of human emotion that goes far beneath the surface of everyday life.
22. Alex Webb
The work of American photographer and Magnum Photos icon Alex Webb is definitely a fixture of street photography that I can only encourage you to study.
An early promoter of colour photography known for his series of small-town life across the Americas, Webb displays the kind of empathetic sense for his subjects and an eye for spontaneous street compositions that many street photographers aspire to.
23. Daido Moriyama
Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama has taken some of the most iconic photographs in the street photography genre since the beginning of the twentieth century.
His largely black and white images capturing the feel and the creative spirit of post-war Japan have received critical acclaim from the world over, making him an important figure in the international scene.
Moriyama’s photography has never ceased to be trailblazing. If anything, he has only gotten more daring in recent years, refining and adding to his fine art-influenced style.
24. Fred Herzog
Born in Germany but spending most of his life in Canada, Fred Herzog got famous for his color slide photography of street life in Vancouver during the mid-twentieth century.
A loyal user of the legendary Kodachrome positive film, Herzog’s post-modernist candid street photography speaks of the banal, the ordinary, and the sophisticated at the same time.
Viewing the complexities of everyday life through a lens of sharp wit, Herzog’s photography became hugely influential and admired over the course of his long life and career.
We hope you enjoyed this list of famous street photographers! Did you see any we missed? Drop us a comment and tell us some of your favorites! Also, don’t forget to check out these books and tips to better your own street
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