Coloured black and white.

Under my umbrella
Under my umbrella

One of the mains discussions among street photographers is whether what you let other see should be only b/w or sometimes in colour. A discussion I feel is slightly ridiculous. A picture is good if its good, n’est pas?

This one is to mock that a bit. Her lovely all black and white umbrella works best in colour, wouldn’t you say?

The no-nos of street photography.

There are a whole set of unwritten “laws” in street photography. Me and my friend Daniel Eliasson frankly claims that all these rules sometimes must be broken. It’s the image itself that must decide whether you break the rules or not…
Rule 1: You must take pictures close up and with wide angle lenses.
“Through It All” – taken with a zoom 105 mm lens at a distance:

Through It All - taken with a zoom 105 mm lens at a distance
Through It All

Rule 2: Street photos are best in black and white.
“On The Move” – It’s the colours that makes this kind of pic:

On The Move - It's the colours that makes this kind of pic
On The Move

Rule 3: The sharp picture is the only accepted one.
“Scared Dog” – to be in a scary place, feels unsharp, right?

Scared Dog - To be in a scary place, feels unsharp, right?
Scared Dog

Rule 4. You should always take frontal pictures of people.
“Finding Angles” – Sometimes a butt is more interesting:

Finding Angles - Sometimes a butt is more interesting
Finding Angles

“Luncheon Profiles” – profiles are not frontal, are they?

Luncheon Profiles - profiles are not frontal, are they?
Luncheon Profiles

Rule 5. You shouldn’t as a street photographer be seen.
“iPad Break” – to get depth in this “Through window” shot, I let the ghostly image of myself appear:

iPad Break - to get depth in this "Through window" shot, I let the ghostly image of me appear
iPad Break

Rule 6. The composition of the original pic shouldn’t be altered.
“Over Shoulder” – the original shot:

Over Shoulder - the original shot
Over Shoulder

“Over Shoulder” – cropped, to get the effect of “dominating eye”:

Over Shoulder - cropped, to get the effect of "dominating eye"
Over Shoulder

These are just a few of the unwritten “rules”, there are some more. They are good to know, but don’t worry to much. Ok?

/GFN