Mr Whisper describes how he transforms the streets of London into his own personal studio
“With my particular style, if someone can’t immediately work out a photo, I feel I’ve done my job,” remarks London-based street photographer Mr Whisper. “I don’t want them to look at the image and think, ‘Oh, that’s just someone walking down the street.’ I want them to be curious. I want to invite my viewers to either create their own narrative or have their own first impression.”
The low-light connoisseur has carved out a unique niche over the last decade, seeking thoughtful framings of everyday moments in England’s capital and developing an instantly recognisable style of nighttime street photography.
Getting started in street photography
“I never had any inclination to be a photographer,” muses Mr Whisper. “I thought cameras were too technical for me. But back when phone cameras started to develop and Instagram came along, it provided this level playing field where I could tell visual stories every day, very simply.”
Struck by a desire to create, he began cataloguing daily snapshots of life as he saw it on the London Underground. “I was commuting into work and, suddenly, my boring commute was this exciting adventure, looking to photograph moments on the tube – that really sparked my interest. I was encouraged to keep going and spent about a year constantly uploading photos.”
As his profile grew, paid jobs and brand deals started to emerge – at which point he realised he needed to up the visual quality of his images.
“I was like, ‘Right, I’m going to take photography seriously. I need to get myself a proper camera.’ So, I went to the shop with a friend who knew everything about photography. The guy in the shop said, ‘You know, Fujifilm have just released the FUJIFILM X-T1.’ As soon as he pulled it out, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s what a camera is supposed to look like.’
“All this jargon my friend had been feeding me about the exposure triangle suddenly made sense because I could visually see it through the dials on the top of the camera. I felt that immediate connection – and just loved the iconic, traditional look. That’s what sparked the transition and my journey into photography.”
Having continued his patronage of the X-T range all the way up to the FUJIFILM X-T5, Mr Whisper credits the tactile nature of these cameras with helping him break down core photographic concepts at the start of his career.
“In post, I’d be able to see the settings I was using very clearly, and then I’d be like, ‘OK, why is this blurry? Right, my shutter speed wasn’t fast enough. Why is there so much pixelation? Ah, my ISO was way too high.’ One by one, I could drop the settings out of auto mode and be able to manually control my exposures, ensuring that the photos I was producing matched my mind’s eye.”
Night and day
“When first using my smartphone, if I wanted to do any night photography, I’d have to do long exposures with a tripod – and I felt it kept giving me the same old thing,” recalls Mr Whisper. “I’d look at my photography portfolio and think it was getting repetitive.”
But he found that coupling the larger sensor of an APS-C camera with wide-aperture prime lenses significantly improved his light-gathering ability.
“When I got the X-T1 in my hands, I realised I could work at night all the time. I’d opened up a whole new world to myself. At that point I thought: not many people focus on night street photography, so maybe I’ll try and own that territory.”
Little by little, his low-key, neon-splashed look began to establish itself.
“I kept going back to my photos, returning to locations and asking myself: how could I do this better? How could I approach this scene and make it more engaging?
“I try to keep my visual look and feel in-camera as much as I can. The only thing I look for when I’m post-processing is colour grading – I want the reds to be my reds, the blues to be my blues. As far as everything else is concerned, it’s basic – adjusting exposures to make sure they’re true to what the eye can see.”
It wasn’t always this way, though. Mr Whisper admits that this light touch in post-production took time to develop.
“For the first half of my career, I’d almost start painting my photos,” he recalls. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved it; I thought that was part of my photograph. Photography for me was 50% with a camera, 50% editing. Now, it’s definitely 90% photography and 10% post-production. Otherwise, I’m overdoing it and making photos that aren’t what the eye really sees – that are a little bit surreal.”
This shift in priorities has come hand in hand with a purposeful drop in the number of images he creates in a night.
“When the FUJIFILM X-T3 came out and you could use two SD cards, I was filling up at least one and a half cards. Nowadays, when I go out, I’ll struggle to use a whole battery and fill one card. When I can see a frame, I’ll spend some time there and make sure it works in the way I want it to. If not, I can always go back – unless I’m travelling – and spend more time on that image later.”
To keep things fresh, Mr Whisper has put more effort into trying new things while keeping true to the visual style he’s built.
“Currently, I’m trying more black & white, handheld slow shutter speed and daylight photography. I’m constantly trying to learn, and always challenging myself to have a new brief when I go out.
“I’m heading out later this evening and I’ll ask myself, ‘What am I going to achieve today?’ It’s important to have a plan – it helps cut out the visual noise and gives me something to focus on.”
Choosing a camera and lens for street photography
“At the moment, because I’m trying a lot more daylight photography, I’ve mainly been using the FUJIFILM X100VI,” notes Mr Whisper. “I love that it’s so tiny. At first, I was nervous about it – coming from the X-T5, I thought, ‘How am I going to deal with a 23mm fixed lens?’ But I absolutely love the fact that there’s no fuss. As long as it’s charged up and I’ve got the SD card prepared, I’m ready to go out and explore.
“Side by side with that, if I’m doing night work, I prefer going out with my X-T5, FUJINON XF56mmF1.2 R WR – probably my favourite lens for low light – and XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR.
“The XF56mmF1.2 allows me to get the detail I love in my photography. I’m looking to create layers within the imagery, so if there’s someone sitting behind a window with condensation, I know the droplets on the window will come out pin-sharp.
“Similarly, if I want to get something more environmental, I’ll use the XF33mmF1.4 to ensure I’m not just focusing on my protagonist, I’m actually going to get more of their surroundings.
“One of my main missions throughout photography – and maybe why I was drawn to street photography – is keeping everything as light as possible. When I first started, I’d walk around with a big old backpack full of three or four lenses. Every five minutes, I’d find myself taking my backpack off, changing lenses and essentially missing the moment I’d wanted to photograph.
“Since then, my bag has got smaller and smaller; until now, when I’ll go out with one prime lens at a time because I want to keep things as light as possible. My back thanks me for it – and it means I’m not missing a moment. I’m not overthinking every location and, if I need to, I just move my feet to get the frame I’m looking for.”
Beyond a camera and lens, is there anything else Mr Whisper considers vital for a night on the streets of London? “Probably an umbrella,” he suggests. “I love going out when it’s raining. Along with that, sanitiser – I often find myself leaning against things and getting on the floor looking for those angles.”
A waiting game
“Something I learnt over time is that street photography doesn’t always have to be spontaneous. It can be manipulated. I treat the streets of London as my studio; as much of the scene I can control, I will. For example, I’ll find a frame that’s an amazing background, check which way the light’s pointing, then position myself – as I see people walk through it, that’s the way I want them to be lit.
“I can just stay there and wait for the most interesting characters to come along. Maybe it’s the colours they’re wearing, or they have an umbrella or hat, and that finishes off my frame.”
Experimenting with a more measured, strategic manner of working is Mr Whisper’s parting tip to fellow street photographers.
“The first time you see something that catches your eye, wait and get ready for another moment like that to happen in the same location,” he advises. “I wish I’d known that and not been so spontaneous – slow down and take your time.”
