What Is the Goal of Street Photography?
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. Today, I’m going to be answering the question: What is the goal of street photography? Is there even a goal? Why do you practice street photography?
For me, these kinds of questions are super important to rehash over and over again, to always have in the back of your head. Because, honestly, we oftentimes just do things on autopilot without really going deeper into why we’re doing them. And in this modern world, with all its distractions, photography has often been reduced to a loop:
- Take a photo
- Post it on social media
- Get feedback
- Repeat
But photography is more than that. It’s not just about getting likes, printing a zine, making a book, or getting into a gallery. Those things are cool, but they aren’t the real goal.
What Isn’t the Goal of Street Photography?
Maybe the best way to figure out the goal of street photography is by first asking what it is NOT:
- It’s not about external validation.
- It’s not about making ‘good’ or ‘bad’ photos.
- It’s not about social media attention.
- It’s not about money, fame, or legacy.
For me, after a decade of shooting and traveling all over the world, I’ve realized that photography is something deeper. It’s not about making a great photo—it’s about something even more fundamental.
“Photography is a vehicle that fuels my lust for life.”
Street photography, for me, is about increasing my curiosity. Every day I go out and shoot, I wake up with more curiosity about the world.
The True Goal of Street Photography
The real goal, for me, is simple:
To wake up each day with eyes wide open.
I treat each night like a mini death, so when I wake up in the morning, I’m just grateful to be alive. I thank God for the ability to walk, to hear the birds, to feel the sun on my skin, to experience the chaos of honking horns on the street corner.
“Curiosity is at the heart of street photography. Without curiosity, one won’t even go out there and do the thing.”
I embrace a childlike state of wonder when I step onto the streets. I don’t take myself too seriously. Street photography, at its core, is play.
Embracing the Amateur Mind
A lot of people chase perfection. They want every shot to be great. But I can 100% confirm that 99% of the time, you’re going to fail.
So, what do you do? You embrace it.
“By letting go of the results of the photographs you make, you will find yourself in a much more abundant flow state of simply making more pictures.”
For me, the goal is just to do the thing. Photography is an autotelic act—I do it for itself. I go out, I walk, I observe, I click the shutter. That’s it.
Photography as a Gateway to Exploration
In this modern world, people think they’ve seen it all because they have an iPhone and access to AI. But I promise you, there is still so much to see, so much to explore.
“There are infinite possibilities every day. You just have to go out there and look.”
When I’m photographing, I’m elevating the mundane—turning ordinary moments into something extraordinary. The camera becomes a portal into another world. What I see in the final photograph is often not what I saw in real life.
“The camera transcends reality—it reveals what we couldn’t see in the moment.”
Street photography isn’t just about capturing reality. It’s about creating a new reality. It’s about taking a chaotic street scene and making order out of the chaos.
The Spirit of Play
I can’t stress this enough: Don’t take yourself so seriously.
When people start setting big goals—like changing the world with their photography, being a documentarian, or making a legacy—it can burn you out. Instead, return to that childlike state of wonder.
“Street photography is play. The moment you start taking it too seriously, you lose the joy.”
When I’m out shooting, I’m just aligning myself with the light. I’m enjoying the simple things:
- The feeling of the sun on my skin
- The energy of the streets
- The joy of walking with a camera in hand
The Endless Pursuit of Curiosity
So what is the goal of street photography? Simple:
- To fuel my curiosity.
- To live my everyday life with joy.
- To explore the world with wide eyes.
I don’t photograph for anyone else. I do it for myself.
“By photographing more and exploring with curiosity, I affirm my life with each click of the shutter.”
And at the end of the day, is that such a bad thing?
I don’t think so.
Go out there. Hit the streets. Explore. Walk. Shoot. Increase your curiosity.
This is my goal.
Thanks for reading. See you out there. Peace.