Street Photography in Shanghai

The Bund is the riverside promenade facing the Pudong skyline. At dawn it belongs to locals doing tai chi and group exercise. By evening it is packed with visitors from all over China posing for photos with the towers behind them. Go at sunrise for soft light and exercisers, then come back at dusk for crowds against the lit skyline. Shoot people silhouetted on the railing against the bright towers. Caution: security staff manage the crowds on busy nights and holidays, so expect barriers and checks.

East Nanjing Road is a long pedestrian shopping street running from People's Square to the Bund. It is buzzing with domestic tourists day and night, under big neon signs. After dark, the signs light faces in pink and blue, so shoot with a fast lens wide open. Stand in the middle of the street and let the crowd flow around you. For more local life, cut into the side streets and alleys off Nanjing Road toward People's Square. Caution: be wary of overly friendly strangers inviting you for tea or drinks. It is a known scam here.

Yu Garden and the City God Temple sit inside a rebuilt old style bazaar that draws huge crowds. It is worth an hour, but the better street work is in the older streets around it that haven't been redeveloped yet. Walk the lanes off Fangbang Middle Road for laundry lines and older residents. Mid morning, between about 9am and 11am, sun reaches down into the lanes. Frame a figure in a shaft of light at the end of a lane. Caution: don't shoot into open doorways or ground floor windows. People live there.

Tianzifang is a maze of shikumen lane houses off Taikang Road, turned into small shops and cafes. It is busy and touristy, but some residents still live upstairs, so you see daily life above the shopfronts. Go early, before the shops open, for quiet lanes and residents going about their morning. Later it gets crowded, which suits tight frames of shoppers in narrow lanes. Look up for laundry and residents at the windows. Caution: the lanes are narrow, so don't block them with a tripod or a long pause.

Plane trees shade streets like Wukang Road and Anfu Road, lined with old villas and small boutiques. This is where stylish young Shanghai walks its dogs and sits in cafes. Morning, around 8am to 11am, gives soft dappled light through the trees. Fuxing Park and Xiangyang Park fill with older residents doing tai chi and water calligraphy early in the day. Frame a cyclist or walker in a patch of light under the trees. Caution: many buildings are private homes, and Wukang Road gets crowded with people posing, so work around them.

Every Saturday and Sunday, from around noon to 5pm, parents gather in People's Park to find partners for their unmarried children. They hang printed profiles with age, height, job and income on umbrellas and strings, then talk and trade details. It is a scene you won't see anywhere else. Shoot the rows of umbrellas and the crowd browsing them from a respectful distance. Caution: many parents don't want their pictures taken and will shoo you away. Don't photograph the profiles close up without asking.