The 10 most Influential Active Street Photographers

The 10 most Influential Active Street Photographers

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Influential Street Photographers Updated

Update

After quite a few suggestions from you, the StreetHunters.net Readers, we added an extra section at the bottom of the post called “Influential Active Street Photographers recommended by our Readers”. Enjoy!

Introduction

During the past years Street Photography has become widely accepted as a form of art and expression. More and more people have learned to appreciate it and to understand how hard it is to get it right. The reason why Street Photography has become more mainstream is because of some influential few that have managed to spread the word about it through their style, their blogs, their videos and their constant sharing of their experiences. These few Street Photographers that share their ideas with the rest of the world, their methods and their passion for the art have transformed Street Photography into what it is today.

The StreetHunters.net team decided to make a list of those influencers as a way to say “thank you” for their contribution to the world of Street Photography. We understand that some of you dear StreetHunters.net Readers might not agree with some of the names being on this list. We also understand if you feel like it must be longer, or shorter. But, no matter what each and every one of us thinks, it is certain that every single Street Photographer presented here today, has helped re-shape Street Photography as we know it. So here goes:

Eric Kim

Eric Kim Street Photographer

Introduction:

Eric Kim is a street photographer that maintains one of the most -if not the most- informative blogs about Street Photography. Eric has been writing about Street Photography for years. He also maintains a successful relative YouTube channel. Besides writing in his blog and producing videos for his channel he also teaches workshops all around the world. Chances are that if you are reading this blog post you already know about Eric Kim or you might have already met him. He is widely recognised for his contribution to Street Photography and has been interviewed by the BBC and others. Eric also has a strong active online social presence on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Google plus where he poses and answers questions, and interacts with his tens of thousands of readers.

Why is he influential:

If you visit his blog you’ll understand how much Eric Kim has offered to Street Photography. Everything you would ever want to know about the art can be found on his blog. To make things easier for the viewers Eric has made a category called “Start here”. In that category you can find organised information about Street Photography, including how to overcome your fears of Street Photography, how to appear invisible in the streets, also information about surrealism, other useful info such as the history of Street Photography, or how to start your own Street Photography project and tons more of useful information. His YouTube channel is easily the most visited channel about Street Photography with a whopping 17,911 subscribers and 2,270,234 views at the time of this writing!

Website / blog:

John Free

John Free Street Photographer

Introduction:

John Free has been around for years. He is one of the most experienced Street Photographers in the world and one of the first to start sharing his experiences on YouTube. What is interesting about John Free’s YouTube videos is that he approaches Street Photography from a philosophical point of view and examines not only how to make photos, but also why to make photos, for what reasons. He lives in Los Angeles and has taught photography classes and workshops at USC, UCLA, Pasadena City College, Newport Art Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and in many cities of the world, such as New York, Paris and London.

Why is he influential:

John Free is influential because he has been teaching about Street Photography for decades and has managed to convey to more than 2500 students all over the world the true meaning of Street Photography as an art form. Also, his YouTube channel is highly recognised amongst Street Photographers and gets thousands of visits and views every month. At the time of this writing, his YouTube channel had 7,017 subscribers and 377,635 views!

Website / blog:

Yanidel

Yanidel Street Photographer

Introduction:

Yanidel is a Street Photographer that has been photographing for many years and has traveled all around the world to do Street Photography! He is mostly known about his Street Photography work in Paris. He writes in his blog very often and offers some amazing insights into the art as well as amazing gear tips and great techniques. Besides Gear and Techniques, he also writes about traveling tips, does interviews and offers interesting weekly polls. He also shares his photos on this blog, that makes his RSS feed very interesting, because it is full of information and photography that is constantly being updated.

Why is he influential:

Yanidel is influential because of his amazingly helpful blog and the book he released called “Little Crimes of Paris”. Yanidel is interested in spreading his knowledge and experience but not via workshops. He uses his blog for that. He is more focused on taking and sharing photos, writing blog posts and getting others to learn through that work.

Website / blog:

Bruce Gilden

Bruce Gilden Street Photographer

Introduction:

A giant of Street Photography! Bruce Gilden is an American photographer, born in Brooklyn, New York in the United States, that has been shooting for years and his trademark style is using flash to give his photos a specially dramatic “Gilden” look. He approaches people in the street, using his film Leica and an off camera flash (usually) and snaps them intrusively. Bruce Gilden is a Magnum Photographer. For those of you that don’t know what a Magnum Photographer is, it is a person that is part of the world’s most famous and prestigious Photography Agency with offices in New York, London, Paris and Tokyo. Every photographer wants to be part of Magnum that was founded by Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger,William Vandivert, Rita Vandivert and Maria Eisner in 1947.

Why is he influential:

He has defined his own style of Street Photography that has been copied by hundreds of others. He made a style so different to what was mainstream at the time he started shooting, that got noticed. Having made his own style that has been adopted by others and named after him, is why he is hugely influential in the Street Photography world.

Website / blog:

Martin Parr

Martin Parr Street Photographer

Introduction:

Martin Parr landed like a bomb into the Street Photography world. The reason was his unique photographic style, photographing the mundane and enhancing it with vivid colours by using flash. He has managed to keep his style intact even after he transitioned to digital in the late 2000’s. Martin Parr is British and is, like Bruce Gilden, a member of the highly esteemed Magnum photos Cooperative. I remember watching a Documentary about Martin Parr and how the Photographers of Magnum couldn’t agree to accept him in the agency. Half of them thought that his photos were not good enough, whereas the other half of them thought his photos were stunning. I also remember what Constantinos Manos said during the meeting they had about Martin Parr, saying that “Magnum need change” meaning that Parr was that change. He got in.

Why is he influential:

Like Bruce Gilden he has managed to create his own unique style that others strive to copy. His use of flash and bright, vivid colours while photographing the mundane, everyday life of people that live just around the corner, give his work a unique interest. When I think of Martin Parr, I think of colour, imperfections and kitsch! That is how he want’s us to see the world. Martin Parr has published many photography books that you can see on his website at http://www.martinparr.com/books/ and has an extensive CV. He has had exhibitions, curated exhibitions, won awards and prizes and more. Martin Parr has affected the work of hundreds if not thousands and has given photography a different way of looking at things.

Website / blog:

Zack Arias

Zack Arias Street Photographer

Introduction:

Zack Arias is a Street Photographer from Atlanta. He is a commercial photographer with a strong background in music photography and editorials. Besides doing paid work for clients, Zack Arias also loves shooting in the Streets. He has a simple, bold, classic, and true style and approach as he himself puts it in his website. Because of his rich commercial photography background Zack has a lovely style that makes his subjects pop and make them stand out in his photos. He isn’t afraid to incorporate humor into his work and uses both colour and black and white to express himself through photography.

Why is he influential:

His contribution to Street Photography and photography in general is immense. He is very active and constantly involved in one thing or another. If you visit his website “About” page and navigate down to the “Presentations” and “Features/Instruction” sections, you will see that Zack Arias has influenced thousands of people through his workshops, presentations, videos and keynote speeches. Being Fujifilm’s official representative photographer, Zack Arias has influenced thousands of Fujifilm photographers to pick up their cameras and hit the streets.

Website / blog:

Lee Jeffries

Lee Jeffries Street Photographer

Introduction:

Lee Jeffries lives in Manchester in the United Kingdom and is widely known for his portraits of the homeless. These portraits have been done in such a way that they look more like religious iconography than just street portraiture. When he first released “Lost Angels” hundreds of blogs and magazines featured his work. He rocked the photographic and artistic communities. Some might not consider this Street Photography because it is portraiture but the process of finding his models, talking to them and researching them has all been done in the streets.

Why is he influential:

As mentioned in the introduction, Lee Jeffries managed through his work to touch the hearts of millions that flocked to the various web sites featuring his photos to view his stunning portraits of the homeless. His photography is Street Portraiture at it’s best and it has moved the souls of anyone that has laid eyes upon it. There is no way that a viewer will look upon this collection and not be affected by it in one way or another.

Website / blog:

Joel Meyerowitz

Joel Meyerowitz Street Photographer

Introduction:

A Street Photography giant, Joel Meyerowitz has been shooting in the streets of New York for decades. He was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States. Even though he is currently living through his 8th decade he is still active and produces photos and books with his unique work. He is very well known for being a strong advocate of colour photography, from the early stages of colour photography, even when it’s use was considered amateurish by other Classic Master Photographers. In 2013 Joel was featured in the Street Photography documentary “Everybody street” together with other iconic, influential Street Photographers of our time.

Why is he influential:

The size of his work is so grand that he can’t be classed as anything else but and influential Street Photographer. Joel Meyerowitz has been featured in numerous blogs, magazines, TV Shows, nearly all documentaries ever made about Street Photography and has affected the inspiring minds of young Street Photographers all over the world. He has done 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world and has sold more than 100,000 copies during his 30-year career. He is so well known for his Street Photography work that he could even be associated with the term Street Photography.

Website / blog:

Boogie

Boogie Street Photographer

Introduction:

Vladimir ‘Boogie’ Milivojevich, is a Street and Documentary Photographer that was born in Serbia. He likes taking photographs of situations, people and places that aren’t easy to access. Most of his photos are from really dangerous areas, they are of people that could be considered dangerous by some. He is a Street Photographer that is raw and has no fear of delving deep into intimate, confidential circles and taking photos that normally nobody would shoot. He is courageous, bold and daring.

Why is he influential:

The photography of Boogie is so rare that it acts as an eye opener. He photographs the things we all know happen in the world but nobody really wants to see. His shots include situations where people do hard drugs, babies are neglected, gangs are conspiring, guns are shown off, all kinds of images that could be considered by some as disturbing and by others as the harsh reality that has to be documented. Boogie is influential because of this style of work and because he has managed to open the eyes of the people that think that the stuff of his images are stories. Well, they aren’t. They are real.

Website / blog:

Dirty Harrry a.k.a. Charalambos Kydonakis

Dirty Harrry Street Photographer

Introduction:

Charalambos Kydonakis, also known as Dirty Harrry (with 3 rs) is a Street Photographer from Rethymno, Crete in Greece. He shoots in his own, unique, artistic style and offers to his viewers images that look like they come from dreams. His imagery is unique and full of emotion. He is a strong flash user and has also been interview by Eric Kim for his excellent use of flash. Most of his shots are from his home town of Rethymno and the surrounding areas but he also likes to travel to other parts of the world just to do Street Photography.

Why is he influential:

Dirty Harrry has managed to create his very own, unique style. That dreamy, emotional style of photography that can’t be achieved easily. Some might wonder why he is considered influential. Well, you should check out his flickr stream and you will see why. His work affects thousands of viewers worldwide and there are hundreds of Street Photographers that are inspired by him and try to imitate his style of work.

Website / blog:

 

Influential Active Street Photographers recommended by our Readers

Daido Moriyama

daido-moryama

Introduction:

An amazing Street Photographer and huge contributor to the art of Street Photography, Daido Moriyama born in Japan in 1938 has managed to create a photographic style that is unique to him, like his own photographic trademark. Using black and white, high contrast film photography with small pocket sized Ricoh GR cameras, he has managed to capture Japanese culture during it’s breakdown of traditional values in the post war era.

Why is he influential:

Anyone that uses a Ricoh GR for Street Photography has Daido Moriyama in mind and is inspired by his work. The powerful images he has made during the last decades have such a characteristic feel that can be recognised by any Street Photographer at first glance. His style is so much liked that fans have created a Daido Moriyama Lightroom Preset for Lightroom!

Even now at his advanced years, he still exhibits his work worldwide.

Website / blog:

https://www.moriyamadaido.com/en

Thomas Leuthard

thomas-leuthard

Introduction:

Thomas Leuthard is an international Street Photographer based in Switzerland that travels as much as possible for the sake of Street shooting! He loves Street Photography and has expressed his love towards the art by constantly sharing his photos and his experiences and knowledge through blogging and writing ebooks.

Why is he influential:

Thomas Leuthard offers all his images on flickr in the maximum resolution for anyone to download and use as they please. He has also written 5 FREE ebooks about Street Photography in which he shares all that he knows about the art and about utilising modern means, such as Social Network Flickr to promote Street photos. The reason he does this is because he is passionate about Street Photography and as he himself says he has no desire for additional income.

Website / blog:

Conclusion

The list of above Street Photographers includes people that are highly active and contribute their time and experience to Street Photography continuously at the time of this writing. Some of them spread the word of the art on a daily basis, others influence the masses through their stunning work, others are simply huge giants of Street Photography that rock the ground with their presence, but one thing is for sure. Without them Street Photography would not have been as it is today.

 

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141 COMMENTS

  1. What a fantastic post, Spyros. This is a great starting point for any budding Street Photographer to come to…especially with the links to each ‘artists’ website. Amazing amount of information to refer to during quieter periods. Many Thanks

  4. It is a good post. Only one thing, maybe: Zach Arias is not a street photographer. He is a lot of things: good, skilled, successful, insightful, charming, everything. But he has no real street chops. It’s like calling Chase Jarvis a street photographer. It’s simply not true. Zach takes his commercial skills to the street on occasion, but he doesn’t live there. Street photography is an afterthought to him, a side note. IMO

    • Hello Michael and thank you for commenting!
      I will agree with you that Zack Arias isn’t exclusively a Street Photographer and that he mostly does commercial work, but he still shoots in the streets and through Fujifilm’s X-Pro1 videos he has inspired many to pick up a camera and try Street Photography. Besides, he himself promotes his street work on his website quite a bit, so maybe he is more interested in that style of photography lately.
      That said, I really appreciate you taking the time to read the blog post and I would really like it if you could tell me who is your favourite Active Street Photographer? Who is the one that has influenced you the most? Is he on this list? I would love to know!
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting Micheal!

  6. Dear Spyros, thank you so much for the inclusion and the mention. Keep up the superb work you’re doing for the street photography community! 🙂

    • Dear Eric hello and thank you very much for stopping by and commenting!
      Keep up the fantastic work, Street shooting and sharing your experiences and knowledge with the Street Photography community!
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  8. Is this a joke? You can’t have “bloggers” with no talent mentioned in the same breath as masters like Gilden and Meyerowitz. Some of these guys are just dudes with cameras. Others are legendary artists. Influential my ass. 😉

    • Hey there Billy, thanks for your colourful comment!
      I respect your opinion. However I would like to note that this post is about people that contribute to the Street Photography community through their work. Street Photography is an art form and what you might consider as average, might be considered by someone else as really bad, or really great. It depends on many things. A photo touches a person in different ways, depending on cultural background, personal taste, etc. What I am trying to say is that the point of this post is to show the people that influence the Street Photography industry, that inspire and help other Street Photographers to want to do better and to learn more and not about which Street Photographer has the best photographic portfolio, or is considered a Master or not of Street Photography.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

    • Hello Ben and many thanks for reading! I know of Thomas Leuthard’s work and contribution. Your suggestion is a good one. I will refresh the list in the weekend adding a “Readers recommendations” section that will include additional Street Photographers.

  15. As someone has pointed out already, this is a rather eccentric list. Putting world re-known photographers who have shaped the whole outlook of artistic photography next to people who mainly educate out of enthusiasm rather than originality is already controversial/strange enough, but then adding people who don’t even mainly shoot street really turns a strange list into a really random one. Granted there are some great photographers and good people on this list, but I suggest being a bit more discerning – for example famous bloggers and educators vs artists who inspire mostly through the quality of their work vs people on the fringes of street photography with a unique style.

    Most striking to me however, apart from the rather random compilation is that there are only male photographers on the list. The reason of course isn’t that the girls don’t have the chops … they just don’t self-promote as aggressively as some of the guys on this list. The best example is of course Vivian Maier, who even went as far as hiding her work from everyone. So, as sad as it may be, I can’t think of any active famous/influential female street photographer either.

    • Hello Lilly and thank you very much for your comment.
      This list is hand picked by us and is based on how we view things concerning Active Street Photographers and Influence. We believe that an Active Influential Street Photographer is someone that is firstly a Street Photographer and we think that all names listed are Street Photographers and secondly someone that through his/her work actively manages to influence others in any way “Street”.
      As for the distinction of blogger/educator vs artist Street photographer vs people on the fringes of Street, we would like to say that this post isn’t about that. It isn’t about separating them into categories. It isn’t about who is a better artist, or who shoots other types of photography in addition to Street or who blogs about Street Photography. The post is about those people that made me, you, him, her, everyone, think twice about Street Photography. I remember reading Yanidel’s posts before I made my first conscious Street Photo. He helped me shape my understanding and appreciation of the art. He influenced me. All names in this list have influenced me in one way or another. They have influenced all 3 of us on the StreetHunters.net team. One influenced us with their photos, another with their view on life, another with their blog posts, another with their character. So you see, it might seem random to you and we totally get that. In the intro we mention “We understand that some of you dear StreetHunters.net Readers might not agree with some of the names being on this list. We also understand if you feel like it must be longer, or shorter.” This isn’t a definitive list of a solid, defacto reality, like for example the “10 most exhibited Street Photographers in history” (That is a good idea for a post come to think of it 🙂 ) it is a list that has been made by us, because that is the way we feel.
      Once again, I would like to thank you very much for your comment. We listen, learn and take into account everything you and all the StreetHunters.net Readers mention. You guys are the reason why we do what we do and all comments are always welcome!
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  16. Spyros excellent post! I’m increasingly enamored with street photography day.
    It is extremely pleasing that style, and I’ve learned a lot from the Street Hunters.
    Congratulations! Carry always so.

    • Hello Jeff and thank you very much for stopping by and dropping us a line!
      It is nice to see friends from Social Media such as Flickr, visit our website and contribute by sharing their thoughts. Thank you!
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  17. Interesting article, I agree with some and then others not so much. First off (and this is seriously just being really petty so I apologise) but I think most of the photographers in Magnum who rejected Parr’s application didn’t reject him because they didn’t like his work but because they felt the photography he was making didn’t have a place at Magnum e.g. it wasn’t serious photojournalism. Also Lee Jefferies work almost definitely isn’t street photography (or at least what I’ve seen of it), it’s portraiture no doubt about it, I know it was done in the ‘streets’ but there is a difference between street photography and taking a picture on the street, is a selfie street photography if was taken on the street? In terms of definitions I don’t really think Parr would define himself as a street photographer either more documentary but I can see where your coming with his pictures, they’re more ambiguous. One final point I’d have to agree that I don’t really think Zach Arias is a street photographer either, I don’t know much about the guy but from what I can see his street shots are nothing special definitely nothing to be compared with Meyerowitz, Parr, Gilden and even Kim or John Free etc. That said seeing as though I don’t know much about him I can’t fully comment on his influence. Anyway cheers for the article, I think there are a lot more influential street photographers in collectives such as In-public

    • Hello Michael and thank you very much for your comment!
      We really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us and the StreetHunters.net Readers. As mentioned before in a reply to Lilly “it is a list that has been made by us, because that is the way we feel.” I will try and reply to each point you have raised keeping it as short as possible 🙂

      Martin Parr and Magnum. We have all heard fragments from that meeting in various documentaries. No matter what the reasons that Parr faced difficulties when applying to enter, there was controversy between the Magnum Photographers because of his work. That might have been about his photography not being serious photojournalism, or that his work just wasn’t considered Magnum material. The point of this reference is to show the impact of progress that Martin Parr made, even in such an old and prestigious Photographic institution as Magnum.

      As for Lee Jeffries, I understand why you would make that comment. To be honest I was expecting it earlier 🙂 Yes, I agree, he is a Portrait Photographer. But as mentioned most of the work for this project was done on the Street and what is more important is that through his acceptance by the real people of the Street, the homeless, he managed to bring the Street to him. As for if a selfie shot in the streets is Street Photography, I would rather not get into that discussion because the “What is Street Photography” argument is never ending and non conclusive don’t you think? We each have our opinions and usually they match only partially.

      Martin Parr is a Photographer with his own style and he does shoot Street. Someone can be a Street Photographer and photograph other things as well. The same goes for Zack Arias. He shoots commercial work and portraits and Street. As for his Zack’s influence, if you own a Fuji, chances are you have seen Zack talk about Street in a Fujifilm video. There are many people that were inspired by his X-Pro1 and X100s videos and thought “hey, I will get one of those and shoot in the streets myself.”

      I hope I didn’t go on for too long 🙂 Discussing ideas and opinions is very important to us!
      Once more we would like to thank you for your extensive comment. It means a lot to us when we see StreetHunters.net Readers participate in the conversation.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  19. What a crazy collection. Be careful with announcing a net-based knowledge. There are so many really good active street photographers with “real” influence to the “real” scene. Joel and Daido, yes, Bruce – mmmmh, Charalampos I always enjoy, but…

  21. Lol, this list is hilarious and goes to show anyone with a blog and some reach can create lists from an imaginary pulpit and claim he knows who is the “most” of anything. Half of these photographers are influential, the other half are, as pointed out earlier, a complete joke. Seriously, some people are living in a bubble. All you need to do is rub the right egos and boom, you’re the most influential street photographer on the planet. I can name you 10 streettogs right now who blow away half these jokers but don’t have blogs and don’t kiss the right people’s ass whom get little to no recognition for their brilliance.

    • Hey there Mikko and thanks for your comment! We really appreciate your constructive feedback since it helps us improve and write better posts. Could you please name those 10 street photographers you said so we can take a look at them? It would be terribly interesting for us and our readers! Thanks again!
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

    • Hello Lisa and thanks for your comment! We would love to include any active living influential women Street Photographers in our list!
      Could you please help us out by mentioning some for us? We are always interested in learning more! Thanks!
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

      • It’s actually really offensive that you, as a purported journalist, cannot be bothered to do the legwork to find an influential female photographer. It’s not our job to inform you. If you’re so into photography you should know these things, unless you’re such a misogynist you have chosen to completely ignore women’s contributions to any given subject. For christ sake, there was a film made about Vivian Maier just last year. Shame on you, honestly.

        • Hi Mark and thanks for your colorful comment 🙂 I admire passionate people. They are the ones that make a difference in our world, so keep it up!

          This post is about Street Photographers that are alive, so as much as I admire Vivian Maier she can’t be added to this list.

          As for respecting women I recommend you take a look at this post https://www.streethunters.net/blog/2014/05/07/ladies-of-street-photography/. It is dedicated to 25 amazing ladies of Street Photography. They are all contemporary.

          If you would like to read specifically about Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus or more, you can take a look at the “Under the influence” weekly series.

          Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

          • That is a good article, and well appreciated, but if you knew about these women why did you need to ask the previous commenter where you could find some? Why did none make it onto a “most influential” list?

          • Hello again Mark 🙂
            I knew of around half of them when I was writing this post and at the time I was eager to find out about more about any lady I could. There aren’t many resources on contemporary Lady Street Photographers, so I had to ask as much as possible and do a ton of research. Since then I have discovered a few more. I have presented them in our “Street Photo of the week” section. You should check that out too.

            The reason that is not a most influential list is because I would like to research that aspect of those ladies more. One might be an amazing Street Photographer but not be so influential due to a shy character for example. I think by titling it the 25 most influential ladies it would be misleading for some. I hope this is understandable.

            Please feel free to share any ideas with us! We appreciate all feedback. Myself and my colleagues are learning with you, our valuable Readers. It is you that drive us to get better and infuse us with inspiring ideas.

  23. “10 most influential street-photo bloggers”, maybe.

    people like eric kim? come on, dont degrade the art and insult the real photographers.

  24. Eric Kim is so overated. Am I the only one to see it? John Free is also not in the same league as Arias or Parr. Just because they have been around for a while does not make them any good!

    • +Dave I see your point of view but this is a list of proposed “most influential” street photographers. Kim, for example, may not be in the same league as some of the others on the list in terms of the art he creates but I suspect that Kim has encouraged more beginners in street photography (like me) to try out this art form than many of the other more distinguished photographers on the list.
      +Spyros Very interesting post, well done. I might have wanted to see Jay Maisel mentioned but perhaps Jay does not count as a pure “street photographer”.

      • Hello John and thank you for your comment. I am glad you understand what I am trying to say through my post. Indeed it is as you say. Kim in my opinion has motivated hundreds, if not thousands to pick up a camera and shoot in the streets.
        Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  25. thank you for posting john free as well. i did some work with him and took some of his courses as well. very nice man.

  26. Hello there mister!

    I certainly do not find your list so bad. Not “crazy”. Nor “boring”, “hilarious” or “a joke”. On the contrary, thanks for sharing and spreading the word.

    One photographer that could arguably merit inclusion is Fred Fogherty. He creates some great stuff imo. I’m sure you have heard of him, but thought I would mention him all the same.

    Jan

  27. if work and style is considered the mark of real influence, not internet activity, Camera endorsements, or imitating established bodies of work i would strongly disagree with several names on this list. Alex Webb? how can his work be left out of this list!, This realm of photography should be about work, i.e images and the power and immediacy they hold. Not blogs, social media pages or Talking about cameras. This not a personal attack as i enjoy several of the pages and blogs mentioned.

    • Thank you very much Inigo for your comment and your views! Of course Alex Webb is very influential and so are other great names that aren’t included in this post. We have come to the conclusion, that the next time we post a most influential list, it will have to be larger since the definition of “influence” varies from person to person. The original idea behind this post was to share information about people that have affected non photographers or amateur photographers that are just starting to explore Street Photography. I think that Street Photographers that work very hard on a regular basis to share their knowledge on blogs and social media are as important as a Street Photographer that is inspirational solemnly through his work. They spread the word of Street, get others involved with the art.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  28. I never comment and rarely will in the future but I have to say this One thing: Is this just a guy thing? Where are the influential women street photographers? I just noticed this article features only men….all of these guys are good – but what’s with heavy testosterone here?

      • why are you separating the women from the men?! I’m pretty sure the term photographer is not gendered but clearly you think it is and requires the modifier of “Ladies” (which I might also mention is offensive as it implies that we are gentle and less than men).

        • Jessica these are just posts that are based on my personal opinion. I will not justify why I prefer some photographers to others or the fact that I like calling ladies, “ladies”. If you find the term offensive there is nothing I can do about that.

        • Jesus christ it is his most influential photographers. What are your most influential photographers? say top 5? As great as all the greatest street photographers in the world and my art history background only one woman makes my list and I am educated in photo history. Can you name more than Mary Ellen Mark, Vivian Maier or Diane Arbus?

  31. Hi Spyros,

    I’m a street photographer and tutor and only just started blogging fairly recently so I’m new to the online community.

    What I hope you might find interesting is why I decided to create a blog in the first place, and the answer? It was purely to defend the practice as a form of free speech and documentation style, one that is slowly but surely being eroded.

    There are three main areas of concern as far as I can see 1) people’s attitudes, even though we are surveyed 24/7 2) The change in laws that we’re witnessing in some countries and 3) Defamatory comments and snobbery from some in the world of fine art.

    One article in particular moved me in to this defensive action and I’m really glad it did. Deciding on the website’s theme resulted in me evaluating the criticism I’m hearing and also prompted me to question why I do this style of photography in the first place?

    I hope you find some of the posts on there interesting and it would be great to hear other people’s views on some of the issues I raise on the site.

    Best wishes,
    Shaun

    • Hello Shaun,

      Thank you for commenting and for sharing some info about your self and your website.
      I agree with the 3 main areas of concern that you mention. Yes, Street Photography is a form of “free speech”, I would call it free expression.

      Stay Shar & Keep Shooting!

  32. Why is Zack Arias here? I mean he is influential as a commercial and portrait photographer for musicians or models but not for Street Photography.

    • Hello Carolina, Zack Arias is highly influencial in all genres of photography, including Street Photography. He is one of the major Fujifilm promoters and has done quite a few Street Photography videos for Fuji.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  34. Hello spyros!!I have to say this is for sure the best article about street photographers I have ever read!!I study photography in athens and during my semester i have to give a presentetion on street photographers and all these informations are a huge help for me..so thank you so much and keep posting more helpfull articles like this! 🙂

  38. Eric “blogger” Kim and Zack “Fashion”Arias??! Street Photographers?? No way…Ok..ok… It’s your personal opinion and I will respect.:)

  39. Hi Every one,

    One more article with the more INFLUENTIAL ACTIVE STREET PHOTOGRAPHERS …. and always the same photographers… And we know all of them… Please more originality …

  41. Heidi Hollinger
    Shirin Neshat
    Letizia Battaglia
    Cristina García Rodero
    Susan Meiselas
    Sylvia Plachy
    Zoe Strauss
    Sarah Lawrie
    Lise Sarfati

    Mostly Female Photojournalists, the ultimate street photographers.

  42. Sorry but some of these folks are definitely not at all the same caliber of street photography!! Bruce Gilden and Yanidel?? One is Ivy League, the other is hardly community college…no women either!!? Not the best list.

    • Hello Victor! Thank you for your comment and for sharing your thoughts with us! Daido is a fantastic photographer, he has influenced so many shooters with his unique style. A true inspiration.
      Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  45. मनीष भईया, आप काशी की आन बान और शान है, आप ये चुनाव निश्चित जीतेंगे.. मेरी देवों के देव महादेव से यही प्रार्थना है… और दूसरी बात आप जीते या ना जीते, आप हमारे नज़र में हमेशा नं 1 पर रहेंगे।

  47. Thanks for putting this out. But I have to disagree that Eric Kim belongs to this list 😐
    Personally, I’m much influenced by Severin Koller and find his work truly inspiring.

  49. Great stuff, but everyone will have to disagree with your choices. This is a very very difficult exercise to make a choice. We have a French author, André Gide, who said : “to choose is to forsake”.
    I personally love the works of Rinzi and Rafa Vergara.

  50. I know I’m sticking but, personally, I would leave out Bruce Gilden. Despite his arrogance, I don’t believe his results are anything more than mundane. I too was a big fan of Eric Kim and a follower of his blog, however, just recently I find it more concerned with philosophy than photography, never the less his work is still admirable.

  52. Hi Spyros,

    I must say the content is filled with information and inspiration. Indeed a marvelous piece of compilation by you.

    I hail from India and have been following your channel on you tube.

    I believe everyone has a unique perspective of seeing the world. All the photographers listed here or who are not have contributed immense to the photographic fraternity and we should all respect that.

    For a novice street photographer like me who is still and shall continue learning, this is a great mode of inspiration. I thank and congratulate for sharing such a brilliant piece of information.

    Thanks & Stay blessed
    Anurag Kull

    • Dear Anurag,

      Thank you very much for your kind comment. I am very happy you feel this way and that you find this post useful.
      I with you all the best and of course Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

      Thanks

  54. Firstly… Spyros, thank you kindly for the great compilation you have made. I still have alot to learn about the subject and I must say reading this post was inspiring. Seeing my how many extra links you have shared just built my enthusiasm for research on the topic. I must say I admire how you take time to have an active comment/response relationship with those who view your blog. I apologise in advance for the length of this comment, but I feel it is long overdue. Also, calling ladies “ladies” is fantastic, please don’t ever stop.

    This comment is for those of you that have commented, and still will. How many times does the author of this blog have to defend his own opinions or restate he is not sexist?? Shame on you. Read the other comments and replies before you decide to be the tenth person to make yourself look like an ass by getting the poor author to restate that even though the female Street photographers may be good/epic/better than the men… They are not as INFLUENTIAL in the public eye. I am a photography student, and all of our street photography workshops etc are lead by a female street photographer. There are those with influence, but if you have enough gall to rant on about the more famous female street photographers, you should also know that so many of them aim to have a more subtle influence on the world.

    For those of you who keep saying bloggers can’t be listed with “great names”… Get off the internet! These bloggers some times influence (see that important word there?) more people to take in interest in the art than the greats. It goes with the title. Deal with it. As for those who aren’t exclusively street photographers? So what? Again… They can influence people to get out of their studios and take a new approach to street photography. If they are creating awareness for the art style/movement why are you being so negative about it?

    This is such a lovely post, attempting to inform people about an extremely versatile art, yet I’ve started here feeling more and more dread about entering into a community filled with snobbery and needless negative attitudes. All these photographers, and Spyros through his post about them, are trying to strengthen the world of photography. If you could all get off your unicorns and join us here on the ground, the place where the street photographers pride themselves on being, that would be great.

    Happy shooting, all!

    • Hello there Odette and good morning from Crete!

      Thank you so much for your comment. To be honest I needed to read something like that for a long time now 🙂

      I am glad that you found this post helpful and even happier that you didn’t find it offensive in any way. I hope you enjoy reading more of our posts and please, don’t get discouraged about the Street Photography community. I have made so many good friends from Street Photography all over the world. The negative comments in this post are not a representation of the Street Photography community, so if you feel you want to jump in and share your work, please do so!

      We have 2 very active groups, one is on Facebook and the other is on Flickr. The Flickr one is heavily curated so the waiting queue to get a photo shared there is massive, just letting you know. Again, thanks for the comment and Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!

  55. Hi Spyros, i recently read a book of David Gibson (Street photography). I think he’s most influent in street photography today, what’s your opinion?
    Thanks for your posts! Bye

    • David Gibson is very influential yes. He has taught many workshops, published books and has been highly influential through his photography. I will be considering David the next time I create my personal list of most Influential Active Street Photographers. Grazie Massimo!

  56. Thank you providing the information it really helps to know about the works of these legends of street photography !!!!!!!

  58. I love this selection better than the 20 by the readers lol. I do ask why not Khalik Allah over someone like Zack Arias? And thank you for reminding me about Lee Jefferies. His portraits when I first saw his work were a huge part in me wanting to go out on the streets and take really gritty and intimate way that he does portraiture

  62. Who is influenced by These People?
    Parr and Moriyama made something own. The Rest is copy and paste. Smaller Words would be better. It is advertising.

  65. One thing that would change everything is changing the title from “The 10 most Influential Active Street Photographers” to “MY 10 most Influential Active Street Photographers”. It sets the tone for the article much better. As we can see in the comments, these are Spyros’s opinion of HIS most influential photographers. Yet, I understand this may have been done for the purposes of SEO. It does mislead the reader though. It’s a nice personal article of the author’s own influences, however should not be marketed as anything other than that. Clearly, the author is only influenced only by men which speaks to his persona, upbringing, exposure, and education. There are plenty of very influential active street photographers that are female. If I were to write this article, it would be all women. So take it for what it is, a sad reality of the close-minded patriarchal modern male street photography experience.

    • I am crying my eyes out with your personal attacks anonymous Alex 🙂 And your psychoanalysis, wow I am impressed. Since you think you can do a better job why don’t you write the article as you say then? I will gladly share a link to it.

  66. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Street Photography (the term and the genre) has been hi-jacked since digital cameras became affordable, by myriads of self professing street photographers, most of who, have no clue what the genre is really about or what they are doing. Though Street Photography as a genre is most accessible (all you need is a camera or smart phone and a public place with people) it is nonetheless one of the most difficult genres to do well and to be truthful to its origins. (50’s to 70’s). And of course we all have our opinions so I can’t blame you or chasing Martin Parr as he has an amazing body of documentary work that has crossed over to fine art. I don’t think of his work as belonging to the Street Photography genre as such (apart from some early work). What counts is his intent. The motivation comes from documenting and from well defined ‘projects’. Though there is some link to where he finds his subject matter, the approach and the intent are quite different and I personally think he should not be considered as practitioner of the Street Photography genre, I believe he doesn’t either (from his interviews etc). Infuencial? Yes! Amazing work? Yes! Working with a concept in mind? Yes! Intent to document a lifestyle, a subsection of society etc? Yes. Operating and approaching his shooting with the supposedly no-rules free-wheeling ‘street’ approach? I don’t think so he is too deliberate in his choices. I maintain that Street Photography and Documentary, though can appear similar, are very distinct genres because the bottom line is the photographer’s intent. Άντε γειά, τα λέμε! p.s. don’t get me started on Eric Kim haha!

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