Of all the types of photography, street photography is probably the least likely to make anyone money. Sure, some well-established, well-known street photographers can actually make a living selling prints and books of their street photos. But your chances of being able to make a go of it yourself are similar to your odds of winning the Powerball Lotto.

Even though street photographers may dream about supporting themselves financially purely from their street photography, some of the the main reasons photographers do street photography is that they can do it when and wherever they want, and also however they want. It’s a very personalized, freestyle form of photography that brings the photographer into contact with their environment–an environment that can include people, animals, cars, buildings, statues, signs, etc–and lets them discover and even create scenes and compositions from what is available.

Personally, I do street photography because it’s a fun challenge to find interesting photos, and also, because it makes me pay more attention to and discover more about my surroundings. Street photography is an excellent thing to do on trips to places that are new to me. It really helps you see things you might not otherwise notice.

So, why do street photography? Probably not to make money (though maybe someday it’ll lead to that). I think the reason to do street photography is to have fun, to get to know your surroundings at a more intense level, and to stimulate your visual creativity and spatial mental activity toward being a more curious and “alive” person…:-).

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