How daily photowalks saved my Street photography
- Hipster_cph
- Feb 26
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 28
February 2025
Blog #12
Street photography became a priority
End of 2023 I decided to prioritize street photography to a level I haven’t thought of or planned for. Prior to this I’d been through a hard period where Street photography wasn’t motivating or exciting as it used to be for me.
A feeling I wasn’t familiar with.
Majority of the time being a street photographer and doing street photography - I loved it. I loved learning and challenging myself. I loved to pick up my camera and hit the streets. I loved coming home and with great excitement review and edit my photographs and post them for the world to see.
Simultaneously I started to make a few changes not only related to street photography but overall in my life. I talk about it in more detail in this post: A break that knocked me out
The two MAJOR changes
It took a while to figure out and pinpoint the root cause of my sudden loss of motivation for street photography.
I spent a great deal of time not forcing or pushing myself to pick up a camera. This was a good decision as this break gave me the needed pause to reflect and figure out exactly which changes were needed.
Now almost end of 2023 - I made two major changes.
The first change I made was more a promise to myself that I wanted to get my joy back for street photography.
I simply wanted to enjoy street photography without any pressure or goals to pursue. Just be able to go out without any expectations - a blank canvas so to speak, only painted by the streets.
For me it was equally important to go back and reflect on and eventually remember my why.
Why do I do street photography?
The answer was quite simple. I love street photography. I love making photographs as I see the world. This is my way of documenting my life on this earth.
My WHY has been my guiding light, my raison d'etre from day 1 – both for my own street photography journey and for my Youtube channel.
Okay so far so good..
The second change is connected to the essence of my being, I will try not to be overly philosophical.
I’m hardwired to challenge myself, it's in my DNA or lets just call it my standard operating procedure.
I love a good challenge; it gives me energy and keeps my brain occupied enough to not get distracted or bored. We all know about idle hands..right?
For street photography for a long time I wasn’t feeling that it was challenging me enough as it used to do. I felt more and less complacent with my photography and eventually it made me lazy and not progressing overall as street photographer.
I had a nagging feeling about this, but now it had become a urgent thing for me to take a hard look at. It couldn’t be pushed aside any longer.
To put it simply I needed to make some changes to keep myself motivated and challenged if I were to continue to do street photography. Also the fact that I couldn't imaging a life without hitting the streets.
Slowly but surely I found my way
As the months went by spring became fall of 2023 I slowly started to miss picking up my camera and going out. I missed doing street photography.
It came naturally and without any pressure. I grabbed on this new found feeling and started slowly to head out on the streets.
At first it was just a day here and there when I felt like it. Sometimes I just brought my camera with me without making any photographs - and that was okey.
Not forcing myself if I didn't feel like it. Just getting out there on the streets, observing and walking around was enough.
Sometimes the hard part is to convince yourself to head out.
How daily photowalks saved the day
This eventually snowballed into a full blown habit. I started to go out on daily photowalks. For about 2-3 weeks I went out every single day and the great part was; I wanted to pick up my camera and go out. I even looked forward to it.
But the are some important factors that made all this happen. First of all, I listened to myself and my gut feeling.
When doing street photography it's important to be in the right headspace or mindset. No matter your willpower if being in the right headspace is not there then it’s a uphill battle.
Secondly, I tried to keep the same structure around it, I went out at the same time everyday in the afternoon. I used the same camera, my Fuji X100V and walked the same neighbourhood - which eventually became my regular beat. I still go there here in 2025.
The days I didn't feel like it I treated it as a day off.
I then started to think about giving myself a challenge. Yes that hardwiring is hard to resist. I decided to give myself a 30 day street photography challenge. I talk about it in more detail in a Youtube video, watch it here: 30 day challenge.
Most of it I was already doing - the only difference was I started to keep a journal of my progress after each day/photowalk. This way I could track not only my progress but also reflect on how and what I was thinking and feeling about street photography. Things I needed to pay special attention or course correct etc. It worked nicely as a release valve.
After the 30 day challenge was completed, I continued the momentum I was on and went on daily photowalks as part of my daily routine - like eating breakfast or brushing teeth.. you get my point.
A different kind of Street photography
Now a few months into 2024, the daily photowalks continued and had become an integral part of my daily schedule. I was slowly but surely getting my mojo back.
I'm back baby.
So I decided to add a new camera to my street kit. I bought the Leica M6 a film camera.
This kickstarted the next chapter for me as a street photographer and took my street photography to new levels.
For the first 3 months I literally ran out on the streets every possible moment I could spare. As soon as I got of work I dropped everything and ran out with my camera in hand. It got to a point where I brought my camera to work and sneaked off during my lunch break. Summer season in Consulting is slow and boring.
To wrap it up, the two major changes I had to make over the course of 2023 yielded good results.
But it could have easily gone the other way. I might never had returned to Street photography.
Also during this period I started to think and practice Street photography in an another way than I was used to. It was like my perception of Street photography changed with me.
Looking back now, I needed that change to sustain my love for Street photography.
Luckily the transformation came largely through the daily photowalks, they were the guardrails I needed and had a major impact on getting me to the next chapter.
All this combined with a simple 30 day challenge and a good amount of patience with myself.
But this time around street photography feels different..
good but different.
This makes me come back for more as a hungry lion(ess).
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