Month: March 2015

  • The Art of Learning Street Photography

    The Art of Learning Street Photography

    I just re-read an excellent book titled: “The Art of Learning” by Josh Waitzkin. If you’ve ever watched the film “Searching for Bobby Fischer” (the movie about the kid chess prodigy)— that movie was based on Josh Waitzkin’s life. “The Art of Learning” is a rare book in the sense that he became world champion…

  • Streettogs Academy No. 10

    Streettogs Academy No. 10

    I’ve always believed that good work will stand out on its own and it will spread. That is pretty much what happened in our assignment No. 9. given by Harry Fodor. Everyone gave out great black and white work which in turn gave a bit of limelight to the group attracting new members. Streettogs Academy…

  • Measure Your Life as a Photographer in Decades, Not Years

    Measure Your Life as a Photographer in Decades, Not Years

    The other night here in Chicago, I woke up in the middle of the night. I was tossing and turning (put on the heater too hot at night). In a state of being half-asleep, I started to have all of these random ideas for blog posts. One of them was: “measure your life as a…

  • How it Feels to Shoot Street Photography 24 Hours Straight

    How it Feels to Shoot Street Photography 24 Hours Straight

    This is a guest post by Josh White, a street photographer based in Seoul, Korea. Josh: Yesterday (and sort of the day before) I took part in the 24 Hour Project. For those of you that don’t know, it is a street photography initiative that involves photographers worldwide. Basically, how it works, is you take…

  • Play the Cards You Are Dealt in Life and Photography

    Play the Cards You Are Dealt in Life and Photography

    I have been re-reading a lot of stoic philosophy recently, especially “Letters from a Stoic” and “On the Shortness of Life” by Seneca, and “The Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. One of the biggest things that I have re-learned is that for true happiness, we should focus on appreciating what we currently have, rather than what…

  • What I Learned Processing 164 Rolls of Film After Waiting a Year

    What I Learned Processing 164 Rolls of Film After Waiting a Year

    I recently stopped into the Costco in Mountain View, California with 164 rolls of Kodak Portra 400. You should’ve seen the look of the staff— it was a look of confusion, awe, and amazement. They were surprised that all that film I brought in was all shot by me. They were also partly worried that…

  • Streettogs Academy No. 9 Results and Analysis

    Streettogs Academy No. 9 Results and Analysis

    And so the cycle continues for Streettogs Academy! Our assignment this time round is deceptively simple. This assignment would actually go down as the assignment with the most interaction (so far). Many comments were shared and there were a number of photos that got the attention of many members of the group. If you look…

  • Paved Paradise: Street Photography Group Show at Artis Coffee in Berkeley, Friday  (3/20) from 6-9pm

    Paved Paradise: Street Photography Group Show at Artis Coffee in Berkeley, Friday (3/20) from 6-9pm

    Hey streettogs, I am excited to share that my friend Walter Margerison and I are curating a group street photography show at Artís Coffee in Berkeley, comprised of 24 Bay-Area based street photographers. The exhibition is this Friday, March 20, from 6-9pm. Free alcoholic beverages will be served, and this will be a great chance to…

  • Being Mortal as a Street Photographer

    Being Mortal as a Street Photographer

    I recently finished “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. It is one of the most touching books I have ever read this past year. Atul talks about the tension between living long (versus living a meaningful life). This made me think a lot about my personal mortality, and always how this relates to photography. Here are…

  • 6 Lessons Rene Burri Can Teach You About Street Photography

    6 Lessons Rene Burri Can Teach You About Street Photography

    On October, 2014 Rene Burri passed away, at age 81. He had an incredible career of photography behind him, and produced many iconic images, which include those of Che, Picasso, and many other street photographs which perfectly combined geometry, story, and form. About a year ago I got a copy of his color street photography, which was…

  • Take Your Street Photography to the Next Level in 2015: Re-inspire Yourself, Build Your Confidence, and Join an Amazing Community

    Take Your Street Photography to the Next Level in 2015: Re-inspire Yourself, Build Your Confidence, and Join an Amazing Community

    Dear streettogs, This weekend is the last opportunity for you to qualify for the early-bird discount for my Toronto Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop. I am also excited to announce I have added an Amsterdam Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop as well! If you wanted to take your street photography to the next level and invest in your own…

  • My Top 10 Sources of Discontentment in Street Photography

    My Top 10 Sources of Discontentment in Street Photography

    I ultimately want to be happy. But unfortunately there are a lot of sources of dissatisfaction in my life. There are a lot of things I want to change about my life, and my outlook in the world. In this article I want to share some of the 10 deepest sources of dissatisfaction I’ve had…

  • Video Presentation: Introduction to Street Photography Projects

    Video Presentation: Introduction to Street Photography Projects

    In this presentation, I share how to come up with and shoot a street photography project, and also cover what makes a great street photography project. Some of the projects we cover are: “The Americans” by Robert Frank (book review here) “Small World” by Martin Parr “Istanbul” by Alex Webb “Gypsies” by Josef Koudelka (book…

  • Street Photography 101 Translated to Portuguese by Caio Proença

    Street Photography 101 Translated to Portuguese by Caio Proença

    I was stunned to hear that photographer Caio Proença recently translated my free e-book: “Street Photography 101: An Introduction to Street Photography” into Portuguese (free download here)! Caio writes a bit about why he decided to translate it:

  • 6 Lessons Dorothea Lange Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    6 Lessons Dorothea Lange Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    I recently got a new book in the mail: “Dorothea Lange: Aperture Masters of Photography” (courtesy of Aperture) and was deeply inspired and moved by her work, life, and philosophy. I have always known Dorothea Lange’s work documenting the Great Depression (and her famous “Migrant Mother” photograph), but didn’t know much about her life and…

  • The Golden Rule in Street Photography: Photograph Others How You Would Like to Be Photographed

    The Golden Rule in Street Photography: Photograph Others How You Would Like to Be Photographed

    One thing I notice when I’m teaching street photography workshops is that a lot of photographers don’t like having their own photograph taken. This is a huge problem. If you want to build up your confidence in shooting street photography, I think you also need to be comfortable being on the other side of the…

  • Video Podcast Interview about Street Photography on ISO 400 (The Phoblographer)

    Video Podcast Interview about Street Photography on ISO 400 (The Phoblographer)

    Julius Motal (passionate street photographer) from The Phoblographer recently did a podcast interview with me on their new podcast series, ISO 400. We talked about how I joined my interests in sociology and photography (to grow my interest in street photography), the projects I am currently working on, as well as tips and advice for street…

  • Before/After: SF Week-Long Intensive Street Photography Workshop 2015

    Before/After: SF Week-Long Intensive Street Photography Workshop 2015

    I just finished a week-long intensive street photography workshop in SF, and man– was it one great experience. The students all did an incredible job stepping outside of their comfort zones, improved their street photography, and built up an amazing sense of teamwork. I am so proud of all of their improvement through the week,…

  • The Benefit of Having No Expectations in Street Photography

    The Benefit of Having No Expectations in Street Photography

    “I am content with few, content with one, content with none at all.” – Seneca, Letters from a Stoic I have a problem. I have really high expectations for myself. I want to become the best photographer I possibly can, the best teacher I possibly can, and also the best blogger that I possibly can.…

  • Video: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom

    Video: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom

    Hey streettogs, I just put together a video introduction to using Lightroom 5 for editing, post-processing, and workflow. In the video I share some fundamental hotkeys, tips, and suggestions. I hope you enjoy the video, and please let me know what other questions you have about using Lightroom 5 (or editing/post-processing in general) in the…

  • 5 Lessons Sebastião Salgado Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    5 Lessons Sebastião Salgado Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photos copyrighted by Sebastião Salgado. I recently saw Sebastião Salgado’s “Genesis” exhibition in Toronto about a year ago, and was blown away by the body of work. It was the most ambitious project I had ever seen– essentially Salgado aimed to photograph the entire world. He photographed people, landscapes, and nature– and did so…

  • Photography Quick Links: February 2015

    Photography Quick Links: February 2015

    (A.g.’s note: Photography Quick Links is a new initiative I want to do here on the blog. These are links I have personally read and sifted through. This is by no means a definitive guide but for those news stories or news articles regarding photography [but will try to concentrate it to street of course]…