Urban Photography
In order to define urban photography, it is first important to understand street photography. Street photography typically refers to documentary-like portrait photos of passers-by taken in an urban setting on the spur of the moment. The genre is often associated with the Golden Age of photography which lasted from 1890 to 1970. The great masters of this period include Cartier-Bresson (whose treasured Leica has become an iconic street photography camera), Weegee (known for his images of crime scenes), Robert Doisneau (and his famous 'The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville), William Klein (one of the genre's pioneers known for his focus on children), Vivian Maier, Eugene Atget and many other key names.
As street photography has become a genre of its own, there seems to be a key difference between 'new' and 'traditional' street photography. The subject in street photography has gradually shifted from the street itself to the men and women who occupy the urban space. This photographic technique has allowed some of the great photographers to capture the depth and intensity of certain facial expressions and give their images a strong sense of emotion. Nonetheless, this perspective overlooks certain aspects of the original school of urban photography. Faces and staging have eclipsed urban buildings and their architecture.
Street photography has come to reflect post-modern capitalist society and mass-consumerism where entertainment and immediacy are highly sought after. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, this cannot be denied and this is what distinguishes it from urban photography.
In a similar way to traditional street photography, urban photography not only tries to freeze people in time but also places. Urban photography captures and enhances buildings and their architecture by playing around with lighting and framing in a way that only professional photographers know how. When we consider that 50% of the world's population now live in cities we can see how each image is instilled with the artist's own opinion of the urban world.
In short, urban photography cannot simply be reduced to street photography; it immortalises urban life with a much broader perspective. It captures everything urban-related; the skyscrapers of Manhattan's skyline are just one example. Passers-by are not necessarily the photograph's main focus; objects are the genre's favourite subject. Much more than just a mere spectator, urban photography is also critical of its society.
Artsper has an exclusive selection of works from artists with a shrewd outlook on contemporary society and who want to share their new perspectives on the world around them. Discover the splendid analogue photos of Paris in the 1930s by Roger Schall or Manhattan photography as well as London photographies and get lost in the depth of Gwenaël Bollinger's incredible shots!
Richard Heeps
Palms, St Leonards-on-Sea, 2021 24 x 24 x 0 inch Photography
$740
Rodrigo
Neapolis, 2019 10.7 x 7.1 x 0 inch Photography
$1,035
Benoît Victor Kunsch
Looking up, 2018 31.5 x 31.5 inch Photography
$1,041
Amanda Lomax
Love, 2018 24 x 36 x 1 inch Photography
$1,095
Donna Carnahan
Praha, Czechia, 2015 24 x 36 x 1.5 inch Photography
$850
Julie Peiffer
Jardin du musée des beaux arts, 2018 23.9 x 35.8 inch Photography
$1,056
Anna Levesh
City Rumors #15 - City Rumors Series, 2020 18.4 x 13.8 inch Photography
$1,093
Charly Desoubry
Mr DZ, 2017 19.7 x 35.4 x 0.2 inch Photography
$624
Brian McKee
Afghanistan, 2003 49.6 x 63.4 x 0 inch Photography
$2,601
Edmund Sumner
Poplanco #3, 2022 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch Photography
$2,343
Massimo Vitali
Bari 2003, 2003 35.4 x 43.1 x 0 inch Photography
$9,365
Lucien Hervé
Secrétariat à Chandigarh, 1955 10.2 x 10.2 x 0.1 inch Photography
$3,642
Pierre Leccia
Urban design, 2022 11.8 x 16.5 inch Photography
$323
Christophe Dabreau
La Fontaine, 2022 11.8 x 17.7 x 0.2 inch Photography
$177
Bruno Fournier
Paris Tour Eiffel 2, 2019 11 x 9.4 x 0.4 inch Photography
$884
Cécile Baldewyns
Cooling Tour, 2014 15.7 x 23.6 inch Photography
$832
Alberto Sánchez
Atemporal III, 2019 20.9 x 16.9 x 1.6 inch Photography
$1,217
Xavier-Alexandre Pons
Paris, 2015 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch Photography
$1,249
Uwe Ommer
Rue Mouffetard - Triptych, 1968 17.71 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch Photography
$1,650
Patrick Blanc
Storm Ile St Louis, 2022 39.4 x 33.5 x 0.4 inch Photography
$1,561
Logan Hicks
Apollo, 2020 37.8 x 26 inch Photography
$1,873
Fabrizio La Torre
Tornando con le spese, Novembre 1955 - New York, 1955 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch Photography
$1,717
Karol Kállay
Dont Walk, 1965 11.8 x 11.8 inch Photography
$1,145
José Nicolas
Jalousie 1, bidonville, Haïti, Port au Prince, 2014 19.7 x 27.6 inch Photography
$1,769
Neil Massey
Untitled Series #4, 2014 28 x 42 inch Photography
$925
Papa Mesk
Paris 13 ème "Olympiades Vibes N°2" (XL), 2018 63 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch Photography
$1,665
Roger Schall
La rue pavée, Paris, 1950, 2015 19.7 x 15.7 inch Photography
$832
Gun Roze
5437-Coney Island, Brooklyn, 2014 30 x 40 inch Photography
$1,041
Mark Elst
NYC - Oculus, 2018 19.7 x 13.8 inch Photography
$884
Linda Chapman
Outside In III, 2019 33.1 x 23.2 x 0 inch Photography
$1,139
Roberta Fineberg
Lower Manhattan Bridges, New York, 2004 16 x 20 inch Photography
$1,500
Jean Pierre De Neef
Bruxelles & le musée de la musique, 2013 47.2 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch Photography
$1,582
Jean Lebreton
Crane #15, 2013 23.6 x 23.6 inch Photography
$989
Fabien Novarino
Manhattan Traffic, 2020 31.5 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch Photography
$1,561
Vanessa Vercel
Alexandre III, 2020 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch Photography
$1,353
Muriel Deumie
Nougayork, 2021 11.8 x 35.4 x 1.6 inch Photography
$884
Brno Del Zou
Grand'Rue - Poitiers, 2018 23.2 x 38.6 x 0.1 inch Photography
$832
Masahisa Fukase
Portfolio - Private scenes, 2018 9.6 x 13.4 x 1 inch Photography
$1,249
Alain Le Chapelier
Go through the door, 2019 27.6 x 24 inch Photography
$936
Clemente Vergara
Jerez Horse, 2021 27.6 x 19.7 inch Photography
$406
Mélanie Patris
View on the Gange - Varanasi, India, 2015 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch Photography
$884
Gottfried Salzmann
De la Tour Saint Jacques, 2008 29.5 x 19.7 inch Photography
$7,700
Jakub Pasierkiewicz
Natural resemblance II, 2016 29.5 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch Photography
$1,233
Martin Kallay
Brooklyn Dinner at Night, 2014 17.7 x 11.8 inch Photography
$1,249
Franck Guedj
Impulse 1.1, 2019 31.5 x 29.5 x 3.9 inch Photography
$1,301
Luigi Visconti
Neptuno - Cuba, 2016 26 x 39.4 x 0.2 inch Photography
$1,457
Thomas Lamadieu
Berlin, 2016 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.8 inch Photography
$550
Frédéric Bourret
A season of shadow, 2004 20.1 x 14.6 x 0.4 inch Photography
$624
CharlElie Couture
Manhattan Photo-Grafs, 2009 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch Photography
$1,249
Sidney Léa Le Bour
Plymouth Belvedere 1961 Série keep on cruising, Lidköping - Suède, 2017 15.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch Photography
$1,186
Rafael Jacinto
I see you from the window 1, 2020 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch Photography
$1,098
Roberto Polillo
Visions of Venice | San Giorgio Maggiore, 2013 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch Photography
$1,561
Kamil Vojnar
Entangled, 2017 16.9 x 16.9 x 0 inch Photography
$1,093
Samuel Anderson
New York #2, 2011 39.4 x 39.4 x 2 inch Photography
$989
Marine Kerbidi
A cuban window, 2018 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch Photography
$260
Françoise Spiekermeier
Corvée d'eau, Tchétchénie, 2002 19.7 x 29.5 inch Photography
$1,561
Clint McDowell
Intruder VIII, 2020 35.4 x 23.6 inch Photography
$1,041
Gianni Pezzani
Via Fatebenefratelli, 2011 29.1 x 21.3 x 0 inch Photography
$1,873
Benoît Kuhn
Lune de miel, 2017 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch Photography
$936
Jesus Chamizo
City Dolmens 5, 2018 51.2 x 42.1 x 0.1 inch Photography
$1,873
Kurt Buchwald
End of History, 1994 19.7 x 15.7 inch Photography
$1,873
Claude Guillaumin
Financial District New York, 1969 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch Photography
$1,457
Harry Benhaiem
N.O.B.O.D.Y (Siberia I), 2010 23.6 x 35.4 inch Photography
$1,041
Francis Apesteguy
Turbulences d'énergies, 2007 16.1 x 22.8 x 0.1 inch Photography
$884
Michael Serfaty
Courbe de feu, 2013 23.6 x 33.5 inch Photography
$1,763
Didier Masset
Réflexion géométrique N° 21, 2017 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch Photography
$957
Alejandro Cerutti
Rhapsody in Blue n.1, 2018 24 x 30 inch Photography
$1,300
Didier Bizet
Célébration de la fête nationale à Pyongyang, 2020 19.7 x 29.5 x 1.2 inch Photography
$1,249
Peter Trulock
Trellick Tower, 2020 40 x 60 inch Photography
$1,015
Xavier Blondeau
Présence obscure, Sans titre # 11, 2014 19.7 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch Photography
$1,873
Bellec
L'Éventail de Paris, 2020 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch Photography
$884
Jean-François Mollière
New York 44, 2021 31.5 x 31.5 inch Photography
$1,769
Camille Léage
Bus 60, Cambrai, 2016 15.7 x 11.8 inch Photography
$208
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Fabrizio La Torre
Tornando con le spese, Novembre 1955 - New York, 1955
23.6 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch
Photography
$1,717
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