Street photography tip: Photograph people as part of their surroundings

Thursday 3 July 2025, 16:16 by Michiel Heijmans | 2,437 views | 2 comments

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

One reason why 28mm and 35mm lenses are so popular among street photographers is that you can also give an impression of your subject's surroundings with such a lens.

Photograph people as part of their surroundings

Palais Royal, Paris - f/2.0, 1/1250s, 160 ISO @ 35mm
A photo of a person is just a photo of a person. By including the surroundings in your photo, for example by photographing at a well-known spot in a city, your photo suddenly gains more meaning.

Take the Zeedijk or the Oudegracht, for example. At Blaak, you don't need to explain to anyone where you are!

What's more, it's often easier to wait for an interesting subject in a beautiful place in a city than to follow an interesting person to a hopefully interesting place. You're a photographer, not a stalker!

Of course, it's useful if you can photograph in a place where a lot is happening. That's why you often see street photographers at events such as markets, book fairs or demonstrations.

This is where street photography sometimes suddenly overlaps with photojournalism. It makes perfect sense: both are about recording what is happening NOW.

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About the author

Michiel is professioneel straatfotograaf en geeft workshops en lezingen over straatfotograﬁe. Hij schrijft columns voor Focus Magazine en is erg actief op Instagram. Daar vind je dagelijks inspiratie en tips voor je eigen straatfotograﬁe!

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2 comments

Donald Willemsen wrote on Thursday 3 July 2025 at 18:48 | reply
Michiel, what you write is correct. But the most noticeable thing about the article to me is the photo that was added as an illustration. A great photo by the way, but one thing immediately stood out to me about it: you have made all the people in the photo unrecognizable.
Did you do that in connection with the European regulations concerning privacy?
Translated from Dutch.

Michiel Heijmans wrote on Thursday 3 July 2025 at 22:13 | reply
Hi Donald,

Thanks! And unfortunately you're not right: very few of them are unrecognizable. The woman on the right is recognizable, and the man with little hair and the striped shirt is recognizable to more people than just his mother because of that combination. Portrait rights aren't about whether a face is visible, but whether someone can be recognized.

This and more can be found in my new ebook De Wet van de Straat, which I wrote with lawyer Charlotte Meindersma, see https://www.charlotteslaw.nl/product/de-wet-van-de-straat/

By the way, this isn't a public space either, but the courtyard of the Palais Royal in Paris. It is publicly accessible, but that's something different.

It's a lot of grey area and it's often up to the photographer to assess whether a photo is innocent enough not to get into trouble over it. I'm not afraid I'll get into trouble with this photo
Translated from Dutch.

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