About
Street Photography by Darren Lehane
I'm a London based snapshot street photographer.
I'm drawn to humour, irony and the slightly surreal in my street photography; moments that transcend the everyday for a fleeting hundredth of a second . My images often pose more questions than give answers.
I work almost exclusively in colour and now shoot with a 28mm lens, although a lot of the earlier work here will have been predominantly shot on a 35mm lens.
I was a winning finalist of PDN Street 2016 - as selected by Colin Westerbrook - and a finalist in the San Francisco Street Foto Festival in 2019.
I first picked up a camera in the early 1970s when I used to mess around with my Nan's old Instamatic. Unbeknown to me there was never any film in the camera which is a shame, as they were amongst the best shots I would have ever got. I got my first SLR as a teenager in 1986, my mum won it through her work and gave it to me. Having failed to make it in a synth pop band, and inspired by the music photography of Anton Corbijn I started making gritty b&w portraits of people.
It wasn't until I went digital in the early 2000s did I start pursuing what I now know is called "street photography" though it was still a few years before I started to actually get some decent results. During thus time I've also been a documentary wedding photographer, freelance photojournalist and provided stock work to a number of libraries.
Read my 7 day Social Distancing Snapshot Diaries photographed during the Coronavirus lockdown.
Features, exhibits and accolades:
Listen to an interview with me about my street photography
I'm drawn to humour, irony and the slightly surreal in my street photography; moments that transcend the everyday for a fleeting hundredth of a second . My images often pose more questions than give answers.
I work almost exclusively in colour and now shoot with a 28mm lens, although a lot of the earlier work here will have been predominantly shot on a 35mm lens.
I was a winning finalist of PDN Street 2016 - as selected by Colin Westerbrook - and a finalist in the San Francisco Street Foto Festival in 2019.
I first picked up a camera in the early 1970s when I used to mess around with my Nan's old Instamatic. Unbeknown to me there was never any film in the camera which is a shame, as they were amongst the best shots I would have ever got. I got my first SLR as a teenager in 1986, my mum won it through her work and gave it to me. Having failed to make it in a synth pop band, and inspired by the music photography of Anton Corbijn I started making gritty b&w portraits of people.
It wasn't until I went digital in the early 2000s did I start pursuing what I now know is called "street photography" though it was still a few years before I started to actually get some decent results. During thus time I've also been a documentary wedding photographer, freelance photojournalist and provided stock work to a number of libraries.
Read my 7 day Social Distancing Snapshot Diaries photographed during the Coronavirus lockdown.
Features, exhibits and accolades:
- 2008 Finalist Curry's Our Lives Competition
- 2008 Part of Group Exhibit at The Mall Galleries, London
- 2008 Work Featured in London Time Out Magazine
- 2008 Work Featured in JPG Magazine
- 2009 Featured on Londonist Website
- 2009 Work Featured In The Guardian Weekend Magazine
- 2009 Part of Group Exhibit in Los Angeles, USA
- 2010 Work Featured in The Guardian Weekend Magazine
- 2011 Work Featured in Amateur Photographer Magazine
- 2012 Images Used in London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremonies
- 2013 Work Featured in British Airways Magazine
- 2016 Winning Finalist on PDN Street 2016 (judged by Colin Westerbeck)
- 2017 Featured in Olympus Passion Magazine
- 2018 Featured on Urban Street Diving website
- 2018 Featured in "Street Photography" book - to be published by Acuity Press
- 2018 Featured Photographer on ISP Collective Instagram
- 2018 Featured Photographer on IHSP Instagram
- 2018 Winner of “Tourism” competition on Optic Nerve Collective
- 2019 Final 5 Finalist London Photo Show (Spring)
- 2019 Finalist San Francisco Street Foto Festival - Single Image
- 2019 Featured in Eyeshot Magazine Street Love Instagram Series
Listen to an interview with me about my street photography