Genre: street photography

My first second-love.

Author

Ubyssey Photo
July 30, 2025

What is street photography? Kind of hard to describe but you can probably guess from the name.

Street photography is a style of photography that features subjects on the street. Photos can range from buildings, people, trash, graffiti art, dogs, cats, and more! From what I’ve seen, many photos are candid and have a sort of grittiness to them, but there’s not really any rules which is what makes the genre so interesting.

Archival street photography has acted as a very important documentation of daily life in the past. That said, the ethics of street photography are hazy. When people are in a public space, you are technically allowed to take photos of them. But should you? And should you ask before hand?

A really famous street photography series is Humans of New York. Or, if you are interested in seeing some local examples, @van_spc (Vancouver Street Photography Collective) is a cool account to look at on Instagram.

Anyway, if you want to try something similar to this style of photography (but without the questionable morals), this is the week to do so! Check out the pitches below!

A recent photo posted on @van_spc. Photo taken by @afshinemami.

First time contributing? Start here!

1. Check out these guides to the Ubyssey photo section and what makes a good photo.

2. To claim a pitch, reply to this email and wait for confirmation that it's still available.

3. If you need to borrow a camera, let me know when you sign up for a pitch.

4. Take as many photos as you think fit the assignment, then select the best 5–10. Feel free to use editing software as needed (and let me know if you need Lightroom access).

5. Unless otherwise specified, please take all photos in a landscape orientation.

6. Send photos in JPG format and make sure each file is between 1–3MB.

7. Name the photos as follows: IMG_first initial-last name-pitch_file number (e.g., IMG_SShaw-CactusPlant1_2025-06-18)

8. Upload photos into the folder that will be shared with you from the [email protected] account. If you don’t have Google Drive, please let me know.

Photo pitches

Please send in all photos by 12 p.m. on the deadline (unless the event you are covering is happening that day). If you need to borrow a camera, let me know when you sign up for a pitch.

Culture

It’s festival time! Each festival below is one pitch. Take 2-3 photos which showcase diverse aspects of the event like live music, food, crowd, set-up, and more! Both festivals are free to attend. Deadline for photos is Aug 12th.