If you’d have told me at the time that this would lead me to photograph Arnold Schwarzenegger from just metres away, spend an evening alone drinking cocktails in a bar where the drink chooses you (before then going to sleep in a nuclear bunker), star in a toothpaste advert (ironic, given my British teeth), or be chased down an alleyway by an angry Danish man, I’d never have believed you

1. HOW STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CHANGED MY LIFE
April 12, 2021 by Michael Goldrei · Add Comment
Church Street Bus Stop. London 2014
Today marks 10 years since I attended a photography walk that would change the course of my life.
If you’d have told me at the time that this would lead me to photograph Arnold Schwarzenegger from just metres away, spend an
evening alone drinking cocktails in a bar where the drink chooses you (before then going to sleep in a nuclear bunker), star in a
toothpaste advert (ironic, given my British teeth), or be chased down an alleyway by an angry Danish man, I’d never have
believed you.
Prior to 9 April 2011, I had only a slightly-above-average interest in photography, which tended to be focussed on architectural
shots with no people in them. I had been more interested in illustration, which I had loved since I was a child. The way that, using
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2. simply a pen and piece of paper, you could create a seemingly infinite range of images, real, imagined, or a combination of the
two – how could anything be better? But I was starting to feel overwhelmed by this infinite number of possibilities, and was having
trouble thinking of ideas and inspiration for things that deserved to be committed to paper.
In 2011, in my early 30s I had the urge one day, seemingly from nowhere, to borrow an SLR camera and sign up to the first
photography course I saw. My friend Ben kindly loaned me his Canon 550D and the course happened to be a street photography
walk around Shoreditch in East London with David Gibson, these days a member of UP Photographers and author of several
well-known street photography books.
Trois Garcons. Shoreditch, London, 9 April 2011
The conditions for this walk turned out to be perfect for an introduction to street photography: sunshine, interestingly-dressed East
Londoners, and exotic environments – a mix of old and new London. I took several shots that I’m still pleased with to this day, but
the one that changed everything for me took place when I spotted three gentlemen dressed in double-denim who were walking
almost in sync. When I noticed that they were headed towards a shop named ‘Maison Trois Garcons’, I couldn’t believe my luck,
and was quaking in fear that I’d miss the shot. What I didn’t quite catch in the frame was the street sign: ‘Chance Street’, which I
sometimes think was for the best as perhaps nobody would believe the shot wasn’t set up if I had.

3. I Know What I Know. Manchester 2018
It didn’t take long until I was seeing these kinds of ‘once in a lifetime’ scenes regularly, be they from a seat on the bus on my way
to work, or while rushing to meet friends for drinks. After missing enough of these moments thanks to not having my camera with
me, I vowed to bring one whenever I went outside. I now do this even if I’m just popping around the corner to the supermarket, or
to the recycling bin at the end of the street.

4. Nest. London 2016
One of the most significant things that changed for me once the street photography addiction had taken hold was that I no longer
felt alone if I had a camera with me. With the knowledge that I get to explore a new place and potentially capture a favourite new
scene, I positively look forward to the prospect of going to places on my own (and due to my passion for photography, I think my
girlfriend sometimes looks forward to this too).
I’ve also found that I’ve never been truly bored in the last ten years, thanks to always wanting to take more photos or edit those
I’ve not yet looked at (and as I take up to 40,000 a year, there are many).