The 8 Best Street Photographers in San Antonio, TX

The Alamo City is full of both tourists and scenic locations, making it an excellent place for street photographers to work their magic. From focusing on architecture to intimate street portraits, each of these San Antonio street photographers has their own approach to the genre.

Their documentary perspectives on the area help us better appreciate our neighbors in SA and offer up fresh looks at the city using creative photography techniques that transform it into something entirely new! Which one of these artists is your favorite street photographer?

1. Erik Jon Gustafson

San Antonio street photographers like Erik Jon Gustafson are masters of their craft. His images present downtown in ways that shake us awake and remind us how interesting and unique the city is.

Erik favors film photography and using older digital models, which impart their own characteristics to the final image. Grain, multiple exposures, and slow shutter speeds blur lights and add a classic element to the view. His work is a mixture of posed portraiture and candid street photography. And in the latter, we’re constantly amazed by how close Erik gets to his subjects without disturbing the documentary feel of the scene.

2. Humans of San Antonio

Michael Cirlos is a street and commercial photographer located in San Antonio. His work explores current events, beauty, and connection, with a focus on people in everyday settings. Michael’s portfolio takes us behind the scenes of migrant workers, colonias on the Texas-Mexico border, and other intimate vignettes of people’s lives.

He is well known for being the founder of Humans of SA, a photojournalism project spanning five years of street documentary and portrait photography. Inspired by the world-famous Humans of New York, the San Antonio version is a rich collection of faces from across the city. Michael’s collection of street portraits is even available in a printed book.

3. James Gonzales

If you’re looking for a classic take on the genre, the work of James Gonzales will be right up your alley. This San Antonio street photographer sticks to monochrome presentations of the world where lines, luminance, texture, and emotion take center stage over distracting colors. Heavy grain and strong contrast give his work the feeling of old film photography.

James varies his subject distances, which can often be so close that the subject takes notice. While it still feels documentary, we end up engaging with strangers on an intimate level, encouraging us to ask what it is about them that he found so interesting. James is also great at placing his subjects within the wider context of the city. Many frames are recognizable locations within San Antonio.

4. Dan Rosales

Dan Rosales offers a unique perspective on the world of San Antonio street photography by focusing on local cyclists. He takes us to local events where bikers congregate and race. But he isn’t content with just sitting along the sidelines.

Dan immerses us in the event through documentary photography. We see bikers preparing their gear, with excitement and other emotions readily visible. We then see the race progress, with panning shots adding to the sense of speed and intensity. Dan’s use of natural color furthers our ability to feel like a part of the day’s unfolding!

5. Clint Datchuk

Clint Datchuk is a street, sports, and documentary photographer who relocated to San Antonio in 2019, shortly after obtaining his degree in photojournalism while living in Ohio. Clint’s portfolio is a rich collection of stories gathered at the local and national levels. From political rallies to small-town celebrations, he uses intimate perspectives and masterful timing along with explanations that heighten our appreciation of his work.

Clint also takes to the streets of San Antonio with his camera, where he showcases vignettes of people going about their lives, artistic angles on architecture, and other classic street perspectives.

6. Karen Garza Quiroz

The bold, colorful compositions of Karen Garza Quiroz are a delightful shift from the dark and moody styles favored by other San Antonio street photographers. Her work takes advantage of the vibrant sunshine of the city, allowing color and contrast to inform our feel of each scene.

Karen focuses on architecture and street portraits of performers, who are central to the downtown SA experience. She has also been a part of several local photography showings, where she offers a look at the streets of SA through a female gaze.

7. Timothy McVain

Timothy McVain is one of the more diverse San Antonio street photographers on our list. His style explores not just candid documentary angles and architecture but also urban portraiture, where Timothy works with subjects using downtown as a backdrop. His style tends to be just as diverse, sometimes favoring rich saturation and bright exposure and at other times, toning down colors or even going all the way to monochrome, demonstrating his love for the art form and willingness to explore different creative angles to fit his vision.

Timothy’s street photography can be explored in several ways. He is active in the local arts scene, with showings at Busted Sandal Brewery and other local venues. Timothy also has an Etsy shop full of photography taken in SA as well as other parts of the country. He is also talented beyond camera use and includes hand-drawn “City Drawing” collages.

8. Kevin Washington

Born in New Orleans and living in San Antonio, Kevin Washington explores the city through an architectural angle. This is most evident in his monochrome photography, where textures, lines, and light take center stage. Buildings have a dramatic character and subjects feel small and minimal when juxtaposed against them.

Kevin’s search for unique architecture takes him beyond downtown as well. Dilapidated buildings with detail-rich signage are a favorite of his as are trains, fountains, gates, and other objects most of us would never notice.

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