Is it possible to determine when a street photograph is “good”? Questions ! No answers please

Questions ! No answers please

By Michiel van Mens

Is it possible to determine when a street photograph is “good”? This question has occupied me for quite some time. In the past, I conducted extensive research on this topic and wrote two articles about it. One of the conclusions of that research was that visual contrast is an important condition for a “good” street photograph.

When making street photographs, you can therefore deliberately look for this kind of contrast. However, there are also street photographs in which no clear visual contrast is visible, yet they are still experienced by viewers as good. A well-known example is Man with Bandage by Fred Herzog. So there must be more than visual contrast alone. But what exactly? In this article, I attempt to answer that question.

Visual Contrast

Earlier, I researched the stylistic characteristics of well-known street photographers (‘The Photographic Signature of the Street Photographer). One of the conclusions was that visual contrast is a condition for creating a good (street) photograph. Such contrast can take different forms: thematic (for example, a social contrast), contrast in color, in time, in action, or in the contrast between the unusual and the everyday.

A comparative study among visitors to the exhibition ‘American Photography’ (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2025) showed that in eight of the ten most memorable photographs, a clear visual contrast was present. Based on this, I cautiously concluded that visual contrast is not only an important stylistic feature, but also an important criterion in judging whether a photograph is experienced as “good” (The “Good” Photographs of American Photography).

The Purpose Differs by Genre

Visual contrast as a stylistic feature can be applied in journalistic news photography, documentary photography, and street photography. However, people judge these three genres differently. A “good” news photograph is not the same as a “good” street photograph. This difference mainly lies in the purpose for which the photograph is made.

A journalistic photograph must be factual, explain the news, and make the subject immediately clear. The viewer should understand the image at a glance. News photographs usually support a written article. Some news photographs later become iconic because they come to symbolize an important event. Well-known examples include The Falling Soldier by Robert Capa from the Spanish Civil War and Saigon Execution (1968) by Eddie Adams in Vietnam. These photographs do not tell a story by themselves; they visualize an event. Whether a photograph is beautiful or ugly is of secondary importance.

Documentary photography is always created in series. The photographer commits to presenting a narrative across multiple images. An individual photograph gains meaning through the other photographs in the same series. As a result, the series as a whole is evaluated rather than the individual image. In this context, whether a single photograph is good, beautiful, or ugly is less important.

Street photography works differently. Each street photograph generally stands on its own, even when images are presented as a series. The goal is usually to make everyday life on the street appear distinctive. A street photograph has no supporting article and no fixed context provided by other images. Therefore, a good street photograph must contain enough qualities on its own to create meaning for the viewer.

Suggestion

In the comparative data study I published earlier, two photographs appear in the top ten in which no clear visual contrast is visible. The first is ‘Paul’ by photographer Bryan Schutmaat, from the series ‘Grays the Mountain Sends’. It is a portrait of a man in a light blue shirt, sitting at a bar with a glass of beer in his hand. The second photograph is Homegirlsby Amanda Lopez. Both images made a strong impression on many visitors.

What do these two photographs have in common? They provide no answers to questions. On the contrary, they mainly raise questions. It is as if the photographer begins a story but stops halfway, inviting the viewer to complete the story themselves.

I encountered this quality repeatedly during my research into the photographic signature of well-known street photographers. The strength of a street photograph often lies precisely in what is not explicit and not factual. As a street photographer, you therefore achieve more through suggestion than through a literal or realistic depiction of urban life.

The French philosopher Gilles A. Tiberghien expressed this idea eloquently: “Each image could be the beginning of a story, a poem, a film, the starting point of a series of other images which, by crossing and re-crossing one another, would form a gigantic interchange of dreams and fictions.”

He wrote this in a wall text for an exhibition of anonymous photographs collected by Marion and Philippe Jacquier at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2025. According to Tiberghien, each photograph can be the beginning of a story, a poem, or a film, forming a network of dreams and imagination.

In cinema, this idea of suggestion is known as suspense. Director Alfred Hitchcock was a master of it. In his film Psycho (1960), the viewer sees no explicit violence, only the tip of a knife, a shower curtain, and then darkened water. Yet the viewer immediately knows that something terrible has happened. Suggestion alone is enough.

Stanley Kubrick uses the same technique in The Shining, when Jack Torrance breaks through the bathroom door with an axe. What happens is not shown literally. The suggestion is more suspenseful and more effective than an explicit image.

Even without visual contrast, a street photograph can still be compelling if it contains elements that activate the viewer’s imagination. The photograph then seems to take over the viewer’s imagination. Street photographer Robert Doisneau expressed this beautifully: “The photographs that interest me, that I consider successful, are those that do not close the story, that do not tell it completely, but remain open—photographs that form a stepping stone toward a dream.”

Fred Herzog

A strong example of a photograph without a clear visual contrast, yet compelling because of its suggestive power, is Man with Bandage by Fred Herzog. I know few photographs that raise so many questions while answering none of them.

What is the woman in the photograph looking at? What is the man doing there? Why does he have a bandage on his chin? Is it a Sunday morning?

And where does the sign reading “Visitors Bureau” lead? The photograph offers no answers to these questions—or to any others.

Precisely for that reason, the viewer is given the space to follow their own imagination. The photograph invites careful looking and encourages the viewer to imagine possible answers for themselves.

Fred Herzog, Man with Bandage 1968, Courtesy The Estate of Fred Herzog and Equinox Gallery, Vancouver,  © The Estate of Fred Herzog, 2026

From Theory to Practice

The idea of visual contrast helps the (street) photographer to deliberately search for interesting images. The principle of suggestion is also an important tool. Working with it can significantly improve the quality of a street photograph.

After analyzing many books on street photography, I identified eight recurring forms of suggestion.

1. Not showing everything. Suggestion begins with what you choose not to show. In Steven Spielberg’s film Jaws, the shark is rarely seen. The viewer sees frightened faces and hears ominous music, yet this is enough to sense the shark. Not showing is the foundation of suggestion. In street photography, this works in the same way:

• The photographed person sees something the viewer cannot see (for example, a group of people all looking in the same direction, while it is unclear what they are looking at). The reverse can also occur: the viewer sees something the subject in the photograph does not.

• Only part of a person is visible, such as a shadow or just the legs. The viewer must imagine the rest.

• An empty street with a car covered by a tarp, where only the wheels are visible. The viewer wonders what kind of car it might be.

2. Blur. Blur can conceal information. This may happen when something occurs in the background that is out of focus, or when motion blur appears because the subject moves while the surroundings remain still.

3. Inside and outside. A photograph can show two different spaces at the same time, such as inside and outside. This is often seen in photographs taken through windows or shopfronts.

• We see a man alone behind a window, staring into space. In painting, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks is a clear illustration of this idea.

• Or the opposite: the viewer sees a street scene through a dirty window, with part of a curtain and a small but meaningful detail on the windowsill.

4. Something that does not fit. An image can raise questions because something in it seems out of place.

• A young girl in an oversized coat, walking hand in hand with a man (her father?) who is neatly dressed in a tailored suit.

• A dilapidated house with boarded-up windows, but a new car parked in the driveway.

5. Distance. An event takes place across the street and is just out of clear view. The distance makes the image mysterious.

6. Proportions. Large and small elements within a single frame can create tension.

• A tall wall with a relatively small person walking in front of it.

• An empty parking lot at night, with a small car in the distance and its headlights on.

7. Estrangement or surrealism. Reality appears slightly illogical.

• An empty square that is usually crowded.

• A person half disappearing into a large bush or hedge.

8. Facial expression. Facial expressions can also trigger questions.

• People looking surprised or in disbelief, while we as viewers cannot see what they are seeing.

• A street portrait of someone looking past the camera with a mysterious smile.  

Fred Herzog, Elysium Cleaners 1958 Courtesy The Estate of Fred Herzog and Equinox Gallery, Vancouver © The Estate of Fred Herzog, 2026

Conclusion

In this article, I want to show that finding a “good” street photograph is not a matter of luck. As a street photographer, you can actively search for it—provided you know what you are looking for (and are willing to wait).

If you find a subject with a clear visual contrast, you theoretically have a good street photograph. If you manage to visualize a subject through suggestion, by raising questions rather than providing answers, you create an image that keeps the viewer engaged.

Now, if you combine both—visual contrast and suggestion—you have almost everything you need to create an iconic street photograph.

Instead of waiting for these moments to occur naturally, you can also stage the “street theater” yourself. The street photographer becomes a dramaturge. That this approach can produce stunning images has been demonstrated by the American photographer Gregory Crewdson, for example in his series Eveningside.

About The Author: Michiel van Mens

During my military service, I trained as a photographer and corporate journalist. I had the unique opportunity to work alongside a professional photographer, traveling across Europe, writing reports, creating photo essays, and spending countless hours in the darkroom. At the end of each month, we produced a beautiful magazine. After my service, I embarked on photo journeys to Poland, the Baltic States, and Ukraine. I traveled through Crimea, visited Odessa, and explored the newly opened KGB prison in Vilnius. Inspired by Ed van der Elsken, I began a long-term photo series in 1993 documenting Amsterdam Oud-West, which led to several exhibitions. During this time, I also attended the Photo Academy in Amsterdam.

I’ve been closely involved in research on street photography. Earlier, I published the article “The Photographic Signature of the Street Photographer in Six Stylistic Characteristics.” That piece was a condensed summary of my upcoming book, which is set to be released in the fall of 2025. This book is based on my personal research into the visual style of well-known street photographers.

The key finding of my research is that a photographer’s signature style can be broken down into six stylistic traits that are commonly found in street photography. I explored this idea in the previously mentioned article, and my latest piece — “The Good Photographs of American Photography” — is a natural follow-up. It turns out that one of the six traits is also a key element in photos that people tend to remember.

With Thanks & Gratitude To Michiel Van Mens. To see and learn More, visit his Street Photography & follow him on Instagram

Images Courtesy of The Estate of Fred Herzon at Equinox Gallery