Street photography is a type of documentary photography — without explicit social agenda — that usually features people in candid situations in public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions, and other settings.

Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society. This genre of photography is present in contemporary times and is usually done as black and white photographs. Street photography tends to be ironic and distanced from its subject matter and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment. Examples include, a stolen kiss on a street corner, a man jumping a puddle, a woman lost in her thoughts in a diner, or a shopping trolley glowing in the last rays of sun. In the 20th century, street photographers have provided an exemplary and detailed record of children's street culture in Europe and North America.

Many classic works of street photography were created in the period between roughly 1890 and 1975 and coincided with the introduction of small 35mm, rangefinder cameras. Classic practitioners of street photography include Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Alfred Eisenstaedt, W. Eugene Smith, William Eggleston, and Garry Winogrand.

Techniques

• Overcoming shyness

Shyness and street photography seem to be mutually exclusive. However, most successful street photographers have started as shy photographers.

Some photography instructors have recommended starting out by trying to be stealthy and using long lenses. Others suggest bypassing such crutches, instead leaping into the "deep end of the pool" and heading into the street with a normal or wide-angle lens. Sometimes using an extreme wide angle lens and appearing to be pointing the camera somewhere other than at the subject can help, but at the expense of direct involvement with the action. Other photographers stand at one spot on the street and wait for the proper subject to appear. This was done most notably by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, who actually has set up elaborate strobe rigs on street corners in advance of unknown action. Magnum Photos photographer Bruce Gilden's famously-direct method, of just suddenly walking up to people in New York at close range with a powerful strobe shows that the demeanor of the photographer before and after the moment of exposure is a key element to interaction on the street, with the latter more important. Gilden has claimed to have never suffered an aggressive response.

Invisibility

It is said that Henri Cartier-Bresson would wrap a large handkerchief around his camera and pretend to be blowing his nose while he took the picture, or would wrap the camera's body in black tape. There are many variations to the stealthiness theme, some involving the use of waist-level finders in cameras, but the general idea is to keep the subject(s) from being aware that he is being photographed. Another aspect of invisibility involves "blending in" with the crowd. Dressing like an archaetypical foreign correspondent, wearing a Trilby hat, photographer's vest and over-the-shoulder camera bag generally will guarantee that everyone is aware of you. Observe the ways of the crowd and try to dress and behave in an inconspicous manner, according to the circumstances.

Some photographers, however, thrive on directness. Martin Parr, for example, is typically quite open and direct about his business, and photographs using a hard-to-hide ring flash unit on a large camera. Street photographers who are fond of wide-angle lenses will often work so close to their subjects that they will almost certainly be seen. Each practitioner must find his own balance.

While exceptions such as Beat Streuli do exist, in general, street photographs made from a distance, with a long lens, are considered flat and uninteresting — the dominant aesthetic has stressed the photographer's presence "in" the scene, potentially interacting (subtly or otherwise) with the subject(s) but nearly always from a nearby, almost tactile, distance.

Since the days of Paul Strand, some photographers, such as Helen Levitt, have also used trick lenses which shoot to the side, rather than directly in front of the camera. Leica and other manufacturers have long made such mirror attachments.

Technical issues

• Film speed / ISO sensitivity

Outside, in daylight, any ISO will do, although lower ISO's are recommended for a finer grain. At dusk and in the evening, a street photographer will probably experience failure with anything slower than 400, unless using a tripod.

Shutter speed

Some images can be enhanced by good use of slow shutter speeds to show motion. However, given the fact that most street photography is done with the camera being hand-held and with a 50mm lens, most photographers will insist on using a shutter speed of at least 1/60th of a second. Remember the rule: for handheld shots, the minimum shutter speed should be 1/xth, where x = the length of your lens.

1/xth is a good rule of thumb for single lens reflex cameras, but since rangefinder cameras and digital cameras operate much more smoothly, you can generally operate at 1/30 of a second easily, and at 1/15 if you brace yourself against a wall or some other fixed object.

Aperture and depth of field

A medium aperture, in the range of f/4 to f/8, will generally be preferred for fast shooting in daylight (this will vary according to the format used: 35mm, digital, 6x6, etc). The extended depth of field will render the subjects in focus even if he's moving or the photographer cannot exercise careful focusing. For static subjects, the use of large apertures, f/2.8 or wider, can help separate the subject from the background through shallow depth of field.

Pre-focusing

The aperture a street photographer chooses to use has some impact on a pre-focus setting, but if a photographer can determine that he will be approximately 10 feet away from most of his subjects, he may wish to pre-focus at that distance, thus avoiding the manipulation of focus at the decisive moment.

Equipment

Street photography has been made with equipment as varied as cellphones to 4x5 view cameras. The "classic" street photo camera has been the 35mm Leica rangefinder. The attributes praised by Leica users define a canonical set of features desired in street photography equipment.

A good street camera should be light, quick to operate, reliable, quiet and of good quality. 35mm cameras dominated this ideal until digital cameras appeared. Currently, there is something of a gap — compact digitals are inconspicuous, quiet and light, but slow in operation. Digital SLRs are quick to operate, but are generally large, heavy and relatively loud. This gap, however, closes with each passing year of technological improvement. Epson R-D1 digital camera is the prime example of the closing gap.

The number one criterion in choosing a camera for street photography, unless some external consideration (such as large negative or stealth) is of interest, is that the camera be comfortable to operate in the hand of the specific photographer.