Get An Inside Look With Street Photographer Alan Schaller

In this beautiful video brought to you by SmugMug, get an inside look at the mind of street photographer Alan Schaller. 

Schaller is a London-based street photographer who originally began his creative pursuits in music. After picking up a camera, Schaller has since mastered black and white street photography. He has worked with Apple and London Fashion Week, to name a few, and is a Leica ambassador. He is also a co-founder of the Street Photography International Collective. 

One thing I enjoy about this video is the video in itself. Even if you're not invested or interested in street photography, the video is worth watching. Not only is it beautifully filmed with creative shots, but its sequencing and pacing between frames and in transitions superbly mirrors the storyline. Hats off to you for this one, SmugMug.

A great piece of insight that Shaller passes on which can be useful in any form of photography is his thoughts regarding how to limit himself in such chaotic places, like cities. He says he often will restrict himself to one lens, focal length, or even location to help feel less overwhelmed. Even in landscape photography, I find this to be useful, too. I find that if I go out with just one lens, specifically a prime, my mind and sight more easily morphs to see the scene in that focal length alone, and I'm less distracted by other possibilities that more lenses can bring. This helps me to break down landscapes in more manageable pieces, as it does with Schaller and shooting street photography in a city. 

Another part of this video that I enjoy is when Schaller explains what motivates his photography - storytelling. I enjoy how he breaks down what the difference between pretty pictures versus storytelling and what the definitions and differences mean to him. I relate to this because, unless I'm on an editorial or commercial assignment, storytelling in my personal photography is something I've always struggled with. I sometimes find it difficult to think of a story I want to tell in my personal work, and how I want to tell it, visually. So, I admire the fact that Schaller is driven by storytelling in his own work. 

Watch the video above to learn more about Schaller and gain insight on street photography. 

Tim Behuniak's picture

Timothy Behuniak is a Salt Lake City-based landscape and outdoor adventure photographer who's passionate about getting lost in the woods with his camera. Tim's hope is that his viewers, like him, will one day love and fight to protect the beautiful locations he is fortunate to photograph.

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4 Comments

I like the idea of featuring photographers of different styles. One thing that I think would be more appropriate for a photographer feature (as opposed to a videographer/cinematographer) would be to have featured collection of images within the writeup. While YouTube is an easy way to share information, pausing to actually look at images leaves a lot of be desired.

Photojournalism is not Dead !!!
Just underpaid ..

I still don't understand how people make bank doing street photography. If any people are visible or recognizable buildings or even store names you have to get releases before you can do anything with the images. If I understand right. If wrong, someone fill me in please.

It depends on how you are selling the images. If it's sold as art or editorial then you don't need releases. If it's commercial, then yes under the circumstances you describe. However, one example is Nick Turpin who does sell his street photography commercially. Google "Nick Turpin making street photography pay" and you can read how he does it.