Street Photography in Krakow

The Rynek Główny is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, with the Cloth Hall in the middle and St. Mary's Basilica on one corner. Every hour a trumpeter plays the hejnał from the church tower, and the crowd below stops and looks up. Turn around and shoot the upturned faces. The square also has a lot of pigeons, which kids chase all day. Walk the edges early in the morning, when delivery vans and cleaners own the space. It is very touristy by midday, so work the crowds rather than fighting them.

Kazimierz was the center of Jewish life in Kraków for over 500 years before the war. Today it mixes synagogues and old shop signs with bars full of students. Plac Nowy is its heart: a small square around a round market hall, the Okrąglak, where hatches sell zapiekanki, the local open faced baguette. Shoot the late night queue at the hatches, lit from inside. In the daytime, use a mural as a background and wait for a passerby. Be respectful near synagogues and the old cemeteries, and do not treat memorials as props.

The Planty is a narrow park that circles the whole Old Town where the medieval walls once stood. It is a corridor of benches and lamp posts, with locals walking dogs and cutting through on the way to work. Lomography recommends it in autumn, when the lanes fill with fog and fallen leaves. Early morning is best. Frame a single walker between two rows of trees, or shoot a figure on a bench under a lamp. Near the train station the park gets rougher at night.

The Vistula boulevards are riverside paths below Wawel Castle. On warm evenings locals come down to sit on the grass, drink on the boat bars and watch the sunset. Below the castle stands a metal dragon statue that breathes real fire every few minutes, and families gather to wait for it. Shoot the crowd flinching as the flame comes out. Later, walk east along the river and shoot silhouettes against the water. The grass slopes are good for a low angle. Summer weekends are busy and relaxed.

Podgórze is across the river from Kazimierz. The wartime ghetto was here, not in Kazimierz, and Plac Bohaterów Getta holds a memorial of large metal chairs. Schindler's factory and the MOCAK contemporary art museum are nearby. Beyond those, the district is quieter and more working class, with corner shops and residents going about their day. Shooter Files found it less polished and more authentic. Walk the side streets in the late afternoon. At the memorial square, photograph with care and never pose people on the chairs.

Every Sunday a flea market sets up around the Hala Targowa building on Grzegórzecka Street, a short walk east of the Old Town. Vendors arrive around 7:00 to 8:00 and lay out furniture, old cameras, military badges and junk on tables and blankets. It is one of the best places in the city for characters. Go early, when the light is low and the haggling is serious. Crouch at the end of a table so the objects lead to the seller. Many sellers are older men who may not want a photo, so ask when you get close.

Stary Kleparz is a long running market just north of the Old Town, a few minutes past the Barbican. It is a local place, with produce stalls and regular shoppers carrying bags home. Morning is the best time, when the stalls are full. The awnings soften the light, which suits faces and hands. Frame a vendor weighing fruit through a gap in the stalls. It is compact, so move slowly and buy something; people notice a camera quickly in a small market.

Nowa Huta was built in the 1950s as a model socialist town for steelworkers, and it is now part of Kraków. Plac Centralny opens onto wide avenues of arcaded blocks laid out in a fan. The scale and symmetry give you strong graphic frames, with pensioners and kids on bikes crossing the space. Lomography suggests starting on Aleja Przyjaźni. Morning and late afternoon light works best along the avenues. It is about 25 minutes by tram from the center, and it feels far from the tourist Kraków.