Tag: monochrome

I Dunno, Man

Man eating in a restaurant looking at the photographer through the window making a funny face
1/125 sec | f/2.5 | ISO 200 | 50mm

Caught this gem while walking past a diner window. There he was, mid-bite, mid-thought. A bearded man in a hoodie, sitting solo with a bowl of what looked like healthy regret (possibly lentils?), frozen in the decisive moment. Flashing me the universal gesture for “I Dunno, Man” or more likely “I have no idea what’s going on.”

His eyes locked with mine through the glass, and he gave me the shrug, palms up, eyebrows raised, expression halfway between confusion and enlightenment. It’s the face of a man who just found out the Wi-Fi password is “password123.” As if the universe just asked him to explain crypto.

Behind him, the city lights blur into a soft bokeh, the kind only a prime lens and a dirty window can truly deliver. The reflections in the window only add to the chaotic magic, making him look like he’s pondering life in two dimensions.

Judging by his face, he was okay me taking his photograph. This, friends, is the candid gold we street photographers live for. Pure, unscripted “what even is this?” energy.

Street photography at its finest: awkward, honest, and strangely profound. 10/10 candid confusion. Would photograph this again. And again.

If you are looking for more inspirations around street photography tips, check out my free “Learning Center”.

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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World Press Photo Exhibition 2025

World Press Photo Exhibition 2025
World Press Photo | Genoa | 2025

During last week’s stay in our “southern home” in Genoa, The Significant Other and I grabbed the opportunity to visit the World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. A hefty thunderstorm was passing through the city, so we gladly took the opportunity to spend some time indoors and explore this annual iconic photographic display. The exhibition was set up in the basement of the historic palace—once the seat of the Doges of the Republic of Genoa. To see more of it, continue after the jump…

Continue reading “World Press Photo Exhibition 2025” →
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Big Day

A bride righting her vail on her big day while her bridesmaid smiles
Big Day | Samarkand | 2025

Uzbekistan is not only colorful. It super friendly to the traveling street photographer. I‘ve never visited a country before where people are so easygoing about being photographed. They see a camera directed their way, they generally flash a smile! The Significant Other (the iPhone shooter) even observed, the bigger the camera the easier they agree to a photo. So photographing the bride and her friend during a quiet moment on her big day’s wedding photography session near Samarkand‘s Registan Square was easy. When the friend saw me aiming the Nikon, she started smiling. Amazing! 

I took the photograph with my Nikon Zf and the Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. Image specs 1/400 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 180 and 190 mm focal lenght. Jpg straight out of camera, no postprocessing.

Have I mentioned what a fantastic monochrome camera the Nikon Zf is? Even with a budget travelzoom attached.

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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5

Call me

Call me, one gentleman seems to tell another with a universal gesture
Call me | Portland | 2019

Visiting my archives looking for a particular image from my time in the PNW, I stumbled upon this street photo I took during a weekend stroll through the Pearl District of the Rose City. Titled “Call me”, it is one of my favorite street shots from that year. Originally in color and portrait orientation, I decided to convert it to B&W, crop in and turning it to a landscape aspect ratio.

Doesn’t it look like a scene straight out of Francis Ford Coppola movie? Two sharply dressed men meet in on a quiet city street. The younger man, holding a vape and signaling a phone call, looking nervous. The older man, calm and steady with a cane, listening closely, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses. Whatever they discussed, it was serious—like something best kept off the record. The photograph certainly has a kind of cinematic look. To this day I wonder what those gentlemen were discussing. The gesture is clear, isn’t it? One of those fascinating stories of the streets that wait to be captured by the passing street photographer.

Taken with my Olympus E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4 pro zoom. Image specs 1/200 sec @ f/4, ISO 250 and 172mm focal length in full frame equivalent. Post-processing in Lightroom Classic.

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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14

Frosty Ice Cream

Family eating ice cream one a rainy day
1/250 sec | f/6.3 | ISO 6400 | 175mm

Are you kidding me? Eating a frosty ice cream on a cold and rainy day? Not for me, anyway! Spending the last week in our Southern Home in Genoa, The Significant Other and I were not blessed with the sunny and warm Spring weather you would expect from Italy. In fact, back in Nuremberg the weather was great all week with summer like temperatures.

Despite the wet weather, we headed into town a few times to run errands and treat ourselves to some great food. Having taken the Nikon Zf with me, I captured this mother and her kids enjoying some Italian ice cream, albeit a frosty one. Maybe they were visitors coming to town from one of the Cruise ships in the harbor. And felt they had to do it. At least they provided an awesome street photo subject, matching perfectly the image visible behind their backs. Quoting Shakespeare once again: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players”

Tonight, we will return to the Streets of Nuremberg to celebrate Easter with the family.

If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, head to my free Learning Center.

Have a great day Saturday

Marcus

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Drawing with Light

Street Portrait of a bearded old man
1/400 sec – f/5 – ISO 200 – 100mm

Photography literally means „drawing with light“. The sun is the principal lightsource out in the streets. But unlike a studio lightstand, you can‘t move the sun around to direct the light to where you want/need it. Obviously there are some workarounds, like using a reflector to throw back the light on the subject and brighten up the shadows. But in street photography, this is not practical and we need to shoot with what the sun gives us.

In this example, I was drawn to the weathered face of the man sitting behind the window of a coffee shop. The way he was sitting, the sunlight illuminated the back and the side of his head, but not his face, that was all in the shade. For one, standing outside in the streets, I couldn‘t direct my subject to turn his face in a way that would have, lets say, created a nice Rembrandt lighting effect (a triangle of light underneath the eye on the shadow side of his face).

But on the other hand I loved the textures in his hair and beard that the harsh sunlight created. And I knew that a conversion to monochrome would really bring out the lights and shadows of this scene and still show the traces of life in his face. So despite the lighting being not ideal, I still took the portrait shot with which I‘m quite happy the way it turned out.

If you are looking for more street photography tips, check out my free “Learning Center”.

Wish you a great Monday!

Marcus

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5

Human Camouflage

Human Camouflage
Hide and Seek | Nuremberg | 2016

The world’s a stage…. you know I write about this a lot in the context of street photography. To find a background and waiting for a matching subject to appear. And if you are lucky, like in this candid street shot, it turns out to be almost something like human camouflage.

This would also fall under the compositional technique Juxtaposition. With Juxtaposition you bring together two or more objects in a photograph that attract the viewer of the image either through their similarity or their contrast. In each case, the photograph works because these elements combine to a joint visual story that the image carries in addition to the visual weight of the individual objects.

You can find Juxtapositions everywhere. You will be amazed how much you discover when you actively look for them. So next time to suffer from photographers block and want to try something new to overcome it go out and shoot a series of Juxtapositions. The more you train your eye to see them the more you can use them as an effective element in your photography.

For all my inspirations as well as my easy to use Street Photography Quick Tips, check out my free Learning Center

Have a great Sunday

Marcus


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37

Recognition for the “Streets of Nuremberg”

Recognition for the Streets of Nuremberg by Feedspot as one of the Top45 street photography blogs.

I am honored to share that my blog, Streets of Nuremberg, has been selected by the panelists of Feedspot as one of the Top 45 Street Photography Blogs  on the web. Ranking 14th on this prestigious list is both humbling and exciting, especially considering that it features some of the most influential and inspiring Street Photography blogs, many of which I have followed and admired for years.

I founded this blog back in January 2016 as a personal space to document my passion for Street and Travel Photography.  Since then, it has grown to more than 7,000 followers and readers from over 100 countries around the world.

This recognition is not just a personal milestone. This is also a reflection of the incredible support from all of you. Many of you have been here from the very beginning. Some of you even becoming friends along the way. Without your encouragement, feedback, and enthusiasm, this journey would not be the same. For that, I am deeply grateful.

Moving forward, I remain dedicated to sharing my experiences, insights, and practical tips to help fellow photographers refine their craft. Whether it’s showcasing images from my travels, discussing techniques, or simply exchanging thoughts about my passion of Street Photography. My goal is to keep this space as inspiring and engaging as ever.

Thank you for being part of this journey! Your support fuels my passion, and I look forward to capturing and sharing many more moments with you!

Make sure you also frequently check out my  Learning Center with all my free tips, tutorials and inspirations around photography!

Have a great Friday!

Marcus

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Travel Day (19)

Silhouette of a woman sitting in a window seat on a travel day
Always on | Above Germany | 2025

I’m back in the air this morning. Hard to believe it is the my first intercontinental business trip since 2019. Thanks to Covid. I’m flying from Nuremberg via Amsterdam to Atlanta. Weather wise I will improve, leaving the freezy streets of Nuremberg for the, according to my iPhone weather app, almost summerly warmer ATL. Not that I will get much out of it, as I’m staying only a few days and it will be all work (plus maybe a dinner or two). And a travel day is always a great opportunity for some street and travel photography, usually by doing snapshots with my iPhone. The one above is a prime example for the beautiful black and white images that can be produced with a modern smartphone camera. To see more images from my travel day, click to continue….

Continue reading “Travel Day (19)” →
12

I, Robot

I robot - monochrome photograph of three little robots
I Robot | Nuremberg | 2025

I, Robot was a 2004 Alex Proyas movie set in 2035. Highly intelligent robots serve humanity but must follow three strict laws to prevent harm. Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) investigates a murder seemingly committed by a robot. But he uncovers a deeper conspiracy that threatens human freedom.

Today, The Significant Other and I went to the Leisure Trade Fair in the Nuremberg Exhibition Center. Part of the fair was the RoboCup German Open 2025.

There I photographed these cute little soccer playing robots taking a charging break. ​Competing are teams from more than 50 nations. The RoboCup is the world’s largest and most important competition for intelligent robots. I took quite a few photos and will do a separate post about the fun and super interesting event.

The Robots are of the latest technology, as is the camera I used to photograph them (my trusted Nikon Zf). The lens attached to the modern mirrorless via an adapter was quite the opposite. I used an M42 mount Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2,8/35mm manufactured around 1970 in former East Germany. An amazing manual focus lens with an amazing image quality, as you can see from this monochrome image. Which by the way is a JPG straight out of camera without any post processing using the Nikon’s B&W mode.

Images specs are 1/250 sec @ f/8 and ISO 6400.

Have I said I love attaching vintage glass on my Zf?

Have a great Saturday

Marcus

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10

The world’s a stage

Man walking past a comic mural - Street Photography Nürnberg
1/250 sec | f/8 | ISO 800 | 35mm

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players”, said William Shakespeare once. It’s also the motto of this blog. This monochrome street photograph is yet another example of it.

Roaming the Streets of Nuremberg with camera in hand, there is always a new background to discover, like this mural, a perfect backdrop for passing people. My stage on this Saturday morning. I did set up the camera and then merely waited. For people entering the scene.

I took quite a few shots. I rarely nail it with the first one. My favorite was this one, of the man passing with his white shopping bag. The juxtaposition of the funny face of the cartoon figure painted on the wall, looking up at the (smiling) bird, and the passing man with his bowed head, looking down. If he’d looked right instead of down, maybe the mural would have cheered him up a bit. All the world’s a stage….and we street shooters capture the stories.

Taken with my “leftover” Leica, the vintage, 13 years old Leica M Type 240 that I keep for sentimental reasons, after having divested the SL2-S that failed me so badly. The lens was a Summicron 35mm F/2. I’ve used zone focusing here, pre-focusing the lens at f/8 so that everything between 2 and 10 meters away was in focus. Increased the ISO so I got a minimum shutter speed of 1/250 sec to freeze the action.

If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.

Have a great Wednesday

Marcus

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9

Be curious

Car driver reading a letter while parked
1/100 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 125 | 85mm

Curious about the story unfolding in this image? This is exactly why Street Photography captivates me —it’s all about reading between the lines. What was my subject doing in the moment that I captured with my lens? This shot illustrates it perfectly. What is this taxi driver reading? A personal letter? A handwritten deal? Just some quick notes? In an era where everyone is glued to LCD screens, this feels refreshingly different. Be curious. Look at life happening in front of your eyes.

Next time you’re out in your city, challenge yourself to capture a moment that sparks curiosity. You don’t need a fancy camera—your smartphone will do just fine. Keep an eye out for those intriguing scenes that happen everywhere in every moment. Whether at the grocery store or on a busy street. Even when you don’t have a camera in hand, you can train your eye. Look for that one shot that makes people stop and wonder about the story behind it.

If you are looking for more tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.

Have a great Monday!

Marcus

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