Tag: masters

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 7 Lessons Harry Callahan Has Taught Me About Street Photography (and Life)

    7 Lessons Harry Callahan Has Taught Me About Street Photography (and Life)

    All photographs copyrighted by the estate of Harry Callahan. You can download this article for free as a .docx, PDF, or Google Doc. I recently came upon the work of Harry Callahan from a friend and former workshop student named Chris Giuseppe. This past weekend, I organized a small meet-up in San Francisco in the…

  • Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 2)

    Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 2)

    All photographs copyrighted by Todd Hido.  This is part 2 of my write-up on Todd Hido’s new book: “Todd Hido on Landscapes, Interiors, and The Nude: The Photography Workshop Series“. You can read part 1: “Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 1).” You can also download the entire article free via…

  • Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 1)

    Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 1)

    All photographs copyrighted by Todd Hido. You can read part 2 here: “Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 2)“. You can also download the entire article free via .docx, PDF, and Google Doc.   I have really been loving the “Photography Workshop Series” that Aperture has been publishing. They recently did a book…

  • 8 Lessons Mary Ellen Mark Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    8 Lessons Mary Ellen Mark Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photos copyrighted by Mary Ellen Mark. I remember when I first saw the work of Mary Ellen Mark, I was blown away. Her work had such a deep sense of love and empathy for her subjects. Not only that, but her compositions and framing was brilliant. I always noticed that around the edges of…

  • Book Review: “Road to Seeing” by Dan Winters

    Book Review: “Road to Seeing” by Dan Winters

    All photographs included in this article are copyrighted by Dan Winters. My good friend Bill Reeves recently bought me a copy of “Road to Seeing” by Dan Winters. I’ve always known Dan Winters as being a quite edgy portrait photographer– and had no idea that he was actually quite interested in street photography, and had…

  • 5 Lessons Richard Avedon Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    5 Lessons Richard Avedon Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    Richard Avedon isn’t a street photographer— nor did he consider himself one. However, he did shoot street photography in his life, in Italy, New York, Santa Monica, and more. I was particularly drawn to Richard Avedon because I have a fascination with portraiture and the human face. Even for my personal street photography, I might…

  • 15 (More) Lessons David Alan Harvey Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    15 (More) Lessons David Alan Harvey Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    You can see the original article I wrote on David Alan Harvey here. I just finished a week-long workshop with David Alan Harvey as a part of the Provincetown Magnum Days event. I have already written an article on the lessons I’ve learned from David Alan Harvey– but wanted to use this opportunity to further…

  • 20 Lessons Constantine Manos Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    20 Lessons Constantine Manos Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    Recently I had the great pleasure of being accepted as a scholarship student (under 30) for the Magnum workshop in Provincetown, Massachusetts with David Alan Harvey. Unfortunately David got stuck in Paris en route, so the first two days I spent with Costa Manos. And I’m glad I did, I learned so much from his…

  • 7 Lessons Helen Levitt Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    7 Lessons Helen Levitt Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    Helen Levitt is known as a “photographer’s photographer” a photographer who is admired by photographers everywhere, but not that well known. Since the raise of fame of Vivian Maier— I wanted to profile the work of Helen Levitt, and share the work of talented female street photographers.

  • 8 Lessons Robert Capa Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    8 Lessons Robert Capa Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    Robert Capa is one of the greatest photographers to have ever lived. When he was still alive, he was proclaimed as “The Greatest War-Photographer in the World”. He captured some of the most intense wars during his time, including the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion (covered in 1938), the European…

  • 18 Lessons Richard Kalvar Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    18 Lessons Richard Kalvar Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photographs in this article are copyrighted by Richard Kalvar / Magnum Photos Richard Kalvar is one of the contemporary masters in street photograph, and also a member of Magnum. I have always loved his quirky and observant street photographs, and am quite pleased how active he is– especially on Facebook and the Magnum Blog.…

  • 6 Lessons Jeff Mermelstein Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    6 Lessons Jeff Mermelstein Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photographs in this article are copyrighted by Jeff Mermelstein. I love the street photography of Jeff Mermelstein. Hailing from New York City, he is one of the most prolific street photographers and photojournalists out there. Besides his personal street photography work, he has done major assignment work for Life Magazine, The New Yorker, and…

  • 14 Lessons Alec Soth Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    14 Lessons Alec Soth Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    Download this article: Google Docs PDF .docx All photos in this article are copyrighted by Alec Soth / Magnum Photos. Alec Soth is a photographer whose work I strongly admire. He is a member of Magnum, although he is not the typical “Magnum” photographer. He is generally identified in the “fine art”/documentary crowd– and certainly…

  • 14 Lessons Mark Cohen Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    14 Lessons Mark Cohen Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photographs in this article are copyrighted by Mark Cohen. I think Mark Cohen is one of the greatest street photographers out there who isn’t as well known as his contemporaries. I’m sure you might have seen some videos of him on YouTube shooting with a flash without using the viewfinder. I have to admit, even…

  • 12 Lessons Trent Parke Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    12 Lessons Trent Parke Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photographs in this article are copyrighted by Trent Parke / Magnum Photos. Trent Parke is one of the most phenomenal contemporary photographers around. What I love about his work is the strong emotional and personal connection he has in his photographs, as well as his fanatical passion to street photography. One of his seminal books, “Minutes…

  • 12 Lessons Joel Meyerowitz Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    12 Lessons Joel Meyerowitz Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photos in this article are copyrighted by Joel Meyerowitz. I am surprised I haven’t written an article about Joel Meyerowitz yet. He is one of the living legends and masters in street photography, currently at 75 years old. He shot in the streets with other legends such as Garry Winogrand, Tony Ray-Jones, and even…

  • 7 Lessons Saul Leiter Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    7 Lessons Saul Leiter Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    I can’t remember the exact moment that I discovered the work of Saul Leiter. I think I remember seeing some link on the internet about the discovery of one of the earliest “pioneers” in color street photography. But upon hearing this, I didn’t dig into it too deeply. About a year ago when I was…

  • 6 Lessons Eugene Atget Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    6 Lessons Eugene Atget Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    Eugene Atget has always been sort of an enigma to me. When I started to delve into the history of street photography, a lot of people credited him to being one of the “fathers of street photography.” But when I first looked at his work, I was a bit confused. Most of his photos didn’t…

  • 14 Lessons Elliott Erwitt Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    14 Lessons Elliott Erwitt Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    If you are not familiar with the work of Elliott Erwitt, you have definitely seen many of Elliott Erwitt’s iconic work all around the globe. As one of the original Magnum members and former president, he has one of the longest spanning photography careers- spanning over 50 years. What I most appreciate about Elliott Erwitt…

  • 10 Lessons Andre Kertesz Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    10 Lessons Andre Kertesz Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    All photos copyrighted by the estate of Andre Kertesz. Also many thanks to Michael Meinhardt for helping me edit this text.  Andre Kertesz is one of the greatest photographers who ever lived. He photographed extensively for over 70 years, which also makes him one of the most prolific photographers. Not only did he help pioneer the genre of…

  • 17 Lessons Walker Evans Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    17 Lessons Walker Evans Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    I want to write about a photographer that most art and photography students know, but not that many street photographers know (or appreciate) online. That photographer is Walker Evans, one of the most pivotal American photographer from the 20th century. He inspired a league of influential street photographers such as Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Diane…

  • 5 Lessons Bruce Gilden Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    5 Lessons Bruce Gilden Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    Bruce Gilden is one of the best street photographers currently alive. He is a photographer who has had a deep influence on me and my approach in street photography– especially when I first saw the video of him shooting in the streets of New York City. Bruce Gilden is also one of the most controversial…

  • 7 Lessons W. Eugene Smith Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    7 Lessons W. Eugene Smith Has Taught Me About Street Photography

    W. Eugene Smith is one of the legends of photography. Although he was notorious for being maniacal, emotionally distant, and unreasonable– he channeled those energies into being one of the best photographers history has ever seen. I consider his approach to be very similar to that of Steve Jobs. I hope that this article can…