This report is the first edition of The 2014 Street Photography Poll by Lens & Shutter. Subscribe and signup to our newsletter for an up-to-date news, articles, tutorials and more for passionate photographers : http://eepurl.com/SHfCb

1. Online poll, 126 participants, from 11/04 to 2/05 2014
First Edition - May 2014
THE 2014 STREET
PHOTOGRAPHY POLL

3. MAJOR INSIGHTS & FINDINGS
1. Canon, Nikon and Fuji are the most used brands by Street
Photographers
2. Almost 50% are on an intermediate level and 3/4 are practicing for less
than 5 years
3. 57% of Street Photographers do not ask for permission to take
photographs.
4. 34% of photographers practice for 2 to 5 hours/week and 36% always
carry their compact camera
5. Only a third of Street Photographers made money from their
photographs
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4. MAJOR INSIGHTS & FINDINGS
6. Half of street photographers never took a photography
class
7. 66% shoot and process both in color and B&W and only
8% shoot exclusively film.
8. Flickr &Twitter are the major networks where Street
Photographers share their work.
9. Books, Blogs and Websites are the main resources for
learning and enhancing skills for Street Photographers.
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5. PRACTICE
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6. YEARS OF PRACTICE
• Almost 3/4 of respondents
practice StreetPhoto for
less than 5 years.
• 27% are practicing for more
than 5 years and only 13%
for less than a year.
27 %
18 %
21 %
22 %
13 %
Less than 1 year 1 to 2 years
2 to 3 years 3 to 5 years
More than 5 years
6

7. HOW MUCH HOURS OF
PRACTICE / WEEK
• To maintain their skills and
enhance their practice,
Street Photographers
exercice mostly up to 5
hours per week (66% of
respondents).
• Only 14% maintain a high
rate of practice : More than
8 hours per week.
14 %
19 %
34 %
32 %
Less than 2 hours
2 to 5 hours
5 to 8 hours
More than 8 hours
7

8. HOW MANY PHOTOS / WEEK
• 44% of respondents take
less than 50 photos per
week.A fair rate comparing
to the number of hours of
practice.
• 18% take more than 250
photos per week. Go easy
on the shutter folks !
8 %
10 %
17 %
21 %
44 %
0-50 51-100
101-250 251-500
More than 500
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9. CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS
• 88% of Street Photographers with less than 1 year of
practice are exercising less than 5 hours a week.
• 42% of Street Photographers with more than 5 years of
practice keep a rate of 2-5 hours a week of exercice.
• ¼ of those who take less than 50 photos a week are
photographers who have more than 5 years of practice.
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10. DOTHEY ASK FOR
PERMISSION
• Our respondents say for
57% of them that they
don’t care and shoot
without asking.
• And 41% do ask permission
if it’s sensitive (children,
homeless, etc).
1 %
41 %
57 %
No, I don't care
Yes, if it's sensitive
Yes, every time
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11. ATTITUDE
• Street Photographers are
more like Hunters.They
prefer blend in and stay
discreet, for 73% of them.
• Only 27% do interact and
engage with people on the
street and their subjects
when shooting.
27 %
73 %
Blend in and stay discreet
Interact and engage with people/subjects
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12. ONTAKINGTHE CAMERA
• Almost ⅔ of respondents
carry regularly their DSLR
or Compact/Point&Shoot
camera with them.
• Only 20% carry their
camera on an occasional
basis.
• 12% trust their smartphone
to get the right photos.
12 %
32 %
36 %
20 %
Occasionally
I carry my compact/Point&Shoot
I carry a DSLR
My smartphone is enough
Never
12

13. FOCUS APPROACH
• The Automatic mode is the
king for almost ⅔ of Street
Photographers, with 48%
on mostly automatic.
• Only 17% prefer the
manual focus on a exclusive
basis.
17 %
22 %
13 %
48 %
Mostly Automatic Always Automatic
Mostly Manual Always Manual
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14. CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS
• ⅓ of those who use exclusively the manual focus
have more than 5 years of practice.
• Half of those who use exclusively the automatic
focus have less than 3 years of practice.
• Almost 60% of those who prefer to blend in and
stay discreet are users of the automatic mode.
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15. SHOOT & PROCESS
• ⅔ of Street Photographers
shoot and process their
photos both in color &
Black and White.
• And only 24% shoot and
process exclusively in Black
& White.
66 %
24 %
10 %
Color Black and White
Both
15

16. PRINT
• Print is still useful, and even
if 30% of respondents don’t
print their shots, 67% of
them do it for their best
photographs.
2 %
67 %
30 %
Never
Yes, only for my best shots
Yes, every time
16

17. PROFILE
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18. COUNTRIES
• Street Photographers came
mostly from these 5 countries
: USA, UK, France,Australia
and Canada.They represent
67% of all respondents.
• The remaining third is
composed of a variety of
countries : Sweden, Greece,
Argentina, South Africa, China,
Mexico, Panama, Russia…
8 %
13 %
20 %
28 %
31 %
USA UK France
Australia Canada
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19. AGE
• Young photographers
(18-30) represent 11% of
our respondents.
• And 69% of Street
Photographers are between
30 and 50 years old.
20 %
34 %
35 %
11 %
18 - 30 30 - 40
40 - 50 51 and above
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20. LEVEL SELF EVALUATION
• Most of our respondents
have an intermediate level
of practice and expertise.
• Almost 3/4 of Expert
respondents practice for
less than 5 hours a week.
20 %
14 %
47 %
19 %
Beginner Intermediate
Advanced Expert
20

21. CLASS
• Half oh the respondents
never took a photo course/
classe to practice Street
Photography.
• Only 7% are planning to
assist to a training to
enhance their practice.
7 %
41 %
51 %
Never Yes Planning to
21

22. DIGITAL / FILM
• Street Photography is
mostly practiced with
Digital cameras.
• 6% shoot exclusively in film
whereas 30% of
respondents shoot both in
digital and film.
30 %
6 % 64 %
Digital Film Both
22

23. DOTHEY EARN MONEY
FROMTHEIR PHOTOS ?
• Only a third of our
respondents declared
making money from their
StreetPhoto shots, which
confirm the fact that it
remains a hard way to live
only from StreetPhoto.
37 %
63 %
No Yes
23

24. GEAR
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25. WHAT’SYOUR GEAR ?
• DSLR is the major camera
used for Street
Photography among the
respondents.
• Only 16% are shooting with
Mirrorless 4/3 bodies.
16 %
26 %
38 %
21 %
Point & Shoot / Compact Camera
DSLR
Other
Mirrorless 4/3
25

26. CAMERA BRAND
• Canon, Fuji & Nikon are the
most used brands for Street
Photography among our
respondents.
• Leica has a 10% share
whereas Sony and Ricoh
are on the same level : 7%.
7 %
7 %
19 %
17 % 10 %
19 %
22 %
Canon Fuji Leica
Nikon Other Ricoh
Sony
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27. CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS
• 80% of Mirrorelss 4/3 cameras are FUJI users and
are shooting both in color and Black & White.
• DSLR Street Photographers are 40% Canon users
and 40% Nikon users
• 62% of DSLR users carry regularly their camera and
85% of Compact users carry regularly their camera.
27

28. WHAT ABOUTYOUR LENS ?
24 %
76 %
Prime Lens User
Zoom Lens User
29 %
49 %
18 %
4 %
10mm 24mm
35mm 50mm
3/4 of Street Photographers use a prime lens, and half of them are
using the 35mm lens (equivalent).
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29. CROSS REFERENCE INSIGHTS
• Almost 3/4 of Zoom Lens users prefer blending in
and staying discreet when shooting on the streets.
• Only 30% of Prime Lens users prefer to interact
and engage people when shooting on the streets.
• Only 43% of Prime Lens users are using
exclusively a 35mm lens.
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30. SHARING &
LEARNING
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31. SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING
• Flickr &Twitter are the
major networks to share
and show Street
Photographs among our
respondents.
• Google+ Pages are the less
used canal for sharing
content.
5 %6 %
9 %
9 %
9 %
10 % 11 %
12 %
14 %
15 %
Flickr Twitter
Personal Blog Facebook Personal Account
Instagram Facebook Page
Tumblr Google Plus Profile
Other Google Plus Page
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32. THE MASTERS
• Henri Cartier-Bresson is the
most influential Street
Photographer among our
respondents (42%).
• Vivian Maier is the most
inspiring female Street
Photographer.
• Many other names were cited
in the survey : Martin Parr,
Robert Frank,Alex Webb,
Bruce Gilden,Trent Park…
12 %
14 %
14 %
19 %
42 %
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Vivian Maier
Elliott Erwitt
Garry Winogrand
Daido Moriyama
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33. KEEP LEARNING
• Books are a major source
for knowledge and learning
in Street Photography for
27% of our respondents, as
of reading blogs and
websites (32%).
• Only 15% submit their
work for critics and reviews.
11 %
15 %
16 %
27 %
32 %
Reading blogs and websites
Reading books
Youtube videos
Submitting your work for critics and reviews
Other
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34. ABOUT LENS & SHUTTER
• Lens & Shutter is a set of
photography resources created by
Aref JDEY.
• Tutorials, photographs, articles, and
much more are shared on a
regular basis with the online
community.
• The Lens & Shutter Newsletter is
the primary resource to get up-to-
date news about Street
Photography, tips and advices to
enhance your practice and skills.
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35. LENS & SHUTTER
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