Think Like a Street Photographer

by Derren Brown

Both street photographer and magician exploit the human desire to edit complex reality into a neat narrative – the same narrative we then mistake for objectivity.

you need to remember how lucky you are to be walking around with a strange black box looking at things, making a record of them and bringing them home. It’s a privilege.

One of the best experiences for me, when shooting on the street, is being centimetres from someone’s face for a few seconds and taking a picture without the person noticing I was there. In this situation, you’re ‘living’ with them for a moment, making a record of the time you spent with them. There is nothing quite like it.

The best advice I can offer, then, when it comes to the technical stuff, is to pare it back. Don’t make life harder for yourself than it needs to be. If you can shut down some of the variables, do so, because this will free you up to focus on what really matters: the seeing

One of the first things you tend to be told at college or university, or on street-photography forums, is not to photograph homeless people. I totally disagree. I think you should photograph the homeless, I think you should photograph the disabled, I think you should photograph everyone and everything because they exist. If the scene is interesting enough, you should take it.

When you’re in the moment, and this is just my view, you don’t know what the decisive one is. You might hope for it, but you’re going to try this and then that, or move a fraction one way or another. It’s actually at the editing stage, when you’re scrutinizing each shot under a magnifier, that you decide which of the moments you captured is the decisive one. There is no shame in giving yourself as many chances as possible to catch the fish that attracted you.

Approach your subject if the situation warrants it. Authenticity needs to be in your approach, whether you engage with your subject or not.

Approaching the street in this way – searching for specific motifs or themes – doesn’t have to be something you do all the time, but it might give you a boost or a renewed sense of purpose, which we all need every now and again.

Incidentally, the following advice applies to any edit you might be working on: start strong and finish strong.

Don’t look for excuses or create barriers for yourself; don’t succumb to self-doubt or fear. The only limitations are those you place on yourself.

To go out and feel things about people and try to capture those things is not a bad way to spend your days. Physically and mentally, I think it’s very healthy.

The enjoyment of photographing is a hundred times more rewarding than the photograph itself.