By Editor Fernando Coelho
Edited and published by Yvette depaepe, the 10th of March 2026

BEYOND THE BASICS IN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 

In the first story of this series, I showed examples of how tilting your horizons and challenging your preconceived perspectives can help you have extra fun with your street photography and, along the way, create meaningful photographs and stories.
Well, that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Let us stretch some more rules and spice the game further. 

“Pressure Blocks” by Fernando Coelho

Embracing the Chaos (or You Must Have a Focal Point)

“What’s the point of this?”
Including a focal point is one critical rule of photography.
Without it, the viewer will be left hunting around the image, wondering what exactly you were trying to do.

There has to be a reasonable amount of contrast between your focal point and the surrounding area. Otherwise, it won’t stand out. The contrast can be tonal (black/gray/white), color, or texture.
The less your subject stands out, the more you must work to draw the viewer’s eye toward the focal point. This is where leading lines and the rule of thirds play a role, helping you place your subject in the areas that offer the most dynamic tension.

Or…maybe not.

While on the street, you often need to let it go, smell it, and embrace the mess. You want to capture that moment when everything falls into place and supports what you want to tell (or ask).

The focal point is the moment. The framed scene is the focal point. As long as you balance the elements in the composition, often that is enough and far more important. In fact, forcing a focal point can distract you (and the viewer) from the shoot and the story behind it.

“?!”, Porto (PT) by Fernando Coelho

My wife and I were having a lovely boat trip on the Douro River in Porto. It was one of those two-hour trips with a guide telling us about the city and its many bridges crossing the river until it met the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the type of photograph in which you need to react quickly (and hopefully have a camera). It’s an odd scene. Is that unheaded man undressing himself? Is the sitting man covering his and his wife’s head to protect them from what is unrevealing in front of their eyes? I know the answers to these questions, but others will keep asking when they see this photo.

When in the right place, you can also observe and make the focal point of your photograph, not a particular element but the relation between the different elements in the frame. The photograph below was taken from a high point of view inside the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

The four subjects are in sync!

“Perspectives”, Rotterdam (NL) by Fernando Coelho

Capture Complications (or Simplify Your Images)

The simpler the composition, the easier it is for the viewer to understand the photograph. Simple compositions often leave room in the story to let the viewer imagine what is going on.
Omitting some aspects in your composition can be a strong tool in your street photos narrative.

“Curiosity”, Viseu (PT)  by Fernando Coelho

"Escapade" by Fernando Coelho

But not always.
Sometimes, keeping it simple is either not an option or doesn’t support what you want to express.

“I see you”, Amsterdam (NL) by Fernando Coelho

I got close to a window of an optician shop in downtown Amsterdam.
Close enough to get the poster with Lenny Kravitz’s face in fancy Ray-Ban sunglasses to fill in my frame.
The camera is glued to the window and stable. Long exposure of 1 sec. Shop pilgrims on my back.
Several shoots, and ultimately, a cool reflection with an otherworldly story worth keeping and sharing.

Simple is not possible if, to achieve it, you need to take a complex approach with a somewhat complex but meaningful result.
Simplicity can create fantastic photos, but chaos is part of the world, so it makes sense that sometimes you will want to capture its craziness.
By the way, although I feel more comfortable with black and white, I couldn’t make this one work without color 😉.

Use Creative Backgrounds (or Use Plain Backgrounds)

What’s the most essential part of your photo?
Usually, it’s your subject — or what you are taking a photo of. As such, why would you include anything in your photo that could distract from that subject?
A plain background allows the viewer’s eye to go straight to the subject. The rule says to keep it as simple as possible or blur it using a shallow depth of field.
Simplifying the background helps bring your subject to the forefront, but by removing the background, you lose something that can also be important: context.
And context is often crucial in street photography.
Let me give you a self-explanatory example.

“Where is it?”, Utrecht (NL) by Fernando Coelho

Imagine this photograph taken against a simple or blurred background. It would then be just a random lady looking for the keys in the street.
Now, someone stole her precious vinyl.

Creating Unstable Compositions (or Balance the Elements of your Composition)

In photography, achieving balance is like creating harmony in music. It’s about arranging the elements within the frame, like instruments in an orchestra, ensuring each one plays its part without dominating the others. This careful placement creates a sense of visual unity, where everything works together.
A balanced image just feels right. It’s aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and we naturally desire balance and equilibrium.
But just like a discordant note can add tension to a song, an unbalanced image can evoke unease or strongly impact your narrative.
So, let me guide you through a high-wire walk without falling.
Just because the composition is “unstable” doesn’t mean it lacks balance entirely. Leading lines, shapes, and patterns can create visual interest, even if your subject is off-center, for example.

\\! by Fernando Coelho

In this photograph, taken close to the entrance of the MAAT museum in Lisbon, I went entirely off regarding the positioning of my subject.
I made that move to emphasize the scale of the sci-fi shape of the building compared with the tiny figure down below. However, the leading lines are there. That helps to create stability in a somewhat tense and unbalanced composition.
Although, in essence, it is an aesthetic exercise, when I look at this photograph, those rising textures and smooth shapes look like thought bubbles from his internal monologue. I cannot understand the language, though.

Simplify is not a mantra in street photography.

Sometimes, you must wade through the mess around you to make your voice heard before conveying a message.

Ideally, an enigmatic message.

Stay tuned.