I am so grateful that I could still run street photography workshops and still get out with my camera to make pictures this year. And I’m super happy that I got some keepers! These are my best 9 of 2021… 

It’s that time of year again when we do a review and a round-up of our highlights of the year, and here are mine — made for Instagram stories! Here’s to an even better 2022. Cheers!

I created something that I wish I’d had access to when I started out as a street photographer! It’s called The Street Photography Playbook, and it is the ultimate digital guide to street photography ideas for street photographers… Check out all the intel over on my street photography courses, resources and workshops site — Department of Street Photography.

I was invited by Neale James of The Fujicast to be interviewed (in two parts). HERE is part one. And HERE is part two!

I am absolutely over the moon to have been invited to contribute to The Travel Photographer’s Way by the super talented travel writer and photographer, Nori Jemil, published by Bradt Travel Guides. I have been given “expert” status and have 3 double page spreads to show off! You can grab your very own copy right HERE

(Full disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link, which means I get a small commission, but you pay exactly the same as if you’d signed up directly) 

Thrilled to receive this news - I’ve often looked at the recommended portfolios that Format feature as they host my portfolio for me (yep, this one!), so I was thrilled to bits to be one of those portfolios. Check out all 10 HERE

And if you fancy building your portfolio with FORMAT then get started HERE 

(Full disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link, which means I get a small commission, but you pay exactly the same as if you’d signed up directly) 

I was invited to do a mini Q&A style interview on Street Photo Pool’s Instagram account. There are lots of other insightful interviews to have a read through.

The pandemic made me realise that my street photography workshop business was vulnerable so I had to cook up some new ideas of how to share my knowledge and continue to be able to teach the thing I love. 

I had been sitting on the idea of a Playbook for street photographers for some time, but now there was actual time to make it come to life. 

And while I was at it I realised that a rebrand was needed — The Photo Weekender, my previous street photography workshop brand, wouldn’t cover the digital products, and online courses I was plotting. So I created the Department of Street Photography — dostreetphotography.com #dostreetphotography.

And I am super excited about it! Grab my free guide to becoming a fearless street photographer plus my #1 street photography hack.

Thrilled to bits to be one of the 11 Finalists in the Series Category at London Street Photography Festival (LSPF) 2021. https://lspf.co.uk/news/photo-series-finalists-2021/

Delighted to have won one of 50 places in the 2021 Women Street Photographers online exhibition. This is the photo that will make it on to a virtual wall!!! The opening night is on Sunday, August 29 at noon New York time, 17:00 UK time via Zoom.

UPDATE: 

I would like to note that I will no longer collaborate with Musee Magazine. They are happy to receive free content (my bad), but have ignored all my attempts to contact them since publication in respect to their dreadful copy editing. 

Recently I was invited my Musée Magazine to write a few words about what triggered me to make my Horse Legs photo. I made the picture while running a workshop at The Photo Weekender. 

Here is what I wrote about the picture: Horse Legs by Polly Rusyn

I had been patiently waiting for some tourists to move away from these horses so that I could photograph them somehow, when I happened to look down and notice that one of the tourists (who was seemingly in my way) was wearing pink and reddish-magenta, and that the horses had their ankles wrapped in red! I immediately spotted the colour connection, and was also reminded of a famous photograph made by Elliot Erwitt entitled “Dogs Legs”, which is a photograph of the legs of a Great Dane dog next to human legs, and a small dog. His picture surprised and amused me as you do a double take before you see the joke, and it remains one of my favourite photos - so when faced with this combination of horses and human legs dressed in similar colours, and standing in a similar way, all I had to do was find the right angle to distribute them evenly in my frame. So it turned out that what I thought was an obstacle was actually an asset!

I was invited by street photographer and UP member, Melissa O’Shaughnessy, to participate in UP Photographers’ interview series: “Who? Where? What? When? Why?” and share six photos! You can see my interview here: https://upphotographers.com/interviews/interview-with-polly-rusyn/

I decided to use the one free entry for the Lens Culture street photography completion call and was chuffed to find myself in the Editors’ Pick gallery.

I have wonderful news!!! If you are not yet aware of the Women Street Photographers IG account (@womenstreetphotographers), get over there and give them a follow! The account was set up by Gulnara Samoilova (@gulnara_nyc), and she has curated the first compilation book of women street photographers, published by Prestel. It showcases 100 contemporary women street photographers from across the globe - including me! Whaaaaaat?! YES, meeeee! I was over the moon to have been invited to be part of the book, as you can imagine. The book’s foreword is by Ami Vitale (@amivitale), and it includes an essay by Melissa Breyer (@melbreyer). Front cover image is by BJ Levine @bjanelevine, and on the back is Regula Tschumi (@regulatschumi). And you can find yours truly on page 24! HUGE congratulations to all the women, it’s truly an honour to be in the book alongside them!!! Grab your copy: https://amzn.to/3bV8WBU

At the end of last year I was one of ten women shortlisted for the women street photographers Artist Residency in New York City. This year we got a multi page feature in Digital Cameral magazine Feb 2021 issue. It’s always such a buzz to see work printed! 

In such a difficult and challenging year it seemed impossible to have any highlights, but turns out I had a few, a couple of them before the pandemic started! There is more about each on in the NEWS on here, but I’ve collated them using my Instagram stories. 

Super excited to be part of a collection of women street photographers curated by Gulnara Samoilova and published by Prestel (part of Random House). The book went into production to be published by March 1st, 2021! The front cover is by B Jane Levine and a back cover is by Regula Tschumi. The foreword is by Ami Vitale and the essay is by Melissa Breyer. My photo is on page 24! There is a flip through for some sample pages HERE

Delighted to have this photo featured as part of this virtual exhibition of Women Street Photographers at the Indian Photo Festival, showing at the State Art Gallery in Hyderabad 12 November - 13 December, and also showcased also over on IGTV. 

I was invited to share some of my travel photography work from Papua New Guinea, along with some tips, for a double page spread in Digital Camera magazine this month. The photographs were made way back in 2014… and making them was a defining moment in that I shifted from photography being a hobby to it becoming an obsession! The rest, as they say, is history. [Digital Camera, Issue 235]

I posted about this before but wanted to share pictures of my photograph on the walls of the State Historical Museum, in Chelyabinsk, Russia.  It’s quite exciting see my name written in Cyrillic too!!!

So nice to be invited for an interview on MPB.com - an online used camera retailer. It was quite an in depth Q&A and I kinda liked their intro: “Polly Rusyn @pollyrusyn is an award-winning street photographer based in London, UK. Her work is imbued with colour, and the vibrancy of places and people. Using the world as an ever-changing canvas, she uses humour, light and a juxtaposition of objects and elements to reflect everyday life.”

As you probably already know I am an Official Fujifilm X-Photographer, and as such I get commissioned to do different things such as give talks, or workshops and also to provide content - like this blog entitled “Street Photography, Socially Distanced”… Check it out HERE

It was truly an honour to be on a shortlist of 10 women for the Women Street Photographers Artist Residency in New York. I did not win - but the winner was a very worthy one: Debrani Das. To entry we had to submit a series of eight images along with an artist statement. Below are my eight! 

My photo received an honourable mention in this the most recent exhibition opportunity from Women Street Photographers, for a virtual exhibition at the Kuala Lumpur Street Photographer Festival. My princesses were photographed in Stamford Hill, London.

Photographer Ryan Hardman invited me to be interviewed along with a number of other street photographers on his blog. Check it out and take a look through some of the other photographs being talked about too!