Asian markets have long been a popular draw for photographers, particularly street & travel photographers. It’s easy to see why – they’re a riot of colour, shape, and activity, full of people who are too busy working to worry about that weirdo pointing a camera at them.
And yet a lot of the market photography we see online tends to be samey and cliched – piles of fruit, smiling stallholders (a staple of any photographer’s visit to a market in SE Asia in particular), price tags etc. I spend a lot of time shooting in the markets of Bangkok with my photo walk clients, and always try to get shots that are a bit different to the norm. Here are my tips for making sure your next market shoot produces the goods!