26 Moments That Defined Street Style Photography
Looking back at the key players who pushed the medium forward.
First thing that comes to mind when you think of street photography? Probably a pack of photographers shooting the scene at fashion week. But the roots of modern street photography run deep, even if the streets of Paris looked a lot different in the late nineteenth century than they do now. A timeline —from the 1890s to the present, Diane Arbus to Bill Cunningham to Humans of New York—of moments that shaped street style as we know it.
1890s / Early 20th Century: Eugène Atget Blazes a Trail
Widely recognized as a pioneer of documentary photography, French flâneur Eugène Atget is known for capturing the street scene in Paris around the turn of the twentieth century. Before Atget's era, the need for long exposure times limited limited candid photos.
1905: Edward Linley Sambourne, "The Edwardian Sartorialist"
Professional cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne made a hobby out of snapping stylish women (who were often unaware he was taking their picture) in the streets of London. This has since earned him the nickname, "The Edwardian Sartorialist."
1930s Onward: Henri Cartier-Bresson
When it comes to 20th century street photographers, many consider Henri Cartier-Bresson to be the GOAT. In his seminal 1952 book The Decisive Moment, the French lensman—and founder of Magnum Photos agency—opined that a picture is "a joint operation of the brain, the eye, and the heart."
Of HCB, Truman Capote wrote: "I remember once watching Cartier-Bresson at work on a street in New Orleans— dancing along the pavement like an agitated dragonfly, three Leicas swinging from straps around his neck, a fourth hugged to his eye: click-click-click (the camera seemed to be part of his own body), clicking away with a joyous intensity, a religious absorption."
1940s: Helen Levitt Teaches the Boys a Lesson
As one of the first influential female photographers, Helen Levitt studied the contemporary greats of her time like Cartier-Bresson; and was also one of the first to embrace the development of color film (which was initially snubbed by many "artists").
1950s: Garry Winogrand Defines an Era
If there was one person who effectively captured life in midcentury New York City, it was Garry Winogrand. The prolific, Bronx-born photographer defined street photography as an attitude as well as a style. One report estimates Wingrand shot an average of 400-plus images, the equivalent of 12 rolls of film, each day.
1960s: Diane Arbus' Evolution
Diane Arbus moved on from glossy assignments for magazines like Esquire and Harper's Bazaar and started focusing on her own personal, artistic work in the '60s. Soon she was recognized as the best female photographer of her era, turning her camera on more marginalized subjects (circus freaks, dwarfs, transgendered people, and more), making poignant messages about humanity with her portraits.
In the wake of her tragic suicide in 1971, Arbus' oeuvre has become more celebrated than ever. Her book Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, first released in '72 (in tandem with a posthumous Venice Biennale exhibition), remains the best-selling photography monograph ever. A new exhibition of the photographer's never-seen work, diane arbus: in the beginning, is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art.
1965: 'Take Ivy' Makes a Splash
Created by a group of four Japanese photographers for a Japanese audience, Take Ivy captures the distinctive, preppy style of college students at Ivy League universities across America in the '60s. As far as menswear goes, this book (reissued in 2010), is the original, indispensable style bible for preps and beyond.
1966: William Klein Gets Satirical
Photographer William Klein, who contributed to Vogue, also became famous for his beautifully composed street photos taken during the '50s and '60s (left); but it was his subversive original film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?, a 1966 art house satire about fashion (right), which has since achieved cult status among industry folks.
1968: Genevieve Waite, Early Street Style Star
Behold: actress Genevieve Waite posing candidly in the streets of London during the swinging '60s. Waite (and other contemporary fashion plates, like supermodel Simone D'Aillencourt) helped pave the way for women with a flair for personal style.
1978: Bill Cunningham Launches "On the Street" Column
After moving to New York and dabbling in millinery, Bill Cunningham received his first camera around 1967, and never looked back. The famously frugal legend launched his game-changing "On the Street" column for the New York Times in 1978, which subsequently shaped the concept of modern street style as we know it.
1980s: Amy Arbus Captures Downtown New York
Amy Arbus (yep, Diane's daughter!) catalogued street style—and did it well—for The Village Voice in downtown New York City during the '80s. As her pictures demonstrate, East Villagers back then had style in spades.
1980s: Amy Arbus Also Captures ... Madonna
Of shooting Madonna [before she was famous], Arbus said, "I just thought she looked fantastic, but she was wearing probably 48 cents worth of clothing. I called her later on to ask what she was wearing and she just said, 'I had my pyjamas on.' She really pulled that together."
1980s: Jamel Shabazz Is Straight Out of Brooklyn
Spotlighting a poignant cross-section of culture and society, Jamel Shabazz shot the burgeoning B-Boy and hip hop scenes of the mid-'80s in Brooklyn. Designers from Lacoste to DSquared have cited Shabazz as inspiration. "Back then, New York style was really East Coast style," he told Vogue.com. "But today, through social media, everybody looks the same to a degree. You could look at an urban kid from Brooklyn, and he looks like one from California; you look at kids from Japan, and they look like kids from the Bronx."
1990s: Shoichi Aoki Takes on the Tokyo Harajuku Scene
Another subculture waiting to be explored: Tokyo fashion. A group of photographers including Shiochi Aoki began documenting the harajuku movement in the mid-'90s, and eventually started the fundamental publication Fruits.
2005: Scott Schuman Launches The Sartorialist
Stay-at-home-dad-turned-camera man Scott Schuman launched his blog The Sartorialist as a portrait-zone for chic New Yorkers (often featuring fashion industry insiders). It immediately took off; Style.com hired him to shoot fashion weeks in 2007; and a book deal materialized soon thereafter.
2005: Tommy Ton Launches Jak & Jil
Avid fashion fan Tommy Ton premiered his (now-defunct) photography blog Jak & Jil in 2005, and immediately made a splash with his zoomed-in, on-the-go detail shots that conveyed a sense of movement and urgency. In 2009, Ton took over Scott Schuman's role as the regular contributing fashion week photographer for Style.com (and later, GQ), where he increased his visibility and renown. In 2010, Ton accused Jimmy Choo of heavily borrowing from his aesthetic for an ad campaign.
2006: Phil Oh Launches Street Peeper
When he first started his blog Street Peeper, Phil Oh posted pictures of cool-looking kids hanging outside avant-garde boutiques in downtown Manhattan. Eventually, he became the official fashion week street style photographer for Vogue.com.
2006: Yvan Rodic Launches FaceHunter
Diversity of a different sort. Yvan Rodic debuted his global street style website Face Hunter in 2007. While street style has become synonymous with the scene outside fashion week shows, Rodic makes a point to shoot varying subcultures around the world—from club kids in Berlin (right) to a barefoot surfer in the streets of Barcelona (left).
2008: Ari Seth Cohen Launches Advanced Style
When Ari Seth Cohen started his Advanced Style blog back in 2008, he zeroed in on an underrepresented group of fashionistas: the older, impossibly chic set. Cohen's blog cast a spotlight on, and effectively birthed a new legion of mature style stars such as Iris Apfel and Linda Rodin (above). Cohen went on to release an Advanced Style book and movie, in 2012 and 2014, respectively.
2008 -2012: Rise of Personal Style Bloggers
With the rise of street style à la the Sartorialist also came the rise of personal style bloggers like Garance Doré, Schuman's girlfriend who epitomized the idea of French girl chic on her eponymous lifestyle site; and Leandra Medine aka the Man Repeller, who made a stylish argument for more-is-more dressing. Another emergent strain of style star: the street photographer (think: Hanneli Mustaparta, All the Pretty Birds' Tamu McPherson, and Candice Lake) who takes pictures and gets her picture taken in equal measure.
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