Best Cities for Street Photography

[kentigern]

<p>Tuning the question the other way around, I can't think of any cities that are <em>not</em> good for street photography. The subjects are different in Helsinki or Hanoi or Havana but they are all interesting places.<br /> The key factor has to be the diversity of the population amongst the charismatic architecture and cultural idiosyncracies of the city, therefore I'm sure there's plenty of dull mid-size towns across the world that are not so good.</p>

[frank_page]

<p>Any big city in SE Asia would be good. They all have vibrant street lifes. I live in Jakarta and really enjoy taking an afternoon off, pick a street, and then work it until dark. Singapore is also fine for street photography, but I find it a bit sterile after Jakarta. I bet Manila and Bangkok would be good too once you got to know them.</p><div></div>

[tonmestrom]

<p><em>"I was chased down the street in Paris by a maid"</em></p>

<p>that must have been a sight. I think Ray knows very well that in every city there is potential trouble, there are pickpockets and thick officials although as a btw it's obvious and revealing that those who are regularly out there hardly ever encounter trouble worth mentioning.</p>

<p>As I've said before I've been all over Europe and Paris is still one of my favourite cities to shoot some street. I saw Copenhagen was mentioned, indeed a great place but not for doing street. Simply not enough going on there. The same applies a bit to Prague. Great city to shoot but street, not really. So what are we left with over here in no particular order:<br>

Paris, Rome, Istanbul, London, Dublin, Berlin and Amsterdam. Point is though to do some research. After all, you don't want to shoot other tourists there but the real stuff. Preparing helps.</p>

[alex_p._schorsch]

<p>How about: Ciudade del Este, Paraguay; New Delhi (even better is Old Delhi); Belem, Amazon, Brazil; Rome; Marakesh, Morocco; I would say that these cities have offered some of the most diverse and interesting human types that I have ever seen. Ciudade del Este is like a beehive, a veritable gigantic marketplace. New Delhi and Old Delhi have a fantastic mix of old and new where there are many differnt people on the streets performing almost every different type of task known to man. Belem has one of the most interesting markets in the world and their port has almost every size and type of boat along with Indians, whores, sailors, fishermen and witch doctors. Rome is brimming with strreet life. Marakesh is the meeting point of the mountain people with the desert tribes. Their marketplace is a real feast for the eyes. Age-old traditions in dress and manners make it very exotic (Fez might be even better). I have never been to China, but I bet that must be the Street Shooter's pardise. </p>

[ray .]

<p><em>Fukuoka...(prettiest women in Japan)</em><br>

<em></em></p>

<p>I see Mike has hit upon a key point. Googling Fukuoka as we speak.</p>

[depeator]

<p>Chinese cities are in fact good places for street photography. For one, many activities that would be restricted to the safety of your own four walls in the West take place in full public view in China - picking your nose, practicing the tango, playing chess, whatever. In addition many Chinese like to take candid shots of Westerners and don't really mind much if the Westerners do likewise. In smaller cities the one problem that might arise is that a street shooter would be surrounded by curious townsfolk taking pictures of the photographer with their cell phones :-)</p>

[gary_isaacs]

<p>when asked the same question winogrand replied "the city where i am" - but what did he know?</p>

[ray .]

<p>Right, that's after he got off the plane in NY or LA, or Fort Worth if he was going to photograph the rodeo..</p>

[sven_felsby]

<p>being an avid cyclist, I took three shots of an interesting bicycle lane in Berlin. Two of the cyclists tried to persuade me to delete the pictures.</p>

[Landrum Kelly]

<p>If you are looking south, don't forget Havana and Quito, among others--in both cases the old parts of both cities, as well as along the Malecon in Havana. It could get dicey in old Quito, though, especially if you are trying to hang onto both your wallet and your camera at the same time. I've only spent a total of thirty-two days in Cuba (on two different visits) and one summer in Quito, but the sights are incredible. I never had any hassles from the cops in Cuba, although one has to be careful what to shoot.</p>

<p>For American citizens, getting clearance to visit Cuba could be difficult--although that could change fairly soon. Getting to Quito is no problem--only a bit over two hours from Miami. On a clear day one can see 19,000-foot Cotopaxi from el Parque Carolina on the north (and wealthier and safer) side of town, also a fine place to stroll and shoot. You never know what you will see in Quito. The indigenous villages of Otovalo and Saquisili are also fascinating as trading centers. The indigenous people at Saquisili will be in your face for payment to take their picture as soon as you get off the bus, but ignore them--then roam back around later and get the candid shots you want. By that time they will be hassling someone else.</p>

<p>I remember being in Quito on election day in 1998: businessmen and other professionals one moment, and indigenous people cooking pigs on spits the next--right downtown.</p>

<p>As for Cuba, Camaguey and Guantanamo (city) are also interesting, as are smaller towns like Baracoa and Sancti Spiritus. If you are into shooting prostitutes promoting their services, just walk up la Avendia Quinta in Miramar on the west side of Havana--embassy row. You will get, in perfect English, lots of "Do you have the time?'' As a response, I recommend something like, 'Si, son las dos y cuarto" or whatever time is appropriate. While there you can also shoot the Russian embassy, one of the ugliest buildings in Cuba. There is joke in la Habana: "What is the best shot to shoot from in Havana?" Response: "The top of the Russian embassy, because you cannot see the Russian embassy from there."</p>

<p>Everyone who goes to the "southern cone" also recommends Buenos Aires, but that is a lot further away, and I have never gone there.</p>

<p>--Lannie</p>

[DickArnold]

<p>Places where I have been and photographed include, Taipei's snake alley if it still exists, Paris of course, Bangkok canal life, Thai dancing, Hong Kong not so much except the backside of the island, Munich maybe during Oktober Fest, disappointed in Vienna, some mildly interesting pics in St. Petersberg where I was chased for photograpning inside a market during a winter food shortage--they were very serious and I was scared. Sergiev Posad, Russia(seat of Russ. Orth. Rel. some pics in my PN gallery), Ankara for it's grittiness, Athens for history, I had a project in Amsterdam so I spent some time there. I just like the city and the Dutch a lot and never tired of taking pics. The Hague for it's art and Vermeer who knew more about light than I ever will. etc. etc. Korat City, Thailand. Stationed there for a year. I got some really good black and whites that I cannot now find. I worked in Weisbaden, Germany for three years. Nice historic city with, when i was there, very short mini-skirts in the summer. Lived in Tainan, Taiwan, some very beautiful places within a drive in the mountains. Not much in Tainan. Oslo, for Vigelands (sic) sculpture and troll hunting iin the hills around Holmenkollen. Bergen, for the fjords. enough. You can find something almost anywhere, I think. I just wish I would have taken more and better pictures. </p>

[delwyn_ching]

<p>I like Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; Vancouver, B.C., Canada; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney Australia; Hong Kong oh hell, I like them all. I always find something interesting to shoot in any city.</p>

[tom_becker8]

<p>I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous question and discussion. You guys should all attend an NPPA conference (National Press Photographers Association) and see the amazing presentations from image makers who live in towns with a population of 1,000. Their street photography is location independent. The city has nothing to do with it.</p>

<p>Check these images out. Small town.</p>

<p>http://bop.nppa.org/2009/still_photography/winners/index.php?cat=UPS&place=2nd&item=140051</p>

[Brad_]

>>> Their street photography is location independent. The city has nothing to do with it.

 

Exactly. If you're curious, with imagination, and ambition, subject matter can be found anywhere...

[mike dixon]

<p>No one said it's impossible to take great images in smaller towns. However, most of the images in your link are not street photos. Ray didn't ask where's the best place to go to do a photo story; he asked about the places we've been where we had the best experience doing street photography.</p>

<p>Sure, there are great photos to be had anywhere you go. On the other hand, some places offer much better opportunities than others for a visitor to do street photography.</p>

[tonmestrom]

<p>sure, but is that where I want to be? I myself rather like the dynamics of a large city most likely because I come from such a town.</p>

[mariosforsos]

<p>Personally, I can say this: I don't know which city is the best for street photography, but one of the very worst is Athens (Greece)! People there are far too high on their own self-importance to "allow" you to photograph them and most of the time they are extremely suspicious of anyone with a camera...AND I ACTUALLY LIVE THERE! Go figure...!</p>

<p>But otherwise, I too liked Marrakech alot, but also Saigon is amazing, Bangkok, Prague, NY (of course), Sevilla and Granada (in Spain) are also a marvel to photograph, as is Hong Kong....</p>

[stephen_asprey2]

<p>A friend of mine has just come back from cycling the length of Vietnam. He took lots of street shots in Saigon and Hanoi and handed lollies to the kids. He also said it was easily the friendliest country he has visited in SE Asia.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, are my favorites. But I live in Fort Worth so I'm biased.</p>

[josephwalsh]

<p>Paris.<br>

But then, IMO, Paris is best for anything with the exception of scuba diving and downhill skiing. ;-)</p>

[Landrum Kelly]

<blockquote>

<p>I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous question and discussion. --Tom Becker</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Perhaps it does not have to be, Tom, although I agree with your basic premise that one can get great shots anywhere. (I have precious few shots posted here of big cities, and none of Havana or Quito, which I recommended above.) </p>

<p>I would like to hear precisely what people like about shooting here and there, or what to watch out for or avoid, or which things might be worth seeing that are not hackneyed or cliched subjects.</p>

<p>--Lannie</p>

[hugh_j.]

<p>It's been a long time since I've seen truly innovative street photography, but the best street photographers I've seen can be dropped off in Podunk and still come back with very interesting shots. At the very least, street photography done in places that don't necessarily come to mind as being the "best" cities for the subject have the saving grace of showing a place that doesn't get seen very often - that alone can add quite a bit of interest, if the photographer is at least half-decent.</p>

<p>Vancouver is easily one of the most beautiful cities in the world, if I may say so myself having grown up there. Here are some <a href="http://www.equinoxgallery.com/artists_index.asp?artist_type=1&artist_id=121">street pictures from 1950s Vancouver (and some other cities) by Fred Herzog</a> .</p>

[ray .]

<p>Wow, that's some cool work, hadn't seen it before. Of course part of what's interesting is the documentary nature of it.</p>

[steve_mareno]

<p>Havana. New Orleans. Frisco. Actually, the best places to do street photography have everything to do w/ where you're shooting, and when. Why is it a ridiculous question? I cannot imagine for one second that Bresson's photos could have been made in Pascagoula, Mississippi and I've lived there. Nor could credible shots of Gay Pride Day have been made in Juneau, Alaska. Civil rights movement? It wasn't happening in Berlin.</p>

[anand_dhupkar]

<p>Denver Colorado - downtown area is really great to take pictures .. very nicely developed and maintained city. It's a mile high city - has a unique natural cleanliness, briskness to its atmosphere too - very very picturesque </p>