Step into the world of Sam O’Shaughnessy where light, shadow, and geometry collide to create jaw-dropping street photography!
Discover his mind-blowing approach and unfiltered take on the art of street photography in this exclusive interview with Pure Street Photography!
Interview by Dimpy Bhalotia and Kamal Kumaar Rao
12/02/2025
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
We would love to know more about you! Who you are and where you're from? When did you start street photography?
Hi, I am Sam O’Shaughnessy, a street photographer from London who likes to travel and capture the world in my own unique way. I picked up the name SnapsbySamosh a play on my first and last names squished together and use it on Social media when I started doing photography in 2020
What inspired you to become a street photographer?
Boredom really, in 2020 the world was in an extremely weird place, covid closed down most forms of social interaction and kept us inside, this was when I picked up a camera for the first time, I started off being drawn to urban exploration and photographing abandoned places (there were plenty over the course of Covid) but as the world gave us a bit more freedom, i found my love for street photography and capturing the everyday
How would you describe your work in terms of style and/or approach?
My work definitely leans towards fine art over documentarian styles of street photography, my work has a heavy play on light, shadow and shapes. I tend to shoot more around a scene rather than a subject so throughout my work, you will notice that they will not be the main focus and are usually silhouettes or unidentifiable to add some form of mystery.
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
What is your photography routine like? Do you photograph every day?
Photography isn’t my full time job and as much as one day it would be great to do this every day, the reality is, I shoot where I can, if I am away on business, the camera comes with me, if I am going for a drive to do some shopping, yep the camera is there too… even if I don’t have a chance to take a camera, my photo has got me out of a pinch in a couple of occasions. No matter what though, the mindset is always there, My brain is always subconsciously drawn to scenes I think would make a good image.
What camera or mobile device do you use for photography? Do you shoot digitally, on film, or a mix of both?
My main camera is the Leica Q3, an absolute overkill camera for street but Leica was something I set as a goal to myself that I would one day own, it hasn’t let me down yet. My photography is always digital, the price of film is too high for the amount of shooting I like to do, but the ability to play with film and experiment is definitely something I should do more
What challenges do you face when photographing on the street?
There isn’t too many challenges when I am photographing in the aspect of physically shooting, I definitely don’t get confronted or have negative experiences that way, using silhouettes as much as I do and not being right up in peoples faces means for the most part I am not even interrupting the scene at all. The main thing I find that is a challenge are things that are out of my control like finding a great scene and not having a subject to place in it, or the light isn’t hitting the scene right… oh, and I may on occasion get called a perfectionist by my better half, so maybe I should embrace imperfections a little more in my images
Do you ever wonder what happens to the people in your photos?
Actually, no… and I kinda like that, the idea of creating my own story about them in my pictures is nice, they are again mainly obscured characters anyway so it can also leave the images up to interpretation for the viewer as well.
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception people have about street photography?
Personally it’s that people worry too much, whenever people think of “street photography” the Bruce Gilden style of shooting is what comes to mind, it’s confrontational and disrespectful to the subject… but as much as that style of photography has its own weight, thats definitely not all what street photography is… its so broad that I don’t think most people know what the “true definition” is…
Basically photograph what makes you happy and what you are drawn too, if you like it then thats the main thing, if others can relate and also like your image then thats a bonus.
What are your favourite elements to capture in a street photograph? (light, colour, composition, human interaction, etc.)
Pockets of light, framing subjects with shadow, lines, geometry and a nice amount of contrast and that basically sums it up.
What is your take on social media influence on street photography?
Its huge, but people now (like anything on social media) have so much desire to be like other people, they lose themselves in the process… Take inspiration from others, don’t try to be others.
Are your prints available for purchase? If so, where can art buyers and collectors contact you to purchase them?
Yeah, I sell a few prints directly on my website https://www.snapsbysamosh.co.uk/online-store
I also sell a Zine which I self published with a small collection of some images and am working on my second which is all black and white this time around…
I will also tend to offer discount codes for everything on the store throughout my YouTube videos, so you can check me out there: https://www.youtube.com/@SnapsBySamosh
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
(c) Sam O’Shaughnessy
What advice would you give to aspiring photographers?
Get out, do it as much as possible. You can start with whatever you have already whether its a phone or camera, you can go down a rabbit hole very quickly on what gear to have but the most important thing is that you enhance your skills before you go investing in camera gear.
Carry light also… 1 body, 1 lens. Get familiar with that and it will teach you to compose better around your lens and it can be done wherever you are. Small town. Big city, it doesn’t matter.
And study other peoples work, again get a feel for what you are drawn too not so much to copy their style. Watch videos (maybe even mine ), look at instagram, websites and photo books.
Plan around where you are and what you want to capture and hopefully you’ll get 1 decent image… if not though, don’t worry. Your definition of good will change over time and you'll have many many bad ones before you get one good shot.
A huge thank you to Sam O’Shaughnessy for sharing his incredible journey.
In Frame : Sam O’Shaughnessy