Sydney Street Photography

My Photographic Haunts

I typically start my Sydney street photography shoot just outside the central business district, perhaps the inner-city suburb of Surry Hills or Newtown. Surry Hills has an eclectic mixture of people and businesses and is notable for its homes dating from around the late 19th / early 20th centuries, with many alleyways and narrow streets. Newtown is well known for its graffiti murals. See two examples of my images from there below.

I then go over to the CBD of Sydney, where I make for George Street as it is free of motor vehicles. I start from the Town Hall, heading towards Circular Quay. I'm looking forward by now to a Batch Espresso coffee - the best in Sydney. My Sydney street photography walk takes in Martin Place which has some fine examples of Sydney architecture, especially the beautiful General Post Office. It’s also a very good place for photographing people. Depending on the time of day, they might be striding off to work or taking their lunchtime. Shoppers might be sauntering and tourists may be taking photos and taking selfies.

Wynyard Lane near the Regiment coffee shop is also interesting for Sydney street photography as there is a lot of activity and the coffee shop itself is an attractive shape. A few minutes towards the harbour is the main entrance of Wynyard train station with its photogenic and curious mirror-like panels above a bank of escalators. Then, making my way further along George Street, I reach Circular Quay with its triple attractions: Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and the ferries, often with a cruise liner docked alongside the terminal in the warmer months.

I'm always very keen to see my photos on the big screen at home. I use Lightroom with a sprinkling of Photoshop. I've found that, over the time I've been doing photography in Sydney, I average about 10% "keepers". But I normally whittle those down again before I post to the internet. I had a stint on Instagram but it didn't suit me.

Jonathan Jasberg is an award-winning street photographer with twelve years experience. Watch his video that introduces the seven most common photographic elements he uses in his work to create complex images. His explanations about how he creates a scene are excellent.

FAQs

Q Why did you take up street photography?

A. I had been drifting into it for a year or so. It seems to agree with my enquiring mind, one which is interested in the human psyche. It's also so convenient for my lifestyle.

Q When is your favourite time of day for Sydney street photography?

A I'm a morning person...I'm up early and have more energy at that time. Also, the air is clearer. However, lately I’ve been out in the CBD at lunchtime when it’s hectic.

Q What is the hardest thing about what you do?

A Believe it or not, it's taking close-up photos. I'm naturally a shy person, though it varies as my mood changes.

Q Who are some of your favourite street photographers?

A Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jonathan Jasberg, Manuel Ortiz, Vivian Maier, Saul Leiter.

Q What are your settings for the triangle?

A I set all three controls manually (Aperture, Shutter speed, ISO). This sometimes means my photo is way over- or underexposed, but as I shoot RAW I can usually recover from this in post processing.

Types of Street Photography

Street photography can be carried out in different locations, and they affect the dynamics of the activity. By types of locations, I mean what might be called exotic and not exotic (staid). For example, Australia and the rest of the First World are not exotic, while Turkey and Morocco are. In those and many other countries, life is lived on the lanes and roadways. In the First World, life is lived in enclosed businesses and homes. To a certain extent, we see life in parks, sports grounds, and markets, but roads are not for sitting, playing games or chatting any more.

I was watching a video created by Eduardo Ortiz and featuring Jonathan Jasberg when I thought, 'I want to take images like these'. Jasberg's primary point in a list of photographic elements is the need for what he calls "supporting characters". A quote from ChatGPT: "A street scene that feels 'alive' often has multiple people interacting in different ways. Supporting characters make a street photograph feel more authentic, as they reflect the true bustle and diversity of urban life".

Several other notable photographers have produced bodies of work in the genre of candid photography. Joshua K Jackson produces what I think is more demonstrably a photographic art. Sean Tucker creates identifiable street scenes, many in B&W high contrast.

This variety illustrates that urban photography comes in many flavours. But if you are a city dweller and cannot travel overseas, you might think about studying Leiter, Jackson and Tucker, rather than Jasberg whose ideas need a plane ticket to practice.

Michael Ernest Sweet, who has judged more than twelve street photography contests, said something which stuck in my mind: "no one should be shooting street, generally speaking, with a 200mm lens and expect to capture my attention. Shoot birds."

The reason it lodged in my grey matter was that I was using a zoom lens, even for my trip to India and Vietnam.

But this last week I watched some great videos from Jonathan Jasberg and Eduardo Ortiz which made me think more about Sweet's statement. I now venture out shooting with just my prime 50mm lens - while enjoying it - and trying to get over not being able to zoom in to 150-200mm for a close-up.

Why Sydney?

Because that's where I live. The city is a fusion of many peoples, many languages, and in the CBD, a huge number of coffee shops.

Personally I think anywhere in Sydney outside of the central business district and the ring of inner-city suburbs such as St Peters, Newtown, Glebe and Surry Hills, is visually boring. (I live in one of the monotonous parts). But in those interesting areas, there's a lot to explore and the variety extends to time of day and type of weather.

Are there any rules or tips in street photography?

Let's look at what photographers say

1. Linger and let the action come to you.

2. Good advice...I tend to keep moving but sometimes it's worth being still or pretending to take something in the background while your subject walks into the frame.

3. Put people in your street photos (this is the author's tip).

4. Like all tips, this is debatable. But look at the vast majority of street photographs and you'll see the human element. People are interested in their own species.

5. Be aware of the background

6. More difficult in street photography than in other genres, this is a general rule of photography. Be aware of what's behind the subject you want to capture and perhaps wait a second or move yourself. But you will get scenes which won't allow the time to wait or move. Take the shot and see what it's like when you're in post processing.

7. DO show the subject their image - The great thing with most cameras these days is that you can see the image as soon as you take it. Show the person or people what their photograph looks like and consider offering to send them a copy.

8. Great in theory but not so in practice. The person saying this had in mind photography in other cultures. It depends on the situation and I did it in India.

Sydney Street Photography Gallery