Street Photography Magazine

Street Photography | Workshops

Ask people you think look interesting if you

can take a portrait. Even if this approach seems

a little forced, asking for permission can break

the ice and get the ball rolling. It is easier than

you might think to go up to people on the

street, and openness often creates a relaxed

atmosphere right off the bat. What have you

got to lose? And next time, you might even be

confident enough to simply snap away.

If you intend to shoot at a single location for

a longer period of time, it nearly always helps to

make contact with residents, shop owners and

stallholders to explain what you are doing and

ask for permission to take occasional photos.

A chat in advance of a shoot helps people to

relax and gives you the chance to capture

spontaneous scenes once your subjects have

forgotten you are there. I once shot a long-term

project on the subject of home slaughtering in

the village where I grew up. The local farmers

were skeptical at first, but soon got used to

having me and my camera around. Before long,

they were happy to have me take photos and

Portraits of Strangers

I took this shot while sheltering from

heavy rain on a trip around the city of

Frankfurt. This man wanted to shelter

too, but posed spontaneously for a

portrait while doing so. I used the

telephoto lens that happened to be

mounted on my camera.

My subject told me that he was on his

way back to Africa after a lengthy stay

in Europe. I sent him a copy of the

photo vie e-mail.

ISO 400 | 250mm focal length | f5.6 | 1/160 s

Time required:

4x two hours

Equipment:

Fixed focal length lens (50 or 85mm)