Max Sidman

The Latest

15
Feb
Paris | 2025

Paris | 2025

The easiest way to approach Paris as a photographer is to follow Henri Cartier-Bresson's footsteps. But you're not Cartier-Bresson, and neither am I.
4 min read
18
Jan
Soundwaves: Funky Brazilian jazz, raw nerve rap, Latin skater thrash, and a no-frills supergroup

Soundwaves: Funky Brazilian jazz, raw nerve rap, Latin skater thrash, and a no-frills supergroup

Three or four offerings from my revolving regular rotation. The rules: Snap reviews, only stuff I like, streaming and/or vinyl, links where I can.
2 min read
20
Dec
New York City | 2025

New York City | 2025

Stepping off a plane in New York for a mere stopover always feels like a starting gun going off, the beginning of a sprint.
2 min read
14
Dec
Shooting Zone Wide Open in the Streets

Shooting Zone Wide Open in the Streets

The challenge with shooting wide open in the streets is that things move quickly. In the time it takes to adjust focus, the next shot can be gone before you can press the shutter. This is where zone focusing comes in.
4 min read
23
Nov
Asking to photograph strangers. Also not asking.

Asking to photograph strangers. Also not asking.

I’m not much of a portrait photographer, but I’d like to get better at photographing willing participants. That includes barely willing participants, as strangers in the street often are.
4 min read
06
Nov
Stockholm | 2025

Stockholm | 2025

There’s a pretty basic set of things that makes city streets attractive to me as a photographer. Good light. People out and about. Interesting old and new architecture. Stockholm has lots of all that.
4 min read
24
Aug
Good work if you can get it

Good work if you can get it

Will I ever be able to spend as much time in the streets with my camera as I’d like to? Not until I can figure out how to spend my time taking pictures instead of working for a living.
4 min read
17
Aug
July 4th in San Francisco (in color) | 2025

July 4th in San Francisco (in color) | 2025

I don’t shoot a lot of color these days, but when I decided to spend the day of July 4th in the streets of San Francisco with my camera, it seemed almost criminal to shoot in black and white.
2 min read
08
Aug
Fillmore Jazz Festival 2025

Fillmore Jazz Festival 2025

Fillmore Street, live music, food and crafts vendors, and people from all over The Bay—the perfect reason to spend a few hours out with a camera.
2 min read