Street Photography in Taipei

Dihua Street is the heart of Dadaocheng, built up as a trading street in the 1850s. The shophouses sell dried goods and traditional medicine, and newer cafés now sit between them. Come in the morning when shopkeepers are unloading sacks and weighing goods. Stand across the street and use the arcade columns to frame a shopkeeper at work. In the weeks before Lunar New Year the street becomes a packed festival market, great for crowd pictures but slow to move through. Most shops are working businesses, so step aside when deliveries come through.

The wharf sits on the Tamsui River a few minutes' walk west of Dihua Street. It faces west, so sunset is the time. Lomography mentions the pier views, and the riverside path fills with cyclists and couples in the evening. Get low, put the sky behind your subjects, and shoot silhouettes as they cross the light. Container stalls sell drinks, which brings in a relaxed crowd. The path is shared with bikes, so keep out of the cycle lane when you stop to frame.

Longshan Temple in Wanhua dates from 1738 and was designated a national historic site in 2018, according to Lomography. It is not a museum. People come all day to pray and leave offerings. Early morning is calmest, and the incense smoke catches the light in the courtyard. Work from the edges and let people's hands and offerings tell the story. Don't block anyone's path to the altar, and don't photograph someone mid prayer from close up. The area outside the temple is rougher and more interesting than the tourist side of the city.

Bopiliao is a preserved block of red brick buildings a short walk from Longshan Temple. The street blends Qing era and Japanese era architecture, and ReadyGo notes it is quieter on weekdays. That makes it a place to practice composition rather than chase crowds. Find an arcade or doorway with clean lines and wait for one person to walk into the right spot. Late afternoon gives warm side light on the brick. People come here for fashion and wedding shoots, so you may get posed subjects in the background of candid frames.

Ximending is Taipei's youth shopping district, a grid of pedestrian streets around Ximen MRT station. It is busy all day and louder at night, with neon signs and street performers. The rainbow crossing at the exit 6 intersection, laid to mark marriage equality, is a strong graphic floor for a single walker. Aniol Visuals says the district feels like a different place day and night, so see both. At night, shoot faces lit by shop windows. Weekend crowds are thick, so hold your framing and let the crowd move through it.

Ningxia is a compact night market close to Dadaocheng, and its crowd is mostly locals eating dinner. Aniol Visuals advises skipping the most touristy markets for local ones. Come after 19:00 when the stalls are lit and busy. The light comes from bare bulbs and steam, so push your ISO and shoot the cooks, who are lit from above. A spot at the end of a stall queue gives you faces lined up in one frame. The aisle is narrow and people are trying to eat, so keep moving and never shoot into someone's plate at close range.

Liberty Square is the vast plaza in front of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Localgrapher suggests 6:30 on a weekday, when the plaza is almost empty and tai chi groups practice in the low eastern light. That is your street picture: small figures moving slowly in a huge symmetric space. Stand far back and use the gate or the stairs as a frame. After mid morning the white stone reflects harsh light and school groups arrive. Guards change on the hour inside the hall, which draws a crowd you can photograph from behind.