This description of Street Photography is taken from Wikipedia and is a good starting point for the subject. Given the number of practitioners of the subject many other descriptions can be found, and some will not agree with the one below.
Street photography, also sometimes called candid photography, is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public spaces. Although there is a difference between street and candid photography, it is usually subtle with most street photography being candid in nature and some candid photography being classifiable as street photography. Street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. Though people usually feature directly, street photography might be absent of people and can be of an object or environment where the image projects a decidedly human character in facsimile or aesthetic.
Our own club member Simon Maddison who has a passion for street photography, advises: “Develop your eye for moments and think about timing, be curious and be as brave as you can be about going close. Any camera will do – buy books not gear. (His image above was taken in New York in 1985 on a simple Minolta with a standard lens)
These four books are recommended by Simon:
The Street Photographer’s Manual – this how-to book takes you through a series of detailed tutorials and lessons for capturing the unexpected.
Magnum Streetwise: edited by Stephen McLaren – examines street photography from 1947 to today
52 Assignments – Street Photography: Brian Lloyd – inspirations, to help you kick your photographic habits, step out of your comfort zone and add the creativity and character that is the essential feature of professional street photography. The book features 52 commissions and concepts with alternative ideas for composing, creating and printing eye-catching images from the street.
Vivian Maier A Photographer Found: John Maloof “The largest and most comprehensive collection of the secretive self taught American nanny photographer. She died in 2009 with some 150,000 unknown photographic images many of them negatives and undeveloped film. Wonderful.”
You can find a great selection of her images in this 16 minute video on Youtube. The images go by very fast but you can pause!
The the award winning film “Finding Vivien Maier” by Jon Maloof can be rented on Amazon Prime or you may be able to be find free if you hunt the internet
The following Websites will provide further advice and features on street photography.
These books are recommended by LensCulture in their Street Photography guide 2019.
The World Atlas of Street Photography: David Gibson– featuring captured moments from the miraculous to the mundane, this book shows the breadth and variety of street photography today across five continents and more than 100 photographers.
The Last Resort: Martin Parr – the Last Resort documents New Brighton, a run-down urban seaside resort that remains very much alive, in the quirky signature style of Parr.
Magnum Contact Sheets – a remarkable and insightful compilation of photography contact sheets and other material revealing how the most celebrated Magnum photographers capture and edit their very best shots.
Contacts: William Klein – the first collection of William Klein’s famous contact sheets in an excellent study of how this highly regarded photographer worked and photographed on the street.
52 Assignments – Street Photography: Brian Lloyd – inspirations, to help you kick your photographic habits, step out of your comfort zone and add the creativity and character that is the essential feature of professional street photography. The book features 52 commissions and concepts with alternative ideas for composing, creating and printing eye-catching images from the street.
The Black Rose: Trent Parke – in his quest to uncover memories of his mother and childhood Trent’s photographs detail the natural world and incidents from everyday life to create a mesmerising visual poem of Australia.
Footprints: Andrew Shabangu – the acclaimed South African photographer spent decades photographing daily life across South Africa and beyond.
Aperture: Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb on street photography and the poetic image – an insightful and helpful resource for photographers written by tow internationally acclaimed street photographers.
The Suffering of Light: Alex Webb – the first comprehensive book exploring the expansive 30-year career of Alex Webb, a celebrated street photographer and a member of Magnum Photos.
Subway: Bruce Davidson -an uncompromising visual exploration of the New York subway system in the 1980’s
The World Through My Eyes: Daidi Moriyama – a broad monograph to one of the most respected names in contemporary Japanese photography. This book reveals his unique perspective on Japanese society from the 50’s to the 70’s and beyond.
Road Wallah: Dougie Wallace – over a four year period, the London based photographer documented Premier Padmini taxis and their passengers as they travelled through the streets of Mumbai, India.
The Photographer: Ernest Cole – Before he was excited and fled South Africa, Ernest photographed the country during apartheid. This book celebrates the work of Cole, the first black freelance of his country.
The Segregation Story: Gordon Parks – in 1956 photographer Gordon Parks visited Alabama and Georgia to capture the faces of segregation on assignment for Life. This book features a wide selection of colour images from that assignment, many published for the first time.
Exiles: Josef Koudelka – excised from Czechoslovakia for photographing the 1968 Soviet invasion, Koudelka roamed Europe photographing for Magnum Photos for decades. This book documents his search for a spiritual homeland and is considered one of the greatest phonebooks of the 20th century.
Impossible Reminiscences: Reni Burri – a retrospective of this remarkable photojournalist colour photographs.
Early Colour: Saul Leiter – a remarkable collection of 1950’s and 1960’s photographs by and American photographer and painter who pioneered colour photography.
SlideShow: The Colour Photographs of Helen Levitt – the monograph features more than 100 colour photographs from the streets of `New York in the 1970’s.
The Americans: Robert Frank – the indisputable masterpiece that continues to inspire generations of street photographers.
Tauza: Bob Gosani’s People – extraordinary photographs of the lives of black people under South Africa’s apartheid regime in the 1950’s by photographer Bob Gosani one of two black photographers at Drum, and anti-apartheid magazine in Johannesburg.