Photographer Sean McDonnel has published a book with very nice candid shots from the streets of London. The book is titled “loved;life;London”,  a quote from Virginia Woolfs novel “MrsDalloway”. Here is what McDonnel himself says about the connection between the book and the pictures:

I relate to the novel Mrs Dalloway in part because of its setting in central London, but more so through the style of writing, the personal thoughts of individuals woven into their experience of a day in the city.
The photographs of mine that arrest me most are those in which the figures passing through the frame beg me to wonder what’s on their minds: the mundane, the epic, the hope, the fear.
As I work in black and white, in a style that concentrates on moments of interaction between individuals and the fabric of the city, I am also drawn to the impression that it’s sometimes a challenge to precisely place these images in a particular year or even decade.
For me these moments are a bond with the lives of Londoners coming to terms with the new experience of a rapidly changing London in the 1920s, around the time Mrs Dalloway was written, an experience we continue to encounter today.

A camera, at large sheet of white paper, some tape and som courage – that´s all you need to start taking portraits of complete strangers on the street. Watch the video on Wired.

Venice, Italy, november 2002There

There is a tradition for black and white in street photography, and there are  good reasons why. Color tends to draw attention away from the images content. Photographing in black and white also give you the chance to consentrate more on  composition. Thereis however no reason to make this a rule, and sometimes color adds a lot of emotions to the image without loosing content. Digital photography makes it possible to choose b&w after shooting, so it´s easy to try out what you like best afterwards. In this example, a shot of a tourist in Venice, Italy, I personally prefer the color version. The colors are soft, and there is nothing disturbing or drawing attention away from the main subject.

There are of course people with quite different views. One photographer – I believe he is based in L.A – named Chris Weeks has  a very conservative (or in his own word “purist”) view of street photography. In his opinion the “real” street photographer must use a classical Leica (M6) and black and white film. Anything  digital is out of the question, as is SLRs, or point-and-shoot cameras. He adovcates his case in a book called “Street photography for the Purist”. Although I don´t agree with Chris, the book is fun to read, thought provoking and has at lot of nice pictures. Best of all: its a pdf-book you can download for free. Reading it, and looking at the pictures, I can´t help but think that Weeks should devote more time to taking pictures and spend less time arguing about the instruments he uses.

The book No rules Street photography has – as the title may indicate – a very different approach. The book is full of tips and techniques alongside many pictures, to help you navigate your way through the streets for rules-free picture making. The book includes topics such as: photographing at night, taking pictures in the rain, what is street photography, alternatives, accidental work and more. The main purpose of this book is to be an inspiration for you to find your own unique style and expression while having fun photographing the streets of your town. You can read a few pages for free online, but if you want a copy in print og digital you have to buy it.

So – forget about the Leica. Grab the camera you have and  get out on the streets .

The famous Magnum photgrapher Bruce Gilden has a very direct approach to photographing people on the streets of N.Y, as you can see in the video. Notice that Gilden also uses a flash and over all i far from the candid photos of other street photographers. You can see a lot of his work on his page at Magnum.