I’ve always been drawn to photographing people on the streets.
Not for spectacle.
Not for clicks.
Just people—being people.
Waiting for a bus.
Checking a phone.
Laughing with friends.
Crossing the road with a bag of chips.
There’s a quiet magic in these moments. You don’t need drama. You need presence.
Why people matter in street photography
They give context.
A street without people is just architecture. A stage with no story.They show us how we lived.
Fashion. Posture. Technology. A Tesco bag or a Nokia phone tells a story.They preserve feeling.
How we interacted with our surroundings. With each other.
The shift I’ve noticed
More photographers are avoiding people altogether.
The fear of confrontation.
Concerns around privacy.
The uncertainty of what’s “allowed.”
I get it.
But I also think we’re at risk of losing something.
If we stop photographing everyday life, what will future generations look back on?
How will they understand who we were?
Where I draw my line
I only ever photograph people doing things I’d be fine being photographed doing myself.
No exploitation.
No mockery.
No punching down.
Just ordinary life. Framed honestly.
Your boundary might be different. That’s fine. This isn’t about judgement.
It’s simply the way I approach it.
Why I keep going
Because one day, these images might be all that’s left of a moment.
Of a place.
Of a way people lived.
Not the grand stuff.
The small, normal, blink-and-you-miss-it things.
Those are the ones I care about.
If you’re hesitating…
Ask yourself:
What story does this person add to the frame?
Would I be okay being in this photo?
Am I taking, or am I witnessing?
You don’t need to make anyone uncomfortable.
But you also don’t need to erase people to be safe.
We can photograph with respect.
We can be part of the street, not outside it.
I shoot in monochrome because it removes distraction.
It lets the moment do the talking.
And for me, the moments still matter.
People still matter.
So I’ll keep photographing them—quietly, honestly—for the sake of the people.
All images in this post edited with Film Edition 4 Monochrome Lightroom Presets
