Two Days of Street Photography in Paris or London

Not Knowing Where You Are for a Moment

At home, you know the way. You know your usual route, you know where you like to pause, and you probably walk past plenty of things without really looking. There's nothing wrong with a familiar street. But your eye can become just as familiar as your route.

In an unfamiliar city, that ease disappears. You don't know what's around the corner. Something could be on the left, or on the right. Even choosing a direction takes attention again.

I believe the best photographs happen when you get lost. You don't have to take that literally, unless someone has to come looking for you. What I mean is curiosity. You start looking again the way you did when you first began, before you had all kinds of ideas about what your photos were supposed to look like.

I find that a pleasant thought. For once, you don't have to know what you're looking for.

Day One Is for Warming Up

A different city doesn't turn you into a different photographer the moment you arrive. You bring your habits along. Apparently there's always room for them somewhere in the luggage.

On the first day, you're warming up. The surroundings are new, but you may still look for something you recognize. A photo you already roughly know how you want to make. That gives you some footing.

You don't have to judge yourself for that. You're looking, you're getting used to things. Meanwhile, you can stay curious about your own choices. Where do you stop? What do you walk past? Are you looking for something because it catches your eye, or because you've already made that kind of photo before?

For me, that's where the fun of learning lies. A question that comes up while you're walking can suddenly be far more interesting than yet another camera setting.

And in between, you sit on a terrace. That's part of it too. You don't need to be constantly, seriously busy with photography to pick something up.

Day Two, You See Differently

That's why I think two days is so good. After warming up, you don't have to go home yet.

On the second day, you start with what you saw on the first. A remark from someone else might stay with you. Or you notice that you keep searching for the same kind of photo. You can work with that, while you're still in the middle of that unfamiliar city.

Perhaps you dare to loosen a familiar approach a little. Or maybe you notice that something that attracted you yesterday catches your attention again today. That's interesting too. Something of your own way of seeing starts to become visible.

Don't expect a neat turning point after which every photo is a hit. In my experience, photography doesn't work out that tidily. But there's time to try something and come back to it. You don't have to take an insight home as homework right away.

Paris Asks You to Look Further

With Paris, you probably already have photos in your head before you arrive. That makes it interesting to look for your own vision right there.

For me, Paris asks for curiosity that goes beyond the familiar postcard. Around the Bassin de la Villette, in Belleville, or in the covered passages near the Palais Royal, you can approach the city differently than as a list of places to tick off.

Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur are part of Paris too. A well-known place doesn't rule out a photo of your own. The question is what catches your eye there. What keeps you busy when you let go of the image you had in your head beforehand?

I went to Paris for street photography with Valérie Jardin myself. Learning to see differently was one of the reasons I eventually started following workshops. A new city creates space for that, but it's still your own eye that does the work.

London Asks You to Choose

London is big, loud, and sometimes overwhelming. Here, the city asks something different of you: choosing.

Barbican, Southbank, Covent Garden, Oxford Street, and the side streets of Soho. Just seeing those names together makes it clear there's plenty to divide your attention between. You could keep looking for what's happening farther down the road.

For me, the exercise is deciding where to stay. What grabs your attention among everything competing for it? Which photo do you want to make here?

You don't need to explain all of London with your photos. You're allowed to find something small in that big city that holds your interest. That's already enough to keep going.

So Paris and London each ask for something different, but in both cities you arrive at your own choices.

Looking Over Someone's Shoulder Is Allowed

Walking together adds something. Someone else stops where you kept walking. You see what they're photographing and think: oh, right. Of course that was there for me too.

For me, that kind of watching is a big part of what makes workshops useful. You learn from the teacher and from the people walking alongside you. In a small group, you get to know each other quickly, laugh quickly, and quickly see how differently everyone looks.

The goal is that you start recognizing your own style more clearly. I write about this in my article on what you learn during a workshop. You don't have to come home with the same photos to have learned something together.

Back Home

What interests me most is what happens afterward, on your familiar route. Do you stop somewhere you used to walk past? Do you notice something you previously ignored?

Then that unfamiliar city has given you something you could take home.

If you'd like to explore in that way together, you can join REFRESH, my two-day masterclass in Paris or London. I'll make the route, you make the journey.