Are you enamoured by aesthetic Instagram street photography? Here are 4 photographers you should check out before heading out to click your own masterpiece

Before diving into street photography, it is imperative to learn from the medium's pioneers!

Instagram is a constant showcase of creativity around the world. There are thousands of pages constantly highlighting photographs from different corners of the globe. Each photograph tells the story of the streets and the cultural milieu of the picture; in an instant, one can travel miles by just looking. It is hard not to get inspired, capture the beauty in one's own daily life, and showcase it to the world in all its natural glory.

Due to the availability of high-definition cameras on every smartphone, it is now possible to do just that. However, there are some considerations you should keep in mind before you walk out into your street corner in search of that perfect moment. The history of photography is older than a century; it essentially evolved from painting, so its lineage hearkens back to fine art. This is why it is so imperative to study the artists who gave birth to the modern form of street photography. Keep reading to find out whose work you should definitely check out!

Fan Ho

Get ready to be seeped into the images of 1950s and 1960s Hong Kong when you look at the majestic work of Fan Ho. The artist is among the most significant street photographers of the 20th century. Although he isn't as well known as his European peers, that doesn't diminish the quality of his work one bit. His composition of the streets of Hong Kong is more akin to a light and shadow painting than a photograph.

Studying his images will provide you with a sense of how to blend composition and natural light to create an image that stands out. An interesting thing to note about his work is how he studied light, which always provides a sense of grandeur to his mundane landscapes. Among his notable photographs are pieces like 'Different Directions' and 'Mom's Second Kitchen'.

Helen Levitt

From Hong Kong, we travel to New York for your next photographer, Helen Levitt. Levitt's muse was New York City. Her photographs captured the essence of what it meant to be a resident of 'the city that never sleeps'. The worldview of her images is from the perspective of children. In many of the pictures, we can see children playing in the park or major parts of the city. The viewer is transported to that sense of innocent wonder by glancing at her work. 

The main thing to learn from her tableau of New York is the empathy she is able to generate in a single frame. It is extremely important to understand how to connect to a larger audience. 

Dimpy Bhalotia 

Initially a student of fashion design, Dimpy switched to photography almost naturally. Bhalotia is among the greatest modern street photographers working today. Her work is a great example of the new outlook on life and what the work of the photographers has culminated in. She focuses on everyday subjects, finding beauty in regular objects, and shooting documentary-style photographs. The area she works in is mainly India, her home country. Dimpy travels around the country to capture the eccentricity of daily life in the most populous nation on planet Earth. Upon examining her work, you will learn how to compose photographs when shooting on a digital sensor, as the other photographers were primarily shooting on film. Her work is also a guide on how to cover large crowds of people and their movements to create synchronicity.