Flashing in the street became quite popular over the years, and I'm not talking about the kinky kind utilizing a beige trenchcoat...

It can be as terrifying as public speaking. As nerve wracking as a call from the boss on the weekend. As absolutely mystifying as the popularity of Justin Bieber. But it is something we photographers have to get over in order to get assignments done, portraits made, and be more confident when photographing those subjects we actually know. Yes, I am talking about photographing total strangers.

When contemplating pictures of the masters of street photography, I am sure that at some point you most of you will have thought "He got really lucky on that one". The untrained eye could even think that luck is the key element of a given picture, and that being there are at the right time at the right place is the only merit of a street photographer. While there is some truth to that as luck plays undoubtedly a large role, the topic of luck in street photography is not as reductive as that and therefore definitely worth a closer examination.

Street photography is informed by your life and informs your life. The stories you create are guided by your curiosity and instincts. I would like to share some thoughts about making images that might help you on the street and on assignment. To work on the street or anywhere else, first relax, let yourself respond to your curiousity, then react, make the image, finally refine your image; adjust your frame to include only what you need us to see.

Whether you shoot street photography, landscape, or anything in between, it's helpful to remember the acronym DIE. "D" stands for design, "I" is for information, and "E" is for emotion. Henri Cartier-Bresson (if you don't know who HCB is and you're interested in street photography, google him when you're done here) said that all good pictures have a sense of geometry, and this is what is meant by design. Information is important for telling a story, and emotion is imperative for giving information and design impact. It's easy to get one of the three elements in a picture, more difficult to get two, and if you get all three, you've got a real banger, as they say. The DIE concept is just as effective in spotting good pictures after you've pressed the shutter and are editing your contact sheets or digital files. Some of the pictures shown here are stronger in one element or another, but they all exemplify the "DIE" concept to a greater or lesser extent.

I just don't know. I was raised properly. I had a good upbringing with plenty of love, support, and encouragement. I am not a shy person and I enjoy good rapports with my friends and colleagues. I even take the garbage out when I'm supposed to. All in all, I would consider myself a properly integrated member of society.

Coming from Germany, moving to New York, I opened my eyes, looking into the world close-up and personal, I immediately grabbed a camera and started capturing life in the urban jungle. I adapted to my surroundings and quickly learned to move in closer, to better illustrate the intimacy of the streets and the interactions of people with their environment.  

When I think of Street Photography then certain images come to my mind – and it's definitely not the one used in Wikipedia's article. At least until the digital age it has been a defined category in photography. There is so much nowadays categorized as "Street" that I think we have to make a difference between a pre-digital age Street photography and today's. People's idea of who is the prime father differ. Some say it's Garry Winogrand, others believe it's Herny-Cartier Bresson or Robert Frank. It's a philosophical question nobody can quite answer. Also it's not true that they were the first who took photos with that approach.

Let's all admit it, sometimes we all get too lazy to go out on the streets and shoot. We always make excuses for reasons why not to shoot, rather than making reasons to shoot. Everyone has dry spells when they just "don't feel inspired" or that their passion for street photography has died down a little. It has definitely happened to me, but here are some tips that I have that helped me re-ignite my passion for street photography (and for yourself as well).

I love that Cris has dedicated this month to Street Photography because there's probably no other type of photography that resonates most with me. It takes me back to my very first days as a photographer, growing up in a small town in Wisconsin. The camera gave me a reason to get out of the house, to explore, to meet people, to witness life happening -- it gave me a reason to interact with the world (not that you really *need* it, but when you're young, and insecure you need all the help you can get!).

The best moments that I have as a street photographer are when I let go of any expectation of what I expect to photograph. It seems antithetical to not make a mental list of possible subject matter, but it's the choice to make my mind a blank slate, which allows me to see and actually make a good photograph. During my early years as a photographer, I would load my camera bag with an arsenal of cameras, lenses and accessories prepared for every possibility. Yet, I would come back home with nothing to show for it. I justified this lack of productivity by believing that I just hadn't found anything worthy of being photographed.

Street photography is almost as old as photography itself, and the tradition of photographing in public has always been around, yet it became immensely popular with the rise of digital cameras - and finally gained a tremendous amount of obsession with the ordinary through the ease of online sharing. There are the streets, with hundreds of subjects readily available, and everyone with a camera or cell phone has the ability to photograph strangers in public places, no matter where or why.