15 Famous Street Photographers

Famous street photographers capture life as it really happens, candid and raw and authentic. They make their mark in street photography by documenting the human condition in spontaneous moments occurring in settings from urban to rural.

It's important to know the pioneers in street photography and who is following in their footsteps today, pushing the boundaries in meaningful ways. Here then are 15 famous street photographers beginning with those who are deceased and ending with those who remain active in street photography.

1. Henri Cartier-Bresson

Every list of famous street photographers begins with this legendary figure, called “the Father of photojournalism” and a pioneer of street photography beginning in Paris in 1929 at the age of 25. The work of Henri Cartier-Bresson is candid, spontaneous and obsessed with capturing a moment when something significant occurs or everything changes. The title of his 1952 book Images à la sauvette (Images on the sly) was translated as “the decisive moment,” a phrase that has since become firmly associated with his style. “Photography is nothing – it’s life that interests me,” he said.

Cartier-Bresson’s street photography took him throughout Europe and to Africa, China, Indonesia and India. His mainstay camera was a Leica rangefinder camera with a 50mm prime lens. He was known for disguising the camera using black tape in order to be inconspicuous, allowing him to capture candid images of people in unsuspecting moments to make them as genuine as possible.

2. Helen Levitt

Inspired by a chance meeting with Henri Cartier-Bresson in the early 1930s, Levitt began documenting daily life in New York City with her Leica 35mm rangefinder camera. It’s been said of Levitt that most people were familiar with her photographs, but few people knew who she was. Street photographer Helen Levitt was active for almost 60 years, shooting in black & white her entire career because she felt it best captured the essence of her subjects without distraction. Her favorite photographs were those of children playing in the streets of Manhattan, Harlem and the Lower East side.

She said, “Since I’m inarticulate, I express myself with images.”

Levitt later switched to a compact, automatic Contax camera when sciatica made carrying a heavier camera too difficult. She died in 2009 at the age 95, according to her obituary in the New York Times.

3. Robert Frank

Frank was a Swedish American street photographer who passed away in 2019. Having been born in Zurich and emigrating to the US as an adult, Frank had an interest in documenting the experience of newcomers to America with an outsider's eye.

Many of Frank’s best street photographer shots were published in his 1958 book “The Americans,” which is considered one of the most significant books of street photography ever produced. The book includes 80 monochrome photographs taken on a road trip across the United States.

Street photographer Robert Frank, like other greats, preferred a Leica rangefinder camera and used both 35mm and 50mm lenses. And he shot in black and white film.

4. Elliott Erwitt

Street photographer Elliott Erwitt was born in France and arrived in the US in 1939 at the age of 10. He studied photography and film at Los Angeles City College and the New School for Social Research. Erwitt’s work as a street photographer began in earnest after moving to New York City in 1948 and meeting street photography pioneers Robert Capa and Roy Stryker. His photos have been described as “humorous” and “playful.”

Erwitt’s interest in street photography had a socio-political side, and he’s known for photographing Nixon’s visit to the USSR, the funeral of JFK and the inauguration of Barack Obama. Elliott Erwitt used black and white film exclusively. His preferred gear was the same as most others of his generation – a Leica rangefinder fitted with a 35mm lens. The small size of the Leica allowed him to capture unfiltered moments without drawing attention to the camera.

5. Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier was completely unknown as a street photographer until suitcases full of her photos were discovered, along with many rolls of undeveloped film plus negatives, shortly before her death in 2009. Collector John Maloof brought her work to the public when he began publishing her images on an internet blog, and her work immediately achieved critical acclaim. She shot more than 100,000 photographs, mostly of the people and street scenes in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. And she appeared in many of her own photos.

Street photographer Vivian Maier was a nanny for 40 years while she documented daily life around her. Maier’s images show that she was a student of Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment.”

Maier preferred Rolleiflex cameras. Over her life, she used the Rolleiflex 3.5T, 3.5F, 2.8C and Automat models. She occasionally photographed with a Leica IIIc rangefinder and Zeiss Contarex plus a few DSLR cameras. Most of her film images are black & white.

6. Garry Winogrand

American street photographer Garry Winogrand was one of the most influential photographers of the mid-20th century. He saw the world around him as a unique “show” to be observed and photographed. Winogrand’s work was featured in several major exhibitions in the 1960s through the 1980s. His work is said to have, “defined street photography as an attitude as well as a style.” His personal style was lighthearted, whimsical and showed the ironic twists that accompany everyday life in the US. Winogrand died in 1984 at 56.

Garry Winogrand preferred wide angle lenses, mostly 28mm and 35mm, because they captured more of the street scene he loved to document. His preferred camera was the legendary Leica M3 rangefinder. He appears in many of his wide angle shots.

7. Alfred Eisenstaedt

German-born street photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt is credited with taking one of the most iconic street photos in American history – the sailor’s kiss of a girl in Times Square on V-J Day taken with a Leica IIIa. His obituary said of the image, it “summed up the euphoria many Americans felt” as the war ended. Eisenstaedt worked for Life magazine where more than 2,500 of his photographs were published including 90 as covers.

Eisenstaedt’s career had begun years before in Germany in the 1920s before emigrating to the US in 1935. His first camera was a Kodak Folding Camera. He photographed famous people too including Albert Einstein and Churchill.

Alfred Eisenstaedt mainly used his trustworthy, compact 35mm Leica rangefinder to capture his iconic photographs. He preferred the natural light the streets offered rather than artificial light provided by a flash.

8. Saul Leiter

American street photographer Saul Leiter was also a painter. He owned his first camera at 12, and later worked as a fashion photographer with credits in Elle, British Vogue and other publications. While a fan of abstract art, Leiter’s photography shows a more human side with a poetic flare. His love of painting led him to color film, and he was an early proponent of it, as portrayed in the 2006 documentary “Early Color.”

Saul Leiter’s photos often include blurred images that create an ethereal, mystical vibe. He preferred a lens with a long focal length that allowed him to keep his distance and yet get intimate shots. He also used his Leica rangefinder with a 35mm or 50mm lens. Leiter’s color photographs emphasize vibrant, saturating colors.

9. Martin Parr

British street photographer Martin Parr is adept at “capturing the quirks and idiosyncrasies” of his daily world. Parr shoots in color with the goal of producing hue-saturated photographs that tell a story. His sense of humor is on full display in many of his iconic pictures from series such as “Small World” and “Last Resort.”

Parr’s work is also called satirical, as he delves into the social classes in his native land, the wealth of the West and other aspects of life in the 21st century. His work is published in more than 40 photobooks.

Parr, like many famous street photographers, uses a Leica rangefinder camera. His preferred models are the Leica M7 and M9 fitted with a 35mm lens.

10. Bruno Barbey

Street photographer Barbey is known for his photographs of war-torn regions and the people suffering from the conflicts. His work includes covering civil wars in Nigeria, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Iraq and elsewhere. He was Swiss, though born in Morocco where his father was a diplomat.

Barbey preferred a rangefinder Leica camera because of its compact size, making it easy to carry and also to conceal. He used primarily a 35mm wide angle lens to capture his subjects in their context, a wider swath of the scene they inhabited. He said, “Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world.” Bruno Barbey worked for almost 50 years documenting street life around the world.

11. Daido Moriyama

This legendary Japanese street photographer shoots in black and white and has long been associated with the magazine Provoke, an avant-garde, experimental magazine launched in 1968. Moriyama is best known for his street photography in post-war Japan, capturing the urban life there rarely seen by outsiders prior to the publication of his photographs. His style is to use slightly tilted angles, grainy textures and other techniques meant to evoke disquiet and raw emotions.

This famous street photographer has published 150 photobooks. Moriyama’s images are typically captured using a 4:5 aspect ratio that is more vertical compared to the 3:2 aspect ratio of a 35mm camera. He crops many images to give them a more vertical appearance. Daido Moriyama likes compact cameras like the Ricoh GR series.

12. Boogie

Street photographer Boogie was born in Serbia and documented the horrific war there in the 1990s. He is now based in Brooklyn, New York. Born Vladimir Milivojevich, Boogie has a documentary street photography style focusing on the less fortunate people and the societal issues they face. It has been said that he prefers photoshoots in the worst neighborhoods he can find. His photography has been described as raw and gritty, geometric and minimalist.

Like many famous street photographers, Vladimir Milivojevich prefers Leica M Series rangefinder cameras with wide angle lenses. He is known to use both 28mm and 35mm lenses.

13. Joel Meyerowitz

Inspired by Robert Frank, American street photographer Joel Meyerowitz counts Cartier-Bresson and Eugene Atget as others who influenced him. Meyerowitz began shooting in both black and white and color before making color his permanent choice in 1972. At that time, he also began occasionally using an 8x10 large format camera in addition to his beloved Leica rangefinder cameras. Meyerowitz is in the Leica Hall of Fame. He has been called a “magician using colour,” who is able to capture perfect framing and the “decisive moment” in his photographs. His brilliant use of vibrant color created images that have been likened to paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe.

After 9/11, street photographer Joel Meyerowitz was the only photographer given free reign to photograph the immediate aftermath of the chaos. Today, he’s considered one of the most important street photographers of his generation.

14. Jamel Shabazz

This African American street photographer is also known for his fashion, fine art and documentary photography. Born and based in Brooklyn, Shabazz focuses on life around him, mainly the lives of minority peoples and their plight in everyday, urban life. Shabazz’s photographs exude genuine humanity, showing great respect for his subjects and their lives.

His most respected collection of photographs is Back in the Days (2002) documents the beginnings of hip-hop culture in the 1980s in NYC.

Shabazz has said that Cartier-Bresson and Winogrand are among his greatest influences.He employs both film and digital cameras. His preferred gear includes Canon AE-1 and a Nikon F3 film camera with 35mm lenses that offer a wider swath of the scene.

15. Mark Cohen

This young American street photographer from Pennsylvania cites as influences the work of Cartier-Bresson, Winograd, Lee Friedlander, and Diane Arbus. His photographs show a bold, up-close style that he has called “intrusive,” admitting, “they’re not easy pictures. But I guess that’s why they’re mine.” Cohen’s work has been described as somewhat abstract and a little surreal, a blend of documentary street photography and fine art photography.

Street photographer Mark Cohen, like so many others, prefers the Leica M Series rangefinder camera equipped with a 28mm wide angle or 35mm lens. This setup gives him a unique and detailed look at his subjects.