High contrast street photography allows me to focus on lines, aesthetics and shapes instead of always having to tell a story.

There are various forms of street photography, one could say as many as there are individuals. Some people shoot while hiding their camera, others go right up to their subject’s face, others ask permission while some don’t…

Having practiced a few different genres of photography in the past decade, I feel street photography is one of the most challenging since photographers depend so much on natural light, they have no influence on subject placement, they depend on weather conditions and cannot predict what is about to unfold before their very eyes.

With a trained eye, practice and understanding of people, a great street photographer will always get a hunch, his/her instincts, gut feeling will help anticipate, but never quite entirely.

I admit I get most pleasure when a photo is aesthetically pleasing. It doesn't always need to tell a story or challenge the viewer to find some hidden meaning.

With regards to the technical side, all my high contrast black and white photos are shot directly in black and white and 99% of the time as shot with no post-processing. I prefer the challenge of getting it right in camera plus sadly many photographers confuse high contrast with a simple increase of contrast in Photoshop, which destroys the entire subtlety and range of tones between black and white.