Street Photography with a Plan

Monday 12 January 2026, 14:07 by Michiel Heijmans | 3,196 views | 13 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

What happens when you don't simply take your camera into the street, but deliberately look for images? When you cross out the distractions and focus on your series or concept? In this column, I take you through my thought process.

Basically, it's not much different from what you normally do. You pick up your camera, take a few extra batteries and, at this time of year, decide whether you need to put your gloves on.

You will probably have already decided which city you are going to. Because that route from last time worked out so well, you choose to follow it again. You might see new things. You check what time the train or tram goes and plan where you are going to have coffee.

Take that other camera too, and that one nice camera strap. Should I take a bag? I don't think so, my coat pocket is deep enough.

The whole process takes five minutes and, if you're anything like me, you've prepared everything without having the slightest idea what images you are going to make.

Utrecht, 9:00 am

The city is waking up and you set your camera to black and white. In the distance, commuters walk with their heads bowed and a bag on their backs. One or two are on the phone, nobody is paying attention to anyone else.

I walked out through the rear exit, towards the railway bridge. I see lines, reflections, the occasional person with an umbrella. My plan is to make minimalist images, with little contrast. It suits the morning, with a trail of mist hanging around Utrecht Central Station.

Amsterdam, 11:00 am

It's annoyingly busy at the flower market. I'm on my way to the Rijksmuseum, looking for contrast and a vivid colour. Saul Leiter is on my mind, along with Moriyama's shadows.

On the way to the Rijksmuseum, I look up to see where the sun is. I decide whether I want to photograph on the Museumplein side, or in the tunnel by the museum's windows.

I hope for a red winter coat, or something yellow. Just something that really stands out. It will probably be a cyclist, and then I'll pan. Freeze the movement at just the right moment, just before the cyclist rides into the shadow.

Middelburg, 1:00 pm

"Coffee, please," I say to the lady at the coffee shop by the Markt. In summer, there are huge queues for ice cream here. Now, the occasional person buys a waffle with Nutella. Around the corner, on the Markt, there is a fish stall and a chip shop.

German voices ring out from a packed terrace. A seagull takes off and others fight over a piece of kibbeling. I come here to capture the chaos. There is never any time to sit quietly here. The tourist falls for the convenience of the location. A dog barks fiercely at the seagull.

Rotterdam, 3:00 pm

I walk onto Blaak, past the lost limbs. A little further on, I look into the metro. I could have gone for red lines today. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here for smoke and food stalls, so I walk into the Markthal.

The colourful ceiling screams at me, and I shout something back. I'm looking for a grill covered in satay skewers, or a soup pan with its lid being lifted.

I remember Borough Market in London, during my last workshop there. Steam, smoke, sweat and a certain serenity among the stalls, with crowds outside. I'm looking for the lone person, with a pan.

Nijmegen, 5:00 pm

The sun is slowly sinking and hard shadows form beneath the railway bridge. Long shadows. A female runner forms a silhouette. In the distance, the Waal Bridge sends commuters on their way and above me, the intercity to Dordrecht roars into the station.

I wait, on the Gelderlander side. Then a quick coffee at Gesha and home. A man with a dog walks up the cold, steel spiral staircase. He stands out sharply against the white sky.

When you know what you want to make, you divide the city in your head into places that fit the photographs you are looking for. There is no aimless wandering, with the risk of getting bored, or that fine word "fatigue", today.

You know what you are looking for. It can be a standalone image, or a new addition to your series about dogs in the city, umbrellas or abandoned shopping trolleys.

My series contain people with their hands folded behind their backs. Plodders. I'm always looking for rain that stands out against the dark inside of an umbrella. People carrying their dogs, what possesses them? Let the little thing walk, or leave it at home. People with a book, preferably reading.

I rarely make standalone images anymore. My biggest project has the working title Solitude, and is about the lone person in a crowd. Almost absent-mindedly, I turn my camera to portrait orientation to screen off the city. That one smoker in a doorway, or the man with a newspaper in the park.

Lots of negative space. Deep thinkers, people taking a break. The lone person, who is temporarily alone and will soon return to their friends or colleagues. I think that's what I look for most.

I think that's what I look for most, while making the other images for my other series in between. Because spending an entire day looking for someone with their hands behind their back would be a bit much.

Now you

Do you go into the city with your camera like a headless chicken, or do you have a plan in mind? Which series are you working on? I'm curious.

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