Street photographers thrive on instinct, observation and a knack for finding meaning in the ordinary and everyday. Despite all its criticism, noise and flaws, Instagram remains one of the best platforms to connect and see that tradition evolving in real time. From high contrast black and white compositions to richly layered colour and socially engaged storytelling, today’s street photographers are pushing the genre in multiple directions at once. Some build on the legacy of figures like Walker Evans and Garry Winogrand, while others are redefining what ‘the street’ even means.
For International Women’s Day, AP’s Features Editor Amy Davies suggested a list of the 10 women photographers you should follow. Social Media Editor Jessica Miller put together Women street photographers you should be following on Instagram. I felt left out. Before embarking on a long form reportage, I have a pool of street photographers that motivate me to ‘get out there.’ My go to list constantly morphs. In addition to Gilden, Turpin, Mermelstein, Meyerowitz and Stuart et al, here (in no particular order) are ten street photographers I’m following for inspiration right now.
Maciej Dakowicz
Made his name with his seminal and scandalous, in the gutter, alcohol fuelled Cardiff After Dark series, applying his Polish sensibilities to British chaos. Layered, funny, occasionally outrageous. He has consistently built on that legacy hosting workshops across the globe.
Regula Tschumi
If street photography is anthropology then Tschumi is the most anthropologist of them all! Tschumi’s work sits at the intersection of documentary photography and anthropology, offering both visual richness and contextual depth. Captured with energy and respect she shows how art and ritual can become one.
Rammy Narula
Rammy brings a sharp observational wit to everyday scenes, whether on the streets of Bangkok where he lives, Mumbai or further afield. His work thrives on the unpredictable theatre of public life. Rammy has a knack for finding moments where gesture, humour and quiet absurdity collide, often within beautifully timed compositions. Light is his mistress and his words as energising as a power bar.
Paul Russell
My guilty pleasure. Paul lives, and primarily photographs in my home town of Weymouth on England’s south coast. He does it so well I feel I don’t have to. His observations of ordinary folk are executed with the eye of an Ethologist.
Jan Enkelmann
Jan’s work is defined by bold geometry, graphic precision and a razor-sharp sense of timing. He reduces busy urban environments into clean, almost abstract compositions where a single figure or gesture snaps everything into place. It’s street photography with a designer’s eye and a comedian’s timing. And he’s German!
Gulnara Samoilova
Gulnara brings a refreshingly energetic, female-focused perspective to street photography. Originally from Uzbekistan and now based in New York, her work is rooted in bold colour, strong graphic elements and a keen eye for gesture, often capturing women in moments of confidence, style and individuality. Important not just for her work but for platform-building, championing women in street photography globally.
Xyza Cruz Bacani
Human rights-driven storytelling. Started as a domestic worker in Hong Kong, now globally recognised. Proper substance behind the images.
Daniel Arnold
Daniel has an uncanny ability to pluck perfectly timed, often bizarre moments from the chaos of everyday life. Shoots instinctively capturing scenes that feel accidental but land with surgical precision. There’s humour, but also a slightly darker undercurrent of friction, coincidence and low-level absurdity.
GMB Akash
A photographer whose work blends street photography with hard-hitting social documentary, often focusing on labourers, marginalised communities and the human cost of poverty. His images are less playful than those often seen in street photography but carry a direct emotional weight. Unflinching, but never devoid of dignity.
Nick Hannes
Nick sits slightly at the documentary / conceptual edge of street, but that’s exactly what makes him interesting. His work has that quiet absurdity I enjoy and often a satirical read on modern life, think leisure, tourism, geopolitics. For Hannes, the street becomes a stage for larger global behaviours rather than just fleeting moments.
Related reading:
- Three leading street photographers share their best shots – how they took them and why
- The world’s best cities for street photography – in pictures
- Complete guide to street photography
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