Taking pictures is the only way to freeze a brief moment that will never repeat itself ever again. Even if it’s something as mundane as a person walking on the sidewalk or a bird flying over the city square. When it comes to immortalizing the beauty of people’s everyday life, street photographers do it perfectly one candid shot at a time.

An abundance of such captivating shots can be found on the “Urban Street Photography” Facebook group. It has already garnered over 440,000 members, who are welcome to share their best work there. Today we want to share some of their most fascinating pictures, depicting everything from romance to traffic, from birds to people. Browse the list and view the streets through the eyes of the photographer.

#1 Всем Привет! С Наступающим!

Image credits: Сергей Санжаров

Candid pictures are the ones in photo albums I’ve always loved the most; there’s something special about people’s sincere reactions, unstaged movement, and unpolished environment. And these examples from the “Urban Street Photography” Facebook group show that street photographers are some of the best at capturing such unmediated moments.

Founded in 2013, the group is made up of, in their own words, “enthusiastic beginners and seasoned photographers from all over the world who all share a common love for street photography.”

#2 A Flying Pigeon | Gateway Of India

Image credits: Massab Mna

#3 Essaouira, Morocco 2022

Image credits: Tavepong Pratoomwong

People’s opinions differ about who to call the pioneer of street photography. However, one name seems to pop up more than others; it’s Henri Cartier-Bresson. 

Born in France in 1908, he started his relationship with photography in 1931, after literature studies at Cambridge University. Years later, in 1947, he co-founded “Magnum Photos”—an international photographic cooperative, up and running to this day.

Henri Cartier-Bresson described Magnum as “a community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about what is going on in the world, a respect for what is going on and a desire to transcribe it visually.”

#4 Sunlight

Image credits: Александр Шаварев

#5 Cat And A Mouse

Image credits: Yaşar Koç

Canadian photographer and writer, Michael Ernest Sweet pointed out that one of the reasons Henri Cartier-Bresson is now considered the father of street photography is timing. The genre became popular roughly the same time the artist emerged as a photographer. 

Another fundamental condition was the introduction of the portable 35mm camera. It bolstered both—the genre and the photographer, as the compact camera eased the process of taking pictures on the street and allowed the skilled artist to fulfill his potential. (You can view some of his works right here.)

#6 Paris – Behind Notre Dame

Image credits: Don Kedgley

#7 Take It Easy

Bari, Italy
Fujifilm xt30

Image credits: Livia Favia

#8 Curve ~ Taiwan

Image credits: Yi-Tang Wang

Michael Ernest Sweet himself is an expert in street photography as well. Based in New York, he is not only a professional photographer but also the author of two books covering the genre—”The Human Fragment” and “Michael Sweet’s Coney Island.” He also created “Disposable Camera”, a book containing his photographs taken with 35mm disposable cameras.

#9 Goallllll!

Image credits: Gabriel Wu

#10 Newcastle

Image credits: Adam Lang

#11 Pretzels

Image credits: Yaşar Koç

In an interview with Street Photography Magazine, Michael Ernest Sweet said it takes a certain type of personality to be a street photographer. He pointed out that you’ve got to be willing to get out and do what needs to be done to get the picture. According to him, “Dancing around to make sure everyone’s happy around you” might stand in the way of that. He did admit, however, that there have been a few times when he was shouted at or even hit with a woman’s purse.

#12 Self Portrait By Mobile

Image credits: عبدالله شيبوب

#13 Lovers (Mantua, Italy)

Image credits: Tim Askerov

#14 El Triciclo

Image credits: Irmalu Trejo

Another representative of the same genre, Dimitri Mellos, admitted that fearing to upset the subjects in the pictures affects him as a photographer. When the artist was asked to describe the difficulties he encountered when he first started taking pictures, Dimitri said that it was the guilt about invading people’s personal space.

“With time, those fears were mostly assuaged, as I discovered that (at least when a photographer is quick and discreet enough) most people don’t even notice when they are being photographed, and, even if they do, they don’t react badly,” he shared with his fellow photographer Eric Kim.

#15 Opposites

Image credits: Mónica José

#16 Brussels, Belgium

Image credits: Maxime Ka

#17 Ghent, Belgium, 2023 The Flower

Image credits: Nadia Eeckhout

Some people are not only okay with photographers taking their pictures; they even agree to share their stories, too. And that’s how Humans Of New York—also known as HONY—came to life. 

HONY is a project that was started by photographer and blogger Brandon Stanton back in 2010. His initial goal was to take pictures of 10,000 New Yorkers and put them into a catalog. But over time Brandon started interviewing the people and adding snippets of dialogue to the stories along with the pictures.

#18 The Smell

Image credits: 洋一和泉

#19 Every Time I Have Been In The City Centre For The Last Year, I Looked For Someone To Walk Past These Boards Who Matches Them

Image credits: Mike Bland

#20 U Bein Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar

Fuji Velvia 50

Image credits: Darrin James

What started as a photoblog grew into a project of monstrous proportions. Humans Of New York expanded to feature stories from more than twenty countries, its Facebook page currently has 17 million followers (and an additional 12 million on Instagram), and there are two published books about it—Humans of New York and Humans of New York: Stories.

#21 “Contrasts” One Of The Streets Warsaw

Image credits: Sebastian Tarczyński

#22 Daily Life Of Railway Station. Lahore Pakistan

Image credits: Adeel Aziz

#23 Loneliness

Image credits: আসিফ আহমেদ

If you’d like to see more beautiful examples of street photography, check out these entertaining shots previously shared by Bored Panda or browse the 50 incredibly lucky shots by probably the best street photographer in the world.

#24 Budapest, Liberty Brigde

Image credits: Marc In

#25 Every Morning

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Image credits: Ashraful Arefin

#26 Two Stories

Image credits: Міхась Аракчэеў

#27 The Fishermen Know That The Sea Is Dangerous And The Storm Is Terrible, But They Have Never Found These Dangers Sufficient Reason For Remaining Ashore. — Vincent Van Gogh

Category: Fine Art
Artist: Jawad Shahid

Image credits: Jawad Shahid

#28 This Is How Angels Are Born

Image credits: Sorin Dobrescu

#29 Sevilla 2023

Image credits: Boris Podobnik

#30 Naples, Italy

Image credits: Michal Biadun

#31 Leake Street Tunnel London And The Constantly Evolving Graffiti Art

Image credits: Tünde Valiszka

#32 Tough Life In Street For Starling. Berlin 2023

Image credits: Povilas Antanavičius

#33 Copenhagen

Image credits: Alexander Farnsworth

#34 Night Frames

Image credits: George Natsioulis

#35 Saman Mamexelani

Image credits: Jumping a puddle, London March 2023

#36 Warsaw, Gdanski Bridge

Image credits: Bogdan Sikorski

#37 Saint Catherine / Egypt

Image credits: Mosbah Hammad

#38 En Sevilla

Image credits: Cecilio Ortega

#39 Barcelone

Image credits: Carole Hamelin

#40 Panning Shot In Ha Noi. Vietnam

Image credits: Trần Thế Ngọc

#41 Promenade Riverside Park, NYC

Image credits: Jim Jimmy Jam Cappelletti

#42 Right Timing. Tampa, Fl

Image credits: Edgaras Šlykovas

#43 Snowy Night Walk

Image credits: Jimmy Hada

#44 Ricoh Gr3x

Image credits: Dustin Michael Edwards

#45 Spring

Image credits: Jonathan C. Tomás

#46 Light

Image credits: Rajesh MuthuswamyT

#47 Galata İstanbul Türkiye

Image credits: Hamit Gözen

#48 Kolkata Flower Market

Image credits: Sandeep Sreelekha

#49 A Moment Of Solitude. Location: Bhaktapur, Nepal

Image credits: Ashraful Arefin

#50 Aligned

Image credits: Luca Gennatiempo

#51 Tokyo Night Scene

Image credits: Hiroshi Hashiguchi

#52 Foggy Morning

Image credits: rad.van.sky

#53 Amsterdam

Image credits: Adam Kozłowski

#54 The Rider, The Rower & The River

Image credits: Paul Vine

#55 Kids On The Rooftop

Image credits: George Natsioulis

#56 Manila 2023

Image credits: Michael Abinoja

#57 Starting The Day. Delhi, India

Image credits: Ashraful Arefin

#58 Manchester’s Yellow Trams And Yellow Dogs

Image credits: Dv Mrry

#59 Borough Market. London

Image credits: Adam Deer

#60 Colors

Image credits: Joseba Díez Uría

#61 Hoi An, Vietnam

Image credits: Deryle Perryman

#62 Metro De Santiago De Chile

Image credits: Eduardo Carvajal González

#63 Reflection Stories

Image credits: Arindam Chanda

#64 Rain

Image credits: Tobias Meier

#65 Walk The Line

Image credits: George Natsioulis

#66 18.03.23

Image credits: Chill Tent

#67 New York Subway

Image credits: Paul Géli

#68 Early Morning Cleaning The City. Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Image credits: Fahad Ahmed

#69 Apartment Life

Image credits: Leonie Brannighan

#70 Series “Bridge”. Mystery

Image credits: Voldemārs Stāvusis

#71 Thailand , 2022

Image credits: Tavepong Pratoomwong

#72 My First Post On The Group. Trzebinia, Poland

Image credits: Leszek Palinski

#73 Greeting At Sunrise, Gdynia, Poland

Image credits: Oskar Lewiński

#74 On The Bridge Poland

Image credits: Greg Foto

#75 Voici Ma Toute Première Participation. Belles Fêtes À Tous. Berlin

Image credits: Nathalie Hamm Bellion

#76 Dnipro, Ukraine 2021

Image credits: Stanislav Sychik

#77 Nothing Else… Annecy

Image credits: Eric Monvoisin

#78 Vibe Of Napoli

Image credits: Iulia Răducea

#79 Varanasi, India

Image credits: Lucio Chiari

#80 Smoker In Morocco

Image credits: Monique Jansen

#81 Sevilla. Out Of The Beaten Track

Image credits: Africa Jimenez

#82 Moscow Subway 2017, © Dima Zverev

Image credits: Dima Zverev

#83 Fate Taiwan 2019

Image credits: K3lvinCH

#84 The Wall

Image credits: Krisada Bom

#85 Berlin Cyclists

Image credits: Dudas Agnes

#86 Reflection

Image credits: Hatem Salah

#87 Athens, Greece, 2022

Image credits: Pavlos Papadopoulos

#88 First Time Posting Here: Cozy Winter In Toronto. Merry Christmas To All!

Image credits: Oksana Naumov

#89 Silent Cafe In Tokyo

Image credits: Mashimo Kei

#90 The Perfect Moment!

Image credits: Wolfgang Kurz

#91 Waiting For The Green Light

Image credits: Mauro Garcia

#92 Light And Shadows

Image credits: the.brunosousa.view

#93 Antwerpen It’s Rainy Day

Image credits: Susan Dammingh

Source: boredpanda.com