London street photography locations

London is an amazing street art scenario, that’s why we are talking about London Street photography locations. Shoreditch is absolutely one of the best photo spots for street art in London.
Just walking around the punk and old school part of London, pointed at the east of the city, that you will find amazing narrow streets with great pieces of art.

London is one of the best places where the famous artist Bansky disposed his art to the mass.

Our post about London street photography location is not just devoted to Graffiti art, it is a proper way to find the best places where take amazing shots. If you are looking for more charming prettiest streets in London, we will give you a proper itinerary as well.

London is one of the best city where you can take some amazing pictures. There are plenty locations where you can find the best spot. Shoreditch, for example, is one of the best London street photography locations. It is surrounded by the best street art, graffiti, lot of vintage markets and fashion shops.

We had the amazing opportunity to work with Three UK, going around the city and learn new tips with the new iPhone XS. Which is the best place to do it? Of course, Shoreditch and Brick Lane.

Best places for street photography beginners in London

Shoredich

Nice to catch locals around, typical underground scenarios

Brick Lane

Amazing shops and stands, with view over the coffee shops windows

Old Spitalfield Market

Market scenario, full of colours and lively

Brixton

The amazing streets of Brixton are unique, check out the Pop Brixton

Camden Town

Who doesn’t know Camden Town, with its incredible high street landscape

Oxford Street

Ideal in Christmas Time, when its sparkling lights get your eyes looking always up

Notting Hill and Portobello Road

The colourful houses of Notting Hill and Portobello Road have always been the favourite spot of locals and tourists

China Town

Don’t know what, maybe is the oriental touch that make this side of London incredible

Soho and Piccadilly

Love at first sight when you get out at Piccadilly Circus Underground Station

South Bank – The riverside photography

Walking along the riverside is awesome and one of the most romantic places in London

Where to find the best photography locations in London

If you are looking for the best street photography chances, here in London you will find many places ready to be snapped. This list of locations will be helpful for beginner or professional. I have been living in London for nearly 5 years now, in and out of the country many times, and never thought that the streets are less inspiring than other places, like Asia or New York. I have heard many times people saying that “the best street photographers find great moments in the most ordinary places”. Nothing is more true.

I have seen many ordinary photos, even simple composition that tell you a great story behind. Snap the perfect shot is never too easy. Think about to walk through China Town in London, many people around you, some steering at you, and you snap the perfect shot. It is great for you and for somebody at the gallery watching your journey.

Find the perfect location is never too easy. It is happened that more than one time I have been still in a place for an hour, before catching what I was looking for. The curiosity is something that you have always to take with you in the bag. It will be the best tool for you.

Shoreditch – Photography ideas London

Shoreditch is for sure in the list of the best London street photography location

It’s one of the more colourful areas of the city. Shoreditch aside from Brick Lane is perfect for street photography.
The graffiti and street art of East London provides the perfect backdrop for great London street photography. I personally discovered better this area thanks to Kellee, working with Three Uk.
Usually, when we are doing a session of street photography we use both phone and reflex. The50mm is the best for street photography.”   
While Alessia is shooting with the phone, Toti is in some corner find the best angle, cutting the light!

Out of all the different activities to do and things to see in Shoreditch, checking out its street art is on the top list.
There’s a ton of galleries and museums like the Brick Lane Gallery and the Whitechapel Gallery, but the crème de la crème of London’s art scene is along Brick Lane, Club Row, Fashion Street and Bacon Street.

Brick Lane – London street photography locations

Brick Lane remains a place where you’ll find a lot of characters and people generally a little bit more open to the idea of being photographed by a stranger. This part of London is really vibrant and multicultural, colourful streets where you can meet independent artisans sellers, or walking through the stand in a casual Sunday morning, all surrounded by nice spices smells from all over the World.

During this amazing walking tour with Kellee, I had the opportunity to meet Rob. He is a really good photographer which he showed us some tricks about the new iPhone XS.

I was so happy because for the first time I was so proud of my pictures.
I will share with you one of the tricks Rob teach me. If you want to take a picture from the street you can just turn around your phone.
Yes, you understand well, you can just flip your phone in the upside-down, later you can mastery your photo and at voilà, you have got an amazing photo from the street! It works!

Self-guided walking tours London

If you love to be around and take some pictures you are, for sure, in the right place. Here in London, you have plenty of locations where your imagination can start to work.
This is our itinerary which we highly recommend if you plan your visit to London, or if you are already here and want to enjoy a different way to visit the city.

Start your tour guide from old Street Station going towards Shoreditch, where after just 5 minutes you will stop and start to take pictures because you will be surrounded by amazing graffiti. 

Our personal idea is to get lost in the middle of the city and exploring everything by yourself.
To be honest, every time we booked a free walking tour we never showed up, as we always preferred to see the city with our eyes.
Of course, there are some exceptions as the one we did in Rome with Livitalytours, which it was different as the guy who we were with was showing us the city in a different way.

However, if you want still to book a free walking tour, online there are plenty, you just need to pick up the one that you like more, as all of them are offering a different type of places.
For sure, you can’t miss visiting the Old Spitalfields Market and the Boiler House which are typical of Shoreditch and Brick-lane and remember this need to be in your top ten London photography locations. 

Visit Old Spitalfields Market.

London has some fantastic markets, many of which began operating hundreds of years ago. Old Spitalfields Market is not an exception. It completely rebuilds, but is worth to go!
There has been a market running on the same grounds as Old Spitalfields Market since the 17th Century. Back in the Victorian Era, most of the stalls sold fresh products.

The modern-day market is now hosting to multicultural food stalls and independent artisans selling jewellery, books, and clothes. A mix of history and unique stalls makes it one of the best things to do in Shoreditch.

The Old Spitalfields Market and the Old Brick Lane Market are not to be missed by any first-time visitor to Shoreditch. They’re also the Sunday UpMarket and the Columbia Road Flower Market that is a must-see in London as well.

Lunch at “The Boiler House” – London street photography locations

After walking for long, you need to stop by and eat something. The Boiler House is the perfect place to do it and to take some nice picture as well.
This it will be your last stop before going back to your meeting point. This old boiler room is now used as a place for events. On Sundays, there is a huge and tasty food market.

You will find a lot of stands with all different type of food. All the World is here, you will find Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Lebanese, Indian, Vegan and more dishes. You will have the opportunity to try a different kind of food. Take the phone out of your pocket and start to shot.

Brixton

The southern borough of Brixton is well known for its street photography scene. The Caribbean community has forged this part of London giving a folklorist atmosphere. Once you step out of the carriage at tube station of Brixton you will feel the vibes of this corner of London. Recently Brixton has seen many places comes up, like the Brixton Village Market with restaurants and interesting galleries. The Brixton Accademy offers every month amazing live concerts and evens. Brixton is an area within the Zone One of the tube map to be so different compared to other areas of the same fare zone. The character of the area, mix of Carribean cultures and European influences are the perfect spot where improve your skills. The photography in Brixton will step up to the next level.

Camden

The most alternative area of London, Camden, is the ideal for your street photography journey around London. Goths and Punks dressed people, walking along the streets of one of the old freely borough of London. Located in the norther area, Camden is preserving is punk style, alternative and unique.

In this area you will find many Tatoos shops, piercings and air places. The unique people you can find here will be happy to be snapped by you. For many, and me as well this area is not boring at all, even if has been changed the atmosphere in the years. Completely different than when I first came in London. This area is wide and huge, so I advice you to avoid to still in one place, instead walk around.

Oxford Street photography

Where I find many people, I get the best opportunities to photograph the best storytelling composition. It is happened many time that I have shoot in Oxford Street in different situation, just standing at one corner, or walking through the crowd of a boxing day. The popular street of London is visited every day by many people looking for last deal in the many shops.

This street is the ideal to find photographic action, that could be just photos of people taking the tube, going up and down the stairs, or the million of foots walking through the street.

This will be the perfect field to improve your photography abilities. It is fine if on the first shots you will get blurry photos, or non focused one. Oxford Street offers many opportunities but is not easy at all. This photography location in London is the ideal even for night photography. Thanks to the lights of the shops, cars and buses make it extraordinary for long exposure.

Notting Hill and Portobello Road

The coloured and multi ethnic Notting Hill is the perfect scenario to improve your photography abilities. The borough of the popular Saturday Market with the pastel coloured houses that has inspired the popular movie from the 1999, Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

Talking about photography, the multicolored houses, pretty shops and cutest cafes are the perfect area where snap a few photos of London. It is popular among tourists, and you will snap the wander inside the eyes of those people visiting that place for the first time. On Saturday the streets are completely close to the traffic, so you can walk free and get people buying from the street side stands.

Walking through the typical British houses, you will find many people, taking photos on the prettiest front doors. This area of London is in our list of pretty streets to visit in the Capital.

China Town photography scene

China Town is probably the best street photography scene of the whole city. The Oriental Borough of London, close to Leicester Square, touristic epicentre of the city, is the ideal for who is looking for some inspirational street. China Town is full of light, quirky shops, amazing scenes ready to be snapped. The nearby Soho Area will let you stay long around with your camera. It is my favourite area of London for street photography and I could stand on the corner of those streets for hours, just snapping everything catching my eyes. It is nice to visit China Town during the Chinese New Year’s Eve for a scratch of multicultural ethnicity of London.

Soho and Piccadilly

Old Compton Street is maybe the street to point your GPS. Soho its a huge area between China Town, Piccadilly circus, Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road.  Because it is a street maze, you will easily spend hours without think about it. Soho is another place on the list of my favourite spots in London for photographer. I just love to get lost in the narrow streets with amazing little shops and independent cafes. Just a few miles away there is Covent Garden, one of the best place where snap street artists in performances.

South Bank – The riverside photography

On Sunday morning, especially during spring and summer you will find me snapping everywhere in South bank. The riverside of London has always been a fascinating place for me, location for inspiration especially in the weekend when the families are out exploring the city.

It is true that South Bank could sound popular, but is also true that when you are beginner or just looking for something easy to snap, you will find in popular places the best option where to go. The River Thames on the weekend will offer you the chance to shot families while going to the Globe Theatre, or entering in the London Bridge Market, the Borough Market. The famous Tate Modern museum is on the South Bank area and is a good spot where to start your central London journey in street photography. I found this place amazing even late in the evening.

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