Why my book.
Why my book.
My book, People Photography, Life, and the Street, was published September 25, 2020, right at the beginning of the global pandemic. It took me ten months to write it, so I would have started it December, 2019, which was before when the pandemic started. According to my daughter, the schools were closed Thursday, March 12, of 2020. The reason for describing the dates is that I used to think I wrote the book that because of COVID, there were no people on the streets to photograph anymore, so I might as well write a book. But that’s not actually the case. I started it in December, as above, but the ideas for the book started well before that. But something else happened as well that dramatically change my street photography odyssey.
I had had a very busy year of practising street photography in 2018. I pressed the button 100,000 times. And because of that experience, and the images created from it, my confidence went through the roof, and in 2019, I hit the street running. I was on fire. I was taking risks way beyond what was my normal practice. I use a full frame 35mm digital camera, with a 35mm prime lens while out on the streets. That’s my go to setup. I’ve only twice tried different focal lengths, once with a 50mm, and once with a 135mm. The 50mm provided some great results, however, it was too tight and just didn’t work for me, so I never used it again. The 135mm did not work for me at all with the way I photograph, although I did create some nice images, so it’s not that I couldn’t create images with the 135 (love that lens), it’s just using it was impossible for the images I wanted to create. When you view my images, I want you to feel that you are right there out on the streets, with all the people, the noise, the smells, the vibe. I want you to experience what I experienced as much as I can. So again, my go-to lens is always the EF 35mm f/1.4 L first generation. I’ve now used that lens exclusively for the past 12 years while practicing street photography. And I’ll let you in on a little secret: when you use a 35mm on a full frame camera, if you want to fill the frame with your subject, you have to get close. And being close comes with risks. While working candidly, you will get caught. And caught I did, and not in a good way.
Candid street photography, or pure street photography as some people call it, is all about creating an image of people going about their day in the city, and it’s uninfluenced. My camera and I do not exist. And I go to extreme lengths to manage that. Uninfluenced. They do not know they are being photographed. Candid, right up to the instance they discover that they are in fact being photographed. Then candid ends, and if you continue to photograph with their approval, it then becomes street portraiture, which is worlds apart from working candidly. It’s challenging to work both kinds of street photography on the same day. It can be done, but you have to change locations often for it to work. You have to be all-in in either candid or not candid for it to work. I can have a lot of fun practicing street portraiture, and I will do this more in the future, especially because of a tip I learned on Steve Carty’s YouTube channel, but over the past 12 years I have worked exclusively candidly – that’s where the magic lives (for me).
So, as I said above, I was called out, caught red-handed, and because of this and for other reasons at the time, it kind of shook me up a bit. I was riding on a high up until that point, but then my confidence was decimated. And without 100% confidence on the street, go home, because if you are not on your game fully, and able to quickly diffuse the situation and talk your way out of it, you will face some serious consequences. This isn’t a game. It’s funny though that when I look back, it wasn’t that bad, it’s just that at that time in my life it hit hard. I’ve had far worse incidences after that that didn’t even phase me. Live and learn, life’s one big school (as I tell my kids)!
So, back to the book. The above description happened during the 2019 Pride Parade in Toronto, one of the many great events I like to cover. It was in June, and because I needed a break, I lost July, August, September, and half of October, which is usually the time each year that I put the street photography camera away for the season. I’m too much of a wimp to work over the winter months! Besides, there’s hardly anyone out on the streets anyway, they’re all using what Toronto calls The Path, and I can’t legally create images down there, so I stop. But with so many images recorded during the summer, it’s all good. Record all summer, edit and finish the images all winter. But because I stopped photographing, I lost half of 2019 and the opportunity to create many beautiful images. Then COVID hit. I was devastated. I took the pandemic very seriously, I didn’t want to get sick, and in fact I never did, but because of this terrible event, I didn’t return to the streets until July of 2022. I lost three full years. That hurts. So, I wrote a book. But not just a book. I documented everything I do to create the images I present on this website. Every last detail, secrets included. It’s all there. And I’m so glad that I wrote it. I believe that if you want to learn a craft to the fullest extent, you need to teach it. And by writing it, I did just that. I explain things so openly that anyone who reads my book can go out and create images exactly as I do, given they are in possession of a tremendous amount of self confidence. I also wrote it to be able to present a street photography workshop to my local community. The pandemic has slowed that plan, but now that it’s over, I’ve taken that package off the dusty shelf and I’m in the process of rethinking it. I truly believe I have something to offer with this idea and I love to teach, so as they say, expect more to come. The pandemic also allowed me to find other ways of being creative by starting my YouTube tutorial channel. Please don’t laugh when you see it! Haha! Hey, we have to start somewhere, right? That’s another package I have to take off the dusty shelf and give myself a nudge to get it going again. After losing three years due to the pandemic, I’ve been way too busy creating images to make up for the lost time, that the YouTube channel was put on hold.
So, to sum this up, I wrote a book. Never done that before. Ten months later and 74,000 words, I answered the question of how did you get that image, Mike? I also discovered that I love to write. Until next time.
Thank you for being here, and for your time.
October 19, 2025 Michael Gordon White