Street photography is about capturing the candid moments in public spaces, which often highlights everyday life, urban environments, and human interactions. It thrives on spontaneity, composition, and storytelling, offering a raw glimpse into the world.

It overlaps with candid photography but doesn’t necessarily require a street or urban setting.Sometimes, it will focus on objects or environments that will evoke the human presence. The genre has evolved and has improved as time has gone on.It has also has advanced in portable cameras, which will allow photographers to document fleeting moments with precision.

Candid Photography is all about capturing spontaneous, unposed moments, often highlighting genuine emotions and interactions.

Key Artists

It originated in Paris, and artists such as Henri Cartier-Bresson,Brassai and Andre Kertesz, Street Photography became known as a genre in its own right during the early 1930s.

While there are areas of overlap with documentary and architectural photography, Street Photography is very unique in the way it is associated with the photographer’s skill in catching something of the mystery and aura of everyday city life.

Street Photographers will sometimes engage and get to know their subjects (Brassai,Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand) but it became more common for the photographer to roam the streets with a concealed 35mm camera.

The Street Photographer is then often likened to the historical figure of the flâneur: namely someone who joins anonymously with the crowd who will observe and record the ways the unsuspecting city dweller interacts with his or her environment.

A History of Street Photography

While the early French developers, formed close associations with the Surrealists, the spontaneity quality that embraces the uneven and spontaneous, Snapshot Aesthetic which was carried across the Atlantic where it lent itself perfectly to the post-war urban experience.

Possibly the most important Street Photographer of all, the Swiss-American Robert Frank, who raised the status of the Snapshot to art and his influence was to make the next generation of American photographers.

The mid-1960s and early-1970s became the “golden-age” of Street Photography when the likes of the Arbus, Winogrand and Lee Friedlander allowed their own sassy personalities to impinge on the images of their subjects. 

Street Photography Quotes

‘For Me The Camera is a Sketchbook, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity’ -Henri Cartier-Bresson

This quote implies his philosophy on photography as an art form driven by instinct and immediacy. He saw the camera not as a rigid tool for documentation but as a means of capturing fleeting moments with precision and emotion.I agree with this statement Cartier-Bresson said because ‘rigid’ implies that its hard and the images will last longer.

‘Basically ,my work has been one long reportage on human life’-Brassai

His approach to photography as a documentation of human existence. He saw his work as an ongoing visual narrative and like a storybook, which captured the essence of everyday life, people, and urban environments. I agree with is quote because images are a documentation of our lives.

Technology

The Leica handheld camera, commercially available as of 1924, was the ticket to allowing a photographer to be on the move, as well as to capturing movement of the world around them.

A 35-mm film camera, the Leica had a wide aperture that required a short exposure time, especially for pictures taken outdoors, and it could advance quickly, which allowed the photographer to take numerous pictures of a subject in quick succession.

Street Photography Mood-board

This is an overview of street photography in a nutshell.

Henri Cartier-Bresson is a French photographer, who is born on the 22 august in 1908. He was a humanist and saw photography as the extension of the eye, but also a memory. He was a street photographer who had a passion for art but went travelling and found a new interest, which was photography, more specifically, street photography.

Why is a camera an extension of the eye?

It supports the idea that you can capture an image and have it as a memory unlike the eye, which can miss certain things a camera doesn’t to keep a new perspective.

What is the physical pleasure in making photographs?

It gives you satisfaction of witnessing the final product of your image, as well as viewing other photos to gain satisfaction. When you see an image you want to take, you gain physical pleasure from being the one to take that image.

How can photography be likened to hunting?

There are similarities to photography and hunting, like going on an adventure to find what you are looking for, and patiently waiting to capture the certain subject because it shouldn’t take many tries.

The horizonal lines towards the left of the image on the railings highlight and direct the viewers eyeline towards the decisive moment to frame where he has captured the image. Meanwhile, the man jumping is a part of the rule of thirds, as he is on the right side of the photo, meaning he’s in the right grid side. This makes him the first eye catching subject, as the image is divided. If you remove the colours in the image, it enhances the detail and depth in the image, with stronger shadows and highlights because of the tonal range. Because there is no colour, the monochrome image gives nostalgia and a reminiscent feeling of memories of the past.

He used a Leica Rangefinder with a 50mm lens to be discreet, capturing quick images in focus. This enabled him to capture them close up or far away, but allowed him to take a candid photo of others to give a more natural quality. He had clarity from foreground to background and sharp focus to add more depth, alongside a quicker shutter speed as there is little to no motion blur. Usually bright natural lighting is hated by photographers, but Cartier-Bresson uses the advantage of natural light, to reflect perfectly onto the light of the puddle. By doing this, it reflects on the bottom and top to create balance, and give a sense of unity in the image whilst framing this in a perfect way. This photo became one of his most famous images, by renouncing street photography and the idea of candid photos. This image revolutionised the decisive moment, and enhanced the idea that you can take something so ordinary, and recognise the beauty in it.

The black fences act as a guide to lead the eyes in various directions by using leading lines through the shapes.

These women carry baked goods, which in turn could be representing the children’s future jobs. The texture in each of the floor patterns suggests that

Mood Board & Design Vision

I envision a warm yet structured aesthetic for my exhibition catalogue and zine, blending documentary precision with an atmospheric glow. My mood board includes:

• Golden Hour Light: Soft hues that evoke nostalgia and memory, enhancing the emotional connection to place.
• Architectural Fragments & Shadows: Abstract compositions playing with geometry and contrast, lending depth to urban storytelling.

Structure & Concept

1. BIOGRAPHY – My philosophy in capturing resilience in urban landscapes, influenced by Basilico and Kim.
2. Photography Series Breakdown – Individual works with accompanying stories, explaining different concepts of rebuilding and the stories of war through the architecture.
3. The Role of Colour & Light – How Golden Hour tones enhance warmth, memory, and reflection in my compositions.
4. Layout & Format – balanced typography and generous negative space to elevate imagery.

Title & Captions

I aim for historically informative short statements and technical photographic ideas accompanying each image, balancing documentation with emotional storytelling.

Through this, my work becomes both a document of history , I want viewers to not only witness these spaces but to feel the weight of time and transformation.

FULL ZINE

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PAGE 14/15 (Collage)

Back page (16)

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French artist and humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. In the 1970s he largely discontinued his photographic work, instead opting to paint.

The Decisive Moment

The ‘Decisive Moment’ refers to the timing, the composition, the totality of a picture, an ordinary moment transcribed as a complete statement; the moment the shutter is pressed.

Analysis

Form – The image has what seems to be a person running across a wet street, jumping over a puddle, with buildings and a man visible in the background (all in detail, suggesting a smaller aperture was used). There is clear use of the decisive moment here, as Henri Cartier-Bresson has chosen to take the picture right as the person running is about to exit the frame, perfectly capturing the decisive moment in photographic form. There is also a clear contrast in tones, as the person shown running across the image is completely black whereas the rest of the image has a variety of tones ranging from complete whites in the sky to greys throughout other aspects of the image, amplified by the lack of colour which draws out more attention to detail and the tonal range (linking to the depth which the image holds).

Composition – The photo has been taken at the perfect moment to capture the person right before they exit the frame, again linking to essence of movement as it is clear the person is going somewhere. Other aspects of the image are also all positioned more towards the top of the image rather than the centre, as the centre and bottom are mostly all just water showing reflections of the rest of the image which creates repetition and helps add form and shape to the image – furthermore, the rule of thirds horizontally perfectly splits the image into fore, mid, and background from bottom to top, enhanced by how the subject is positioned him on the right third (adding visual appeal) as well as showing clear movement with him being out of focus (in contrast to the stationary man in the background).

Conceptual, contextual; capturing the moment – The image perfectly depicts the concept of the decisive moment, as if the image was taken even a second too early or too late the person could’ve not been in frame at all, but the exact moment Cartier-Bresson chose to take the photo allows for essence of movement to be shown clearly as well as creating an effective composition, turning an ordinary scene into an extraordinary, interesting and everlasting image. This can be credited to Cartier-Bresson’s choice of camera, the Leica rangefinder, since it’s portable, quick and discreet nature helps capture more candid and natural photos which may not have been possible with other cameras which may have required lots of tweaking/set-up, risking missing the decisive moment.

Why is a camera an extension of the eye?

The camera can freeze and capture a scene whereas the eye cannot. It can create a physical manifestation of a scene which otherwise would have been forgotten with all the things the average person sees on the daily (linking to street photography, creating intriguing and extraordinary images out of everyday ordinary scenes).

What is the physical pleasure in making photographs?

It immortalises memories which can then be looked back upon, creating emotional connections and pictures which hold significance rather than just being pieces of paper.

How can be photography be likened to hunting?

It can be likened in the sense that photographers wait patiently and search for the perfect shot, they ‘hunt’ for their desired scene.

What is Street Photography?

Originally linked to Paris and notable photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, and André Kertész, Street Photography gained recognition as a distinct genre in the early 1930s. Although there are earlier examples and some similarities with documentary and architectural photography, Street Photography stands out due to the photographer’s ability to capture the mystery and essence of daily life in the city.

Early History

Since the 1830s, people have been snapping photos in the streets, but it wasn’t until the 1920s that street photography really started to evolve in a modern sense. After World War I, life in the city sped up, and with the emergence of illustrated magazines and popular films, there was a strong urge to capture and reflect on fleeting moments. Street photography developed alongside new jobs in reporting and photojournalism. Quick snapshots, taken with fast shutter speeds, began appearing in newspapers and magazines to depict “history in the making.” However, cameras didn’t just document significant events—they also transformed everyday life into something special. A simple photograph could elevate an ordinary moment into art, revealing the beauty in things we often take for granted.

Quotes from Famous Street Photographers:

In his account of life in Berlin in the late 1930s, the novelist Christopher Isherwood wrote:

“I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking. Recording the man shaving at the window opposite and the woman in the kimono washing her hair. Someday, all this will have to be developed, carefully printed, fixed.”

This quote perfectly captures the essence of street photography, being a documentary and objective style rather than a subjective one; it records moments literally as they are, rather than leaving elements to the imagination of the viewer(s), hence its popularity in newspapers.

Henri Cartier-Bresson also wrote of the camera as an extension of his eye. In this quote he talks about one of things he is most famous for, the creation of the idea of a ‘decisive moment’:

“I prowled the street all day, feeling very strung up and ready to pounce, determined to “trap” life, to preserve it in the act of living. Above all I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.”

Again, this quote describes the nature of street photography, leaning more towards a literal style and recording everyday moments as they are in the moment they happen – this was eventually what lead to Cartier-Bresson’s term, the ‘decisive moment’, in which the photo is taken at the exact moment all the elements of the image align perfectly to create an extraordinary and intriguing image out of an everyday scene (seen most obviously in his most famous image, ‘Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare’).

Contemporary Street Photography (iN-PUBLiC):

Street photography is a style of photography that has stood against the test of time and is still around in the modern age, with an example being iN-PUBLiC.

iN-PUBLiC describe themselves as loving to ‘feature the work of people who are taking candid public photography or perhaps street photography in a new and unique direction’, and was set up in 2000 to promote street photography itself and continue to explore its possibilities. Below are some of the images that feature on the front page of their website:

iN-PUBLiC was relaunched in 2020 with a renewed commitment to present the best photography from the public realm that faithfully records everyday life without staging or manipulation – highlighting how despite its origins going back to photographers from as early as the 1830s, this genre of photography and its unique objective style is still appreciated and beloved by many.

More Examples of Work From iN-PUBLiC Photographers:

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French artist and humanist photographer who was well known for his street photography. He was considered the master of candid photography and he viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment.

In his early life Cartier was more focused on the arts than photography, he studied art at just 5 years old in 1927 and proceeded to enter a private art school to pursue it further. In the 1930s Cartier acquired the Leica Range Finder camera that he would use for many years, due to the small size of the camera it made it very easy to take pictures anonymously in a crowd of people. He would use a 50mm lens to make his images more authentic and better quality, he also ended up painting his camera to make it even harder to spot in public so no one would know he was using it to take pictures. As his interest for photography grew he would then later give up art and do photography seriously and prioritised taking street photography of the public all over the world.

The Decisive Moment

The Decisive moment was a philosophy which was later made into a photobook made by Henri Cartier-Bresson which included some of his best images he created. A majority of the images he took utilised the street photography method and were quite candid as the people had no idea he was taking a photograph of them. This photobook was praised for the ability to capture the Essence of a moment, everything in the images he took were “real” as no one had any idea he was taking a picture so the photos were able to show the raw emotions of people and the natural moment they were experiencing at that time. This would then later motivate photographers to become more present and observant which can help to create more powerful and meaningful images.

Why is a camera an extension of the eye?

The camera is seen as an extension of the eye as it can often capture details you wouldn’t typically notice at a first glance. Taking a picture with a camera is like freezing time and everything captured in the photograph is stuck in place which can allow for certain details or interactions that took place within the photograph to be seen and observed in order to take in a better understanding of the image.

What is the physical pleasure of making photographs?

By making photographs you may feel a sense of ambition, you may want to capture certain details or use your photographs in a certain manner to show your views and interests to others around you. This sense of ambition may even fuel you to make more images especially if you feel that the photographs that you have captured is up to a very good standard or is of very good quality.

How can photography be likened to hunting?

Photography has similar attributes to hunting, Like hunting photographers have to find a place they want to take photographs at but they also have to consider what they want to capture in the frame, which angle or zoom they want to use and what they want the main focus point of the image to be. You have to be precise with photography at times, especially if your trying to photograph something specific to ensure that the image you take comes out the way that you want it.

Cartier-Bresson’s The Decisive Moment Image Analysis

With this image we can see various amounts of shapes such as the curved lines on the floor, the ladder with the planks on top, the ripples created by the subject and finally the fence rail and its thorn pattern. This image also uses a Composition method which is the rule of thirds, the subject falls on the far right of the image which takes up a square on the rule of thirds grid. The horizontal lines of the railings extending to the water reflection and the ladders horizontal lines are lined up perfectly to highlight the main focus point of the image which is the person jumping. We can also see the shadows casted perfectly and clearly on the water which add more detail to the image. The tonal range of the image is quite dark and lacks really light colours however it is still used strongly especially with the shadows and this is done to draw more attention towards areas in the photo which contain lots textures and highlights. These features draw you in to analyse the image more in depth.

Cartier would also appear to use a smaller aperture for a sharper focus and a quick shutter speed as there was no motion blur present in the image. He also takes advantage of the natural sunlight for his images, even using strong natural light which most photographers dislike due to issues like glare. However Cartier would use this for his advantage as this light would cast strong shadows and highlight many areas of the images. This photo in particular was one of Cartier’s best photos which captures someone who was mid jump in the air freezing him in time within the photo. This photo ended up changing the scene of street photography and candid photography too and it helped show photographers the beauty in the ordinary and what type of images you can capture within everyday life.

I wanted my zine to have a very consistent style to correspond with the images themselves, as they follow a documentary-like style.

Initial Layout Plan

I wanted to have my first two pages of the zine be an image on the left with a caption, and then the opposing page have some context/information about the image as well as the intentions and thought process behind it.

I then wanted this to be follow by a singular image spread over two pages with no text, having purely visual storytelling rather than context/information to describe the scene.

Finally, I wanted a diptych of two similar images with titles in the corner as well as a background image as a border.

This would then repeat in order again one more time (image with caption, double page spread, diptych) before reaching the back page of the zine.

Image Selections

Single Images

For the images that would go alongside a page with context/information, I wanted to pick some of my better images to explain my intention and thought process behind them, as well as giving them an appropriate title.

For this image, I took it when I noticed how the light seems like a man-made infection into this natural landscape, almost claiming this scene as mankind’s rather than a romantic one, creating a disconnect between nature and man. When considering a title, I chose ‘Modern Romantic Landscape’ because I liked the irony and how it implies that romantic landscapes in the modern age aren’t natural at all and have human interference which completely takes away from the romanticism aspect.

This particular image I took because I liked how there is very little natural aspects in the bottom right corner, with the rest of the bottom half being crammed full in contrast to the top half which is purely sky and negative space apart from the tower. I saw the tower standing over the rest of the scene as a metaphor for mankind’s overshadowing and dominance over nature opposed to the connection they used to have before periods such as the industrial revolution – I chose to title the image ‘Overshadowed’.

Single Images + Context Drafts

Drafts for the pages which will have an image with context and information, alongside notes to help with writing the paragraph when it comes to making the zine.

Double Page Spreads

For these pages, I chose images where lots of detail and content is present that would look better displayed in landscape over two pages – I also thought it would be best to not have a caption or title for these images to have nothing else on the double page spread except for the image, so the two pages will look exactly as the images are presented below.

When presented in a two page spread, this image is very effective composition-wise since the first container completely fills out most of the first page in contrast to the second one where it is positioned perfectly in the middle but still has enough negative space to contrast it from the other half.

When presented in a two page spread, the first page has the gate and some details but is mostly composed of the negative space from the sky, whereas the second page has less negative space with more of the frame being filled by signs.

Diptych

For my diptychs, I wanted to pick two pictures which would go well together when presented together, as well as an appropriate image to have as the background.

These two pictures go alike in the sense they both feature containers/tanks as their main subjects, although they still are different enough for both of them to be interesting images on their own. The down-up perspective of the first image looking up to the tower has also been used on the second image, making the two images go with each other more.

These two pictures are more alike since they are both taken at the same deadpan angle and are both of storage containers – however, enough contrast is still present, mainly in the foreground where one image has purely negative space whereas the other has more clutter and objects.

Diptych Drafts

Drafts for the diptychs across two pages, the grey border will be replaced with an abstract, close-up New Topographics-style image and subtle black borders will be added to the image to bolden them.

Final Outcome in InDesign

After making initial layouts, selecting images and drafting designs, I started creating the zine in InDesign.

After experimenting with different fonts and colours, I settled on this one since I felt it was the most documentary-like one and fit most with my narrative and images, as well as white to make it bold and stand out from the image. The cover image was chosen since it perfectly summarises the intentions behind my photoshoot and zine, with lots of the frame being filled by tanks and containers and no natural elements being present.

Abstract image added to border the image itself rather than just one solid colour since I found it more visually appealing, as well as the finalised contextual paragraph and a title for the picture.

I really liked how this double page spread out since it looks exactly how I wanted it to, with one page being filled to the frame and the other having more negative space.

Another abstract image added as a background to fill the space rather than it just being one colour. I experimented with adding captions/titles to the images but liked the purely visual aesthetic without any text.

Second single image – title, background image + information/context added.

Second diptych – background image + surrounding borders to the images to make them bold and stand out.

Second double page spread.

Third and final single image, background image and context.

For my back cover, I originally wanted to use the double page spread image of the two containers and have the first half on the front cover and second half on the back cover, but decided against it because I thought the photo would look better in the zine itself. I settled on this design I made in Photoshop for the back cover, a joiner photo of two photos featured in the zine with the impression that they have been printed out and layered on top of each other – I like how this gives it an artificial look and it ties to the zine in the fact that the scene has been built by layering photos, similarly to how the whole area was built by hand from the ground up and in doing so took nature’s place.

Alexander Mourant is a photographer from Jersey. Being raised in Jersey, Mourant developed a strong connection to the island’s coastal scenery, which significantly influences his photographic style. His early exposure to the island’s dramatic landscapes, including its cliffs, beaches, and ever-changing skies, provided the foundation for his interest in landscape photography.

Mourant pursued formal training in photography, allowing him to refine his technical skills and explore various photographic techniques. His work focuses primarily on the natural environment, particularly coastal and rural landscapes, with a special emphasis on light and texture. His photographs often highlight the raw beauty of nature, showcasing both expansive vistas and intricate details within the landscape. Through his use of natural light, Mourant creates compositions that evoke a sense of atmosphere, often capturing the landscape during early morning or late afternoon to achieve softer, more dramatic lighting.

Over the years, Mourant’s photography has been featured in numerous galleries, both in Jersey and internationally, and his work has been published in several magazines and photography platforms. His portfolio reflects his dedication to capturing the untouched beauty of the natural world, with many of his images focusing on Jersey’s unique geography and landscapes. Additionally, Mourant has published several photography books that present his artistic vision and exploration of the island’s ever-changing environment.

Mourant’s work is also driven by a commitment to environmental conservation. He often uses his photography to raise awareness of the importance of protecting natural landscapes, especially in light of modern development and climate change. Through his lens, Mourant encourages viewers to appreciate the fragility of the natural world and the need to preserve it for future generations. His work stands as both an artistic expression and a call for environmental responsibility.