Image via Complex Original
Street photography is one of the most interesting yet overlooked genres in imaging. Capturing architecture, people in passing, odd details, and intriguing signage, these photographers are at the top of their game. They're not limited by using film or digital, shooting black and white or color, or having available light. They photograph their hometowns and their travels, and many make political and social statements while they're at it.
Our list took into account the legends, but only included the ones who are still producing work. On the same token, we searched for the prolific newcomers who have amassed online followings from their top notch portfolios. They aren't necessarily ranked, because even within this very specific genre, there's a great breadth of work to be considered.
These photographers go out into the streets and find incredible places and subjects that have inspired them. It won't be difficult to take away something amazing from each of them.
The 50 Greatest Street Photographers Right Now
Wittner Fabrice
Wittner Fabrice
Wittner Fabrice's street photos from different parts of the world are simple yet sophisticated. Whether documenting individuals or crowds in the street, in daylight or low light, Fabrice's compositions are on point.
Website
Zack Arias
Zack Arias
Most of Zack Arias' street photos contain and undeniable element of humor, which in addition to their excellent compositions, makes them lovable by anyone. His ability to capture the hilarious height of any moment is ingenious.
9 shots
9 Shots
9 Shots' street photography captures people emotively — usually exhausted, surprised, or isolated in some way. His images often appear slightly underexposed, making them look grayer and darker than they were in real life.
Hamey Joag
Hamey Joag
Hamey Joag's photographs are purely architectural and almost always contain white frames. He's awesome at noticing humorous things that are slightly off in otherwise normal situations.
Anna Delany
Anna Delany
New Zealand/New York-based Anna Delany documents gritty street life and urban decay architecturally and in portraits. Anna may be one of the most successful street photographers in terms of her ability to capture facial emotion in a split second.
Website
Dylan Kasson
Dylan Kasson
Dylan Kasson has amassed a Flickr following worthy of his high caliber, understated street photography. Simply put, Dylan sees special details in the world that most would miss and be unappreciative of.
Website
iO Tillett Wright
iO Tillett Wright
iO Tillett Wright's work is grounded in really excellent black and white street photography, whether of scenery or people, even if most people know her for editorial and fine art endeavors. Her most recent Self Evident Truths project brought her across America shooting candid portraits of hundreds of people who identify as LGBTQ, and brought attention to her scope of awesome street photo work.
Mr. Ellis
Mr. Ellis
Mr. Ellis shoots a breadth of street subjects using a variety of angles, in both color and black and white, making him one of the more dynamic and experimental photographers on this list. Whether capturing an interesting expression or a cool graffiti wall, his work is always interesting and inspiring.
Phillip Abbott
Phillip Abbott
Phillip Abbott spends a lot of time documenting skaters and the streets. Typically shooting from farther away, his work leaves a lot to the viewer to interpret.
Johnny De Guzman
Johnny De Guzman
Chicago-based Johnny De Guzman may shoot some interior portraiture here and there, but his street photography is what's brought him attention online. He keeps it moody and interesting, while occasionally using long exposures to show interesting light coming from houses at night.
Keffer
Keffer
Keffer (who also goes by the Night Day), takes highly underexposed black and white photographs of Paris, mostly at night, which allows only certain details to come through. His color photographs appear slightly desaturated and mostly document vehicles. Whether color or black and white, Keffer's work spans people, architecture, aerial, and landscape, and for all of these reasons, he's definitely one of the greatest street photographers right now.
Richard Sandler
Richard Sandler
Richard Sandler is a street photography veteran, who continues to shoot and show work in galleries. Photographing in black and white, he usually makes either subtle or overt suggestions about social injustice in powerful ways.
Website
Andre Baumecke
Andre Baumecke
Andre Baumecke's range of street photography is united by the thick white borders he adds to his images. Whether an aesthetic or branding choice, it cleverly draws out the contrast in his images that range from people to street details and signage.
Sam Stockman
Sam Stockman
Sam Stockman's work is undoubtedly awesome and insightful, but can we talk about how he shoots exclusively film, including expired film? It takes real skill to both master the use of film and manual photography, as many on this list have, in addition to picking the right angles to see architecture in ever-fascinating ways.
Estevan Oriol
Estevan Oriol
Estevan Oriol is a multi-faceted director and photographer, whose street photography throughout Los Angeles is visual storytelling at its best. Shot in black and white film and retaining a black frame, Estevan's photographs look at people, cars, and graffiti from an angle all his own.
Jacob Greene
Jacob Greene
Jacob Greene shoots a lot of film and specializes in architectural street photography. Often using long exposures to draw out complimentary colors and lighting, Greene takes simple yet beautiful images of normal spaces and interesting signage.
Stepan Handzha
Stepan Handzha
Ukraine-based Stepan Handzha photographs mostly deserted locations and accidentally human shapes, and in all cases, his work evokes isolation, loss, and contemplation.
Website
Donavon Smallwood
Donavon Smallwood
Donavon Smallwood expertly captures people on the street, typically in relation to cars and public transit. He somehow catches a lot of people falling and doing things on the ground. What this means, we don't really know, but the aged, grainy quality of his work is consistent throughout his genuinely cohesive portfolio.
Yanidel
Yanidel
Yanidel has taken street photographs all over the world and shoots in a distinctly crisp, editorial-looking style. We're particularly fond of his photos in Paris, showing people of all ages and in all settings.
Matt Hoyle
Matt Hoyle
Matt Hoyle's work at times appears color corrected or to utilize HDR, but in any case, he shows people and places in an eerie, uncomfortable, and brilliantly cohesive way.
Lee Jeffries
Lee Jeffries
Lee Jeffries' work looks like it was shot in film a long time ago, but all of these portraits are from the last 3 years and were shot digitally. His street portraiture has a lot of character and brilliantly conveys the emotion of his various subjects using high contrast and ISO.
Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry is a staple of editorial and street photography. His photographs seem to carry an intensity throughout, whether in their saturation, facial expressions, contrast, or composition. When all is said and done, Steve McCurry is one of many who have made street photography the amazing genre that it is.
Jana & JS
Jana & JS
Austria-based couple Jana & JS are primarily considered street artists who paint various subjects, including themselves, all over the world. While photographing the many spaces and places they've put their work, they also document street life and architecture in an amazing way that we simply can't ignore. The dual nature to their work is super impressive and has gained them a dedicated following.
Liam McHenry
Liam McHenry
Liam McHenry's street photography is really unique, in that he specifically photographs places where he sees interesting patterns of motion. He draws arrows on one version of the photograph and displays both the original and altered versions on his Flickr.
Moby
Moby
In addition to his music, Moby is a prolific photographer, specifically documenting architecture for his blog and futuristic spaces for his 2011 album, Destroyed. He published 55 photographs in a book of the same title, available on his website.
Seymour Templar
Seymour Templar
Seymour Templar interestingly captions each of his photos with a song title. He's also really, really good at capturing people on their phones, kissing, and in low light.
Pien Wilbrink
Pien Wilbrink
Pien Wilbrink's work is fascinating in its detailing of urban spaces, versus the wide angles that many photographers on this list use. He focuses on the textures in fences and of skyscrapers, and has carved out a very unique, beautiful aesthetic for his work.
Jimmay Bones
Jimmay Bones
LA-based Jimmay Bones' work is a lot more abstract and uses blurring and graining techniques to communicate isolation and the craziness of urban life. His work is really introspective and relatable, and has gained him a well-deserved Flickr following.
Alexander Richter
Alexander Richter
Alexander Richter's work expertly balances the look of being both candid and planned. A lot of his street photography looks effortlessly balanced and composed, and a lot of his commercial work looks spontaneous and random. He's extensively documented urban culture, specifically on Fairfax Boulevard in Los Angeles, and shoots almost 100% portraiture.
Eric Kim
Eric Kim
Eric Kim has become so well-known as a street photographer, that he now teaches workshops worldwide on the subject. His work knows no boundaries, and he specializes in candid black and white street portraiture.
Tom Ryaboi
Tom Ryaboi
Tom Ryaboi got famous off of a photograph he took of shoes hanging over the side of a skyscraper. Since then, his street photography has gotten the recognition it deserves for being uniquely candid, honest, and raw, while often also depicting urban life and decay.
Markus Hartel
Markus Hartel
Markus Hartel's work is bold both in subject and in style. He shoots in color and black & white with a Leica, often noticing awkward facial expressions and interesting natural patterns.
Will Steacy
Will Steacy
Will Steacy's street photographs appear in different series that he's done all over the U.S. Often making political statements via photos of housing projects, protests, and other signage, Steacy's work brilliantly tells stories of people and places that have been forgotten.
Brian Sparks
Brian Sparks
Stockholm-based Brian Sparks focuses his street photography on doubling, patterns, and textures, in both black and white and color, and they are both individually and collectively stunning.
Cheryl Dunn
Cheryl Dunn
Cheryl Dunn's dedication to street photography is as impressive as her portfolio. In 2011, she successfully kickstarted a project to create a documentary about the historical figures within the genre, two of which made this list. She's published multiple books of her work, as well.
Matt Stuart
Matt Stuart
Matt Stuart loves street photography, and he made a documentary that went viral to prove it. He shoots mainly in London, and probably has the best sense of humor out of anyone on this list. His work is compositionally on point using excellent angles and juxtapositional subject matter.
Website
Martin Roemers
Martin Roemers
Martin Roemers' work is amazingly stylized, using long exposures to show people and trains in motion in different parts of the world. He's famous for his Metropolis and The Eyes of War series, in addition to his 2009 book Relics of the Cold War.
Jaime Martínez
Jaime Martínez
Jaime Martínez is most prolific on his Tumblr, and many know him from his promo GIFs for M.I.A.'s 2010 /\/\ /\ Y /\ album. Whether still or animated, his street photography whimsically captures girls, scenery, and cloudscapes in an overall natural and understated manner.
Joel Meyerowitz
Joel Meyerowitz
Joel Meyerowitz has been a leading figure in street photography for a while now, and he continues to publish books of his work. Whether documenting barely discernable people on the street or construction, he's paved the way for many and done a lot to establish the genre as worthy of the art world's recognition.
Jesse Wright
Jesse Wright
Jesse Wright is hands down one of the most prolific street photographers on this list. Whether documenting people, outdoor walls, or signage, his work has a breadth, depth, and consistency that's gained him an immense online following across social networks.
Website
Sha Ribeiro
Sha Ribeiro
While Sha Ribeiro has done amazing commercial work for Nike, Vogue, and Rolling Stone, his street photography has caught the attention of the art world, and for good reason. Specifically focusing on various subcultures, music, and portraiture, his work is evocative, honest, and distinctly his own.
Boogie
Boogie
Often when people think of stunning street photography, they think of Boogie. He's been publishing books of his work since 2006 and constantly posts images from Cuba to Thailand on his website. Whether pointing out amazing details in architecture, people, or (sometimes) roadkill, Boogie's claimed his spot as a street photography maverick and inspired leagues of others who've come after him.
Bill Cunningham
Bill Cunningham
People initially think of Bill Cunningham as a street style photographer, but to us, his work transcends any genre of photography. His ability to see trends in fashion translates to patterns in culture, art, and design, and he really seems like the only living artist who's made these connections so seamlessly. His dedication to the craft for decades has made him an inspiration to all artists, and if there's anyone on the list who would be the street photographer, it's him.