The art of capturing a scene in a public place, particularly on the street, is called street photography. Many of these types of photographs are also considered to be candid in nature, usually unstaged and shot spontaneously.

Depending on the country, there are certain consent laws to take into account when taking photos of people in public. Being aware of what these laws are in a given location is an important part of capturing street photography for broader use.

Another genre that’s closely linked is urban photography, in which photographers capture street scenes in city settings. Portraiture and architecture often play a part in these images as well.

Subject matter doesn’t always need to include people, however. Capturing environments that don’t include visible human activity can also be considered street photography. In those cases, human presence is usually implied through the composition of the image. While also having many similarities to documentary photography, street photography tends to be less deliberate in its purposeful or defined messaging.