50 Of The Most Fascinating Pictures Shared On This Urban Street Photography Group
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.
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Hi All! Happy New Year!
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 “Urban Street Photography” cover it all.
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.”
A Flying Pigeon | Gateway Of India
Goallllll!
Wow, the dedication, creativity, & their agility. The artist did this moment justice.
Professional players - trips on nice level grassy terrain; these kids - do back-kicks in almost knee-deep water.
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.”
Essaouira, Morocco 2022
Go kitty go kitty go kitty, ride kitty, ride kitty, ride kitty, roll -w-
Load More Replies...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
Magical, I wonder if there is a kingfisher or some other bird on the branch, perfect photo.
Canadian photographer and writer Michael Ernest Sweet pointed out that one of the reasons Henri Cartier-Bresson is 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 go and allowed the skilled artist to fulfill his potential. (You can view some of his works right here.)
Two Stories
I imagine the two windows shows to timelines of the same person. Making different choices, ending up in different situations. One day they wake up in the other reality..
Load More Replies...As a woman who has been married for almost 24 years this feels personal. We have all been on one side of the scale at some point. Just got to roll with the punches
I though lady on the right was crying, and she may be. But the guy is smiling. So either she's laughing along, or he's evil and she is crying.
Self Portrait By Mobile
No head in the cloud puns?? I came to the comments sure I would find some
I made one right before seeing your comment lol
Load More Replies...So many lovely things i see. Very pleasing calming. The moon rising before sunset is amazing. Idk if cloud real but awesome.
Cat And A Mouse
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 is also a master of the 35mm, which he used for photographs displayed in another book, “Disposable Camera”.
Sunlight
I'm not an art critic by any means but I'm the only one thinking that the shot would be much better without the person?
Budapest, Liberty Brigde
I feel like going further, you'll travel back in time. Or even hop realities.
Promenade Riverside Park, NYC
In an interview 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 admitted that there have been a few times when he was shouted at or even hit with a woman’s purse.
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
And if you believe this guy just happened to walk by, I know a used car salesman who'd love to meet you.
Naples, Italy
Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator (and thus 'father') of Pinocchio.
The contrast in this is remarkable: The modern graffiti and stickers on the bottom of the window, and the craftsman/artist creating something with the tones of candlelight, reminiscent of a painting.
Silly me would have likely made sure that the graffiti wasn't visible. But it adds to the picture. I just don't have the eye for photography or the patience. But I sure do appreciate looking at the pictures of those that do.
Load More Replies...Paris - Behind Notre Dame
You'd have to snatch it off my wall to get, lol. With everything going on, a 5 x 7 would fill a wall.
Load More Replies...The wheel doesn’t hurt here, gives kind of a bohemian style to the scene … The green bag though (sorry to kill the magic vibe here guys) … it’s a trash can
But the trash bag is colorful, so it actually looks good.
Load More Replies...Another representative of the same genre, Dimitri Mellos, said that fearing upsetting 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 revealed 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 told his fellow photographer Eric Kim.
Barcelone
As an Empath i always smile wave when i see someone alone who looks sad. Especially elderly's outside on their porches as i drive by. Curious what they are thinking about and if want someone to talk to...
Newcastle
That dude is totally not coming to kill you and dump your body over the bridge. It'll be way worse than that
Probably in early evening in the summer - cold wet and damp, normal for Newcastle. The only reason I say it's early evening is the lack of scantily clad drunk women and fighting drunk men .... not stereotyping at all BTW ; I lived there for a year and every weekend over that year was a mad whirl of drinking, shagging and general madness - loved it !!!!
I walked across that bridge (High Level Bridge) 5 nights a week whilst working at the Hellhole Hilton!
High level bridge is further up mate. This one is the Tyne bridge
Load More Replies...This Is How Angels Are Born
I would totally use that to convince the child she had wings and a tail when she was little but outgrew them.
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 or stories along with the pictures.
El Triciclo
Wonder where this is. I saw lots of trikes like this in Merida, Yucatan in Mexico
It is Mexico, but the photographer is from San Luis Potosí so I wonder the picture was taken there.
Load More Replies...Lovers (Mantua, Italy)
Imagine she has a husband and he is just casually scrolling through this post to check out cool street photography.... like... "Alberta?? What the f?!"
This is my photo and before posting it publicly I hesitated for precisely that very same reason. :) But I ended up posting it anyways because I didn't expect it to receive such high praise in the urban photography groups and subsequently be featured on several websites. Turned out, I worried for no reason because these two are a real couple. In fact, some time after this photo was posted their friend saw it on some street photography Instagram account and told them about it. They went looking for the author knowing just my name which was kindly mentioned next to the photo and found me and this picture on Facebook. The guy then messaged me asking for the original of this photo for their home photo album and I sent him the high-resolution copy of it.
Load More Replies..."You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded" - Mary Schmich.
Load More Replies...Also, imagine having such an intimate moment and someone just takes a photo and posts it on the internet 😨
I get your point, but how intimate is it if you're sitting in an open window facing the street
Load More Replies...Imagine she is ill and he lovingly carries her to the sunshine and fresh air.
I love this! I imagine the emotions this photo pulls from people varies wildly. It’s a great photo!
Could be complete joy, or absolute grief... I'm drawn to want to know their story and hope they find peace! Fantastic photo!!!
Load More Replies...Hoi An, Vietnam
Yes! She really reminds me of The Painted Lady. (A spirit from Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Load More Replies..."Quick! Catch her before she accelerates!" -- Adrian Cronauer, 'Good Morning Vietnam'
So beautiful! She really reminds me of The Painted Lady from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Hoi An. Once was beautiful, now it is a huge tourist trap full of drunk brits.
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”.
Aligned
Snowy Night Walk
Probably carrying wolf's head in that bag there
Load More Replies...me grabbing my phone to take this photo turn back around and she gone RIP me
This reminds me of the song Old City Bar by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. :'(
Night Frames
Love it, it's like a advert for a film or the cover of a book. I imagine that every window has people who live there who are all completely different and eccentric but also kind of the same and like a little community.
On a second glance, I am slightly concerned with the headless child!
Load More Replies...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.
Saman Mamexelani
That's why I would never do that with my hand in my pockets.
Load More Replies...Pretzels
Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine
Load More Replies...Turkish bagels! (not pretzels) these are wayyy better than pretzels!
Opposites
Why is it, that in other countries, the use of color is uninhibited and liberally made use of, yet in America, if you paint your house Pepto Pink, you get a nasty-gram from the city, stating that you forgot to register your house as a "cartoon character hideout".
I was just thinking that. Where I live they like to match the colors to the desert landscape in housing developments. I don't want to see only variations of brown! It's boring!
Load More Replies...I wonder whether her coat will turn blue when she walks in front of the red house?
I wonder if the photographer asked someone to do this or if he waited there for 8 weeks and 3 days for it to just happen. Either way, very cool picture.
Loneliness
Alone. Not necessarily lonely. I feel like I could chill there just fine without another soul around.
Saint Catherine / Egypt
St. Catherine's is the oldest continuously inhabited monastery in the world. It sits at the foot of Mt. Sinai on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. You can book a foot hike up the mountain hours before dawn and watch the sunrise where Moses has been said to have been spoken to by God through the burning bush. My Hubby is Egyptian and he was going to take me on our visit to the Red Sea, but we ran out of time. One of my greatest regrets in life not going. It's still on my bucket list though.
Went there when I lived in egypt. Take your own tp. It's about 2 hours from Sharm.
Load More Replies...Leake Street Tunnel London And The Constantly Evolving Graffiti Art
hi, this is the artist here, it is for sale :)
Load More Replies...The photographer knew that lowering the camera world make this a superb picture 🤩
Take It Easy
Bari, Italy
Fujifilm xt30
U Bein Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar
Fuji Velvia 50
Brussels, Belgium
A rainstorm is the ideal time to chill back at home with a book and a cup of tea or coffee, or whatever you want.
Load More Replies...Ricoh Gr3x
Heck, I'd settle for 2 inches. It massively sucks to be short.
Load More Replies...it says "i want to go alaska". go written in smaller letters.
Load More Replies...Yep. Although not as disturbing as "I want to Alaska"
Load More Replies...Before I die I want to find the courage to tell Arnaud how much I miss him. Maybe Im talking about love
Light
This one makes me sad. As if he can't afford to go home until he's sold a certain amount?
"okay first night on the job, I totally trust this location, definitely can't be in a horror game right now"
I fully understand the scene, but still, it could be a promo to a sci-fi movie.
A Moment Of Solitude. Location: Bhaktapur, Nepal
2 or 3, more and she’d be home feeding them. No, I don’t care if it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. You forgot about snack, snack, brunch, and the uncalled for snack. We need food
Load More Replies..."I wonder how those nice young hikers are. I hope they climbed their mountain."
I wonder, from seeing photos from around the world, how much people are taught to appreciate how others live,
Living while she’s alive ❤️. Somehow I’ve forgotten to do this lately.
En Sevilla
Imagine putting all this together! "Any one seen part 334b, I'm missing part 334b, but have two part 549ds. Did Kevin get the parts mixed up again?"
Somehow it's missing something? I want to see this at night! I can only imagine what the light and shadow would glow like in the dark.
Ghent, Belgium, 2023 The Flower
Not sure why you were downvoted for this.
Load More Replies...Almost as if they've never seen anything beautiful in their lives and they can't understand it.
What is the on/off button imprint on the man's glass? Photographer behind a window + sits next to an appliance on standby?
It's a RoomeR glass or so it seems. RoomeR is a drink made in Ghent and it has a typical bottle and glass.
Load More Replies...Kids On The Rooftop
On hot nights, stretched out on the roof trying to find relief in near still air, watching the bats swirling with a backdrop of millions of stars.
This reminds me of a photograph my father took of the silhouette my 5 year old brother standing on a garage roof holding a pair of roller skates. Sooo much potential energy in a small child on a roof. I've always loved that picture!!!
Isn't this a scene from 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑟𝑘, soon after the ark is opened?
The Smell By John Crawford
Copenhagen
Danish person here and that picture doesn't represent what I think of, when I think of Copenhagen.
Load More Replies...I'm pretty sure this is Brumleby - a small and very popular area with tiny houses in Østerbro, Colenhagen
Panning Shot In Ha Noi. Vietnam
Go, Speed Racer goooo. Anyone remember that cartoon!?
Load More Replies...Sevilla 2023
Hey everyone... can we please stop the grouping of all Americans? I'm american (in the south) and I did not in any way form or fashion think "KKK" when I saw this. Thanks!!!
Wish I could upvote you more. I live in the south and my first thought was that's quite the hat!
Load More Replies...Nothing to do with KKK, if you are implying that, Nazarene costumes are way older. However, if you meant the craziness of this religious festivity... true
Load More Replies...I haven't seen anyone comparing this to the KKK, only people accusing Americans of doing so.
there are at least three comments here that express confusion and further down the list is another picture of semana santa that features a fair amount of "this is kkk" comments.
Load More Replies...Every Morning
Dhaka, Bangladesh
I have relatives by marriage in a small village in the Philippines who carry their water up from the river in 5 gallon buckets. We bathed in the river to minimize water hauling because it's about a 1/4 mile from the house.
Load More Replies...🎶 I be rollin’ and rinsing out the chamber pots… They be hatin’ 🎶
Tough Life In Street For Starling. Berlin 2023
Starling birdie is gorgeous in color. Looking in black & white it becomes a whole new thing.
Starlings are considered pests, so I grew up with that prejudice. Until I spent time watching them and learning more. They are extremely intelligent, very sociable, able to mimic sounds, and nothing beats coming upon a murmuration (unless you're directly below one).
Similar to society. Your description makes me enjoy the bird even more.
Load More Replies...Curve ~ Taiwan
Took my eyes a long time to adjust to like this. Not sure why but it disturbes me. Too much chaos not enough symmetry.
You sound like Mordecai from lackadaisy
Load More Replies...National theater and opera house in Tawain. This is the right hand corner of the building.
Ah gotcha opera house. Perfect arhcitecture then.
Load More Replies...The background looks like something knee high taken up close and the tiny people look like they don't belong there
Right Timing. Tampa, Fl
Nah, there's an 87 year old mugger in a wheelchair hiding behind that wall just waiting to make sure that person has a bad day.
Load More Replies...You can so tell that wasn't taken in Pasco county...lol so glad to see at least one good thing posted about Florida
I like this. I'd prefer something neutral like this over the "motel art" hanging in the lobby.
"Contrasts" One Of The Streets Warsaw
She looks a bit like a painting and it’s throwing me off
Load More Replies...Daily Life Of Railway Station. Lahore Pakistan
Spring
I feel like the person in this photo is thinking about the groceries they need to buy later on… and wondering what their cat is getting up to.
Kolkata Flower Market
Thought the one guy was holding a massive cabbage on his head at first.
Foggy Morning
The Rider, The Rower & The River
Galata İstanbul Türkiye
Starting The Day. Delhi, India
Thailand , 2022
Voici Ma Toute Première Participation. Belles Fêtes À Tous. Berlin
I don't know why, but my stomach turned when I first glanced at this.
Reflection Stories
Warsaw, Gdanski Bridge
Colors
Pro Tip: Spread your laundry out a little more and it will dry faster. EDIT: Anna Demkovych, you are right. I should have thought about this a little more. This family is doing their absolute best with what they have. Keep up the good work!
Do you think they have any space for that?? Their place is tiny
Load More Replies...18.03.23
Early Morning Cleaning The City. Old Dhaka, Bangladesh
Walk The Line
Tokyo Night Scene
Apartment Life
Borough Market. London
Series "Bridge". Mystery
New York Subway
It says "priority seating" not "only for", this is not the same as disabled parking spots. Be kind.
Load More Replies...Manchester's Yellow Trams And Yellow Dogs
My First Post On The Group. Trzebinia, Poland
Varanasi, India
From my mum I learned to do laundry with jeans inside out. I usually dry them like that too. I think they will dry faster because the pockets get air. Honestly haven’t thought about it until you asked.
Load More Replies...Amsterdam
Vibe Of Napoli
After we got to Naples, my wife and I read in a guidebook that it has been described as a “Wonderfu, gritty hellbroth of a city.” Only time I have ever seen that word.
Could you imagine having to back your car all that way to park it for the night?
The Wall
No. Just no. It's frightening. I feel like it's all going to fall down on me.
Reflection
Athens, Greece, 2022
Manila 2023
... Only when she enrolled her in school did she...
Load More Replies...Sevilla. Out Of The Beaten Track
Rain
The Perfect Moment!
First Time Posting Here: Cozy Winter In Toronto. Merry Christmas To All!
On The Bridge Poland
Berlin Cyclists
Metro De Santiago De Chile
Nothing Else... Annecy
Dnipro, Ukraine 2021
Light And Shadows
Antwerpen It's Rainy Day
Greeting At Sunrise, Gdynia, Poland
Silent Cafe In Tokyo
Smoker In Morocco
Waiting For The Green Light
The picture is from Semana Santa a catholic tradition in Andalucia. It stems from the Middle Ages. It’s the week before Eastern. People express their faith in a celebratory manner. This garmet is used in the many processions throughout the city.
Load More Replies...Kudos to the folks who vetted these for this post. There's something for nearly everyone, thanks for that.
Thb this list reminded me of how I'm soooo DONE with the 'reflection in a puddle' photos... 😶 They've gotten old pretty quickly and most of the time it's not even worth going for that angle because the reflection is either unclear or brings nothing interesting to the frame.
Every single one of these photos is absolutely stunning and so evocative! I am beyond astonished by the eyes of the photographers.
Kudos to the folks who vetted these for this post. There's something for nearly everyone, thanks for that.
Thb this list reminded me of how I'm soooo DONE with the 'reflection in a puddle' photos... 😶 They've gotten old pretty quickly and most of the time it's not even worth going for that angle because the reflection is either unclear or brings nothing interesting to the frame.
Every single one of these photos is absolutely stunning and so evocative! I am beyond astonished by the eyes of the photographers.
