10 Beautiful Examples of Street Portrait Photography

For the theme of this week’s showcase of mobile photography from the Mobiography Flickr Group, we look at street portrait photography. It is a style of photography that captures those raw candid moments in everyday life and aims to convey the personality of the subject or tell the story that lies behind the individual in question.

The showcase features work from talented artists and photographers Rob Pearson-Wright, Nick Kenrick, Louise Fryer, Tayfun öztürk, John Fullard, Cedric Blanchon, GaryA101, Ryan Vaarsi, Marco Lamberto and Angel Figueroa.

Let us know if you have a favourite and what you think makes a perfect street portrait photograph in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

My sweet lollipop

‘My sweet lollipop‘ by Rob Pearson-Wright – “After celebrating a memorable pub quiz win with my friends, I was heading to the bus stop to catch a ride home. The fuzzy glow of a few drinks had boosted my confidence and I felt like stepping out of my comfort zone in street photography. I saw a couple, sitting down next to the statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus. They looked cool and hip, in a good way. I told them I was a street photographer and just liked taking photos of people and would they mind if I took a few shots of them. They both said ‘sure’ but the guy mentioned, ‘I’m not good with posing for photos’. I told them both to pretend I wasn’t there and just act naturally. It didn’t work for the first few shots as they both seemed really conscious of the camera but after a short while they reverted to how I saw them before I interrupted their evening. The guy’s evident problem with posing vanished and he simply returned to acting as he would have done if I had not been there. The girl always seemed more playful with the camera. Initially she was as conscious of it as her friend but by the end she was intrigued by the experience and seemed to have fun with it all. I said ‘thank you and have a great night’ to them both and went on my way. I was truly grateful to them both for indulging me and will remember that connecting with people can be just as fulfilling as getting a great candid shot. A shot like this will inspire me to conquer fears of shyness and help me pose subjects should I wish and it was nice just to make a connection with people, even for just a brief few minutes. Big cities can seem like deserts without any fruit or water but occasionally you can be reminded that we are all in the same boat or caravan, crossing the same waters or sands.

I used ProCamera to take the shot as it was night time. I used Snapseed for a few minor brightness and contrast adjustments and also to convert the image into black and white. Then I used BigLens to focus on the two subjects, create a depth of field and add a little bokeh in the background. ”

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless?

‘Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless?‘ by Nick Kenrick – “This image was taken in the holy town of Pushkar in India. It is a pilgrimage town and many people come to do Hindu ceremonies in the lake and temples.  This man is a typical pilgrim from a poor farming background. I love to take images of people and I take images quickly with no indication, in order to capture an authentic candid of the person, the closer the better.”

Brighton: July 2014

‘Brighton: July 2014‘ by Louise Fryer – “I was in Brighton for the day taking photo’s with my son and as we were walking back up to the station Toby pointed out these two men. Across the road from them was a pub with some men sitting outside drinking in the sun, they were laughing and shouting at the piano player to play something else, the man with the eye patch was glaring at them and didn’t seem happy at their behaviour! It was quite sad as the piano had obviously seen much better days, it was in a bit of a bad state and was placed on blocks of wood but they seemed quite serious about the music they were playing.
This photo was processed in VSCO Cam and Snapseed.”

Ayd?n

‘Ayd?n‘ by Tayfun öztürk – “His name is Ayd?n. He stood in front of the wall . Light and shadow was very nice. Especially his stance was next door and steps complement each other. I used Hipstamatic app for iphone 5 with John S lens and Blackeys Supergrain film.”

Untitled

‘Untitled‘ by John Fullard – “The picture was taken on the 6 train one evening travelling from Manhattan to the Bronx and I was fortunate enough that this interesting looking guy chose to sit across from me. I managed to get a few frames and this was the one I was happiest with. It was taken with the built-in iPhone camera app and processed in Oggl using a combination of Blanko film and the Jane lens.”

The neighbor

‘The neighbor‘ by Cedric Blanchon – “I work in difficult neighborhoods, ghettos are going to say, I made this photo while I was working and was in the street, I saw the man by the window with his big doberman, I unsheathed my smartphone I pretended to look for a few things on my phone, I framed and I approached and I took the photo, then I used the Noir application, and cameramatic BW expired.”

Untitled

‘Untitled‘ by GaryA101 – “This picture was taken immediately after getting off my bus after a days work. There is always a hive of bustling activity around the bus stops in my city and a real mix of interesting characters and situations. I was drawn to this lady as she was sitting on her own, seemingly in deep thought. This photograph was processed in Snapseed.”

A matter of happenstance

‘A matter of happenstance‘ by Ryan Vaarsi – “The entrance to LA’s 7th St./Metro Center MTA station never lacks for…let’s call it flavor. And flavor often lends itself to happy accidents. Or whatever kind of accident this wound up being. I had planted myself near the top of the escalator and was photographing a scene nearby when this gentlemen came into my field of view. Subtlety has never been my strongest move but I tried–lord knows I tried–to be a fly on the wall. No luck. A bright yellow smartphone is a not easily hidden from view. He spotted me but said nothing. I got the sense that he wasn’t pleased. Maybe it was the fact that he’d stopped moving, maybe it was something in the eye contact, I don’t know. Was he impaired in some way? Suffering from some manner of mental illness? I don’t know but my inclination was to nod politely, offer a vague smile and go about my business.

Shot with a Nokia Lumia 1020, transferred to an iPhone 5s and edited in Snapseed.”

Don’t be late

‘Don’t be late‘ by Marco Lamberto – “I was walking in Bologna and looking for some interesting glimpses of daily life in those beautiful porticoes. She was standing on the way, I just got closer and quickly took this picture. She probably didn’t even noticed me, there were so many tourist walking around and taking pics (see one in the bg). I got lucky since the area was a bit dark and she stood almost still while the two woman in the behind were passing by and in the final shot came out this blurry.

The image was cropped square and developed into PS Express (clarity, reduce noise, shadows and a bit of sharpen), the bnw conversion was made through VSCOcam filter LV2 with a bit of vignetting, +1 sharpening and shadows tint set on a low level of blue.”

Enter My World of Imagination

‘Enter My World of Imagination‘ by Angel Figueroa – “This photo was taken at the Metropolitan  Museum of Art in New York City and it’s a picture of one of the museums security guards with his back turned to me. I tend to look for symmetry and geometry before people but as I was coming up behind him and saw him positioned dead center within the wide open frame, his posture, the three overhead lights was simply to much to pass up. The image reminded me of Ron Serling and The Twilight Zone, hence the title of the photo. The image was shot on my 5s using the MPro app in TIFF, brought over to VSCO for some straightening and sharpening and that was it.”

Which was your favourite?

Do you have a favourite from this weeks selection? Let us know your thoughts on the featured photos in the comments below.

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