Pigeons: The Ultimate Supporting Actor in Street Photography

Don't shoo them away. They're compositional gold.

They’ve been called “rats with wings.” A public nuisance. Flying vermin. Urban freeloaders.

Living in New York City, I have no shortage of pigeon photos—usually in swarm mode.

Occasionally in full attack formation.

But while combing through my street files recently, I was struck by how often a single pigeon slips into the frame. Not staged. Not invited. Just… there.

Sometimes he’s an innocent bystander, wandering through the scene like he bought a ticket to the wrong movie.

Other times he lingers at the edge of the action, delivering a quiet punchline, whether eyeing the snack vendor, side-glancing a couple in the park, or squaring off with someone twenty times his size.

More often than not, he improves the composition, grounding the frame, adding scale, introducing movement, and injecting a dose of dry humor exactly where it’s needed.

The pigeon may be the ultimate supporting actor in urban photography.

Love them or hate them, they’re part of the street’s ecosystem.

So now, when I’m out shooting, I don’t shoo them away. I cast them.