Street Photography Now - Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren

This is a really interesting book some iconic and inspirational images. Some of the images depicted include those from people such as Bruce Gilden, Martin Parr and Alex Webb.

Interestingly the book credits a number of people whom the authors have engaged in creating this book and these include Charlotte Cotton, David Campany, Susan Bright and Anne Braybon.

Most of the images in the book are displayed at 10 x 7 inches some much smaller. Some of these images we may have seen before but many of them I have spent a long time just staring at, absolutely captivated by what the photographer has captured, very often a never to be repeated moment.

The book gives some background to some of the photographers and their work and some text is from the photographers themselves reflecting on their thoughts about photography.

It is not a deep book, but a book that shows all these moments that exist around us everyday, a few of which are captured and available for the rest of us to view, enjoy and consider.

For anybody that enjoys street photography or who wonders what type of genre street photography may be this gives a perfect insight into this world. It touches on many photographers whose work can be researched further.

One of the interesting and almost bizarre quotes is from a photographer called Boris Savelev and his quote in the book is  "I take a lot of photos when I'm drinking and they usually come out well. Sometimes if they're not happening I'll just drink some more."

Another is from Ying Tang; "For me it is a personal journey to be out there on the street. I'm trying to catch a moment that means something to me"

There are many of these quotes and they do give some insight to what it is that drives the photographers to capture the images that they do.

It also focuses on 10 iconic images and the photographers themselves detail how they came to take the images

For me personally its a book I will re-read and re-study and it shows what is around us if we take the time to look at the right moment, even better if we can capture it as an image.