On a gray afternoon in Rotterdam, Patrick Nijhuis stands at the edge of a busy crossing, camera resting lightly in his hands like a compass needle. He isn’t shooting. He’s waiting. The crowd flows around him like water around a stone. Minutes pass. Then suddenly, click. One frame. Done.
“For me,” he says, smiling, “street photography is not hunting. It’s listening.”
Nijhuis has worked with cameras since childhood. What began as curiosity grew into discipline, then devotion. Today his approach to street photography is stripped back, intentional, almost monastic. No clutter. No excess gear. Just observation and timing.
“I want to disappear,” he explains. “The less my camera interferes, the more honest the moment becomes.”
The Philosophy of Less
Unlike many photographers chasing the newest technology, Nijhuis has stayed loyal to a single system for years: the Fujifilm X-Pro2 paired exclusively with fixed prime lenses.
“It’s old by today’s standards,” he laughs, “but perfect for how I work.”
The hybrid viewfinder, tactile dials, and compact rangefinder design make it feel more like a notebook than a machine. “It slows me down in the right way. Everything is manual. I decide, not the camera.”
That control matters. Street photography demands instant decisions. Light shifts. People move. Moments vanish.
“With manual settings, I’m already prepared. I don’t negotiate with menus.”
Prime lenses are another deliberate limitation. No zoom. No hesitation.
“A fixed focal length forces you to move your body. You step closer. You commit. It makes you part of the street instead of a distant observer.”
His usual choices are 23mm or 35mm equivalents. Wide enough to include context, tight enough for intimacy.
Settings as Second Nature
Nijhuis treats camera settings like muscle memory, preconfigured before stepping outside.
“My camera is ready before the story happens.”
His go-to approach is simple:
Manual exposure
Shutter around 1/250 or faster to freeze motion
Aperture between f/5.6 and f/8 for depth and flexibility
Auto ISO with an upper limit for clean files
Zone focusing for speed
“Zone focus is magic,” he says. “Set your distance, stop down, and you don’t even need to think. You just react.”
He rarely checks the screen.
“Chimping breaks the rhythm. Street photography is flow. You stay present.”
Tips from the Pavement
Asked what advice he would give to emerging photographers, Nijhuis leans back and considers.
“First, walk more than you shoot. Observation is the real work.”
He offers a handful of hard-earned truths:
Work light. One camera, one lens.
Pre-set exposure before entering a scene.
Anticipate instead of react. Watch body language.
Stay longer than feels comfortable. The best moments arrive late.
Accept failure. Ninety-nine frames may mean nothing. One frame means everything.
“And most important,” he adds, “develop your own signature. That’s the hardest part. You’re never finished. Every click refines your style.”
Silence Inside the Noise
What sets Nijhuis apart is his intention to capture quietness inside chaos. His photographs rarely scream. They whisper. A solitary figure framed by architecture. A pause between strangers. A brief alignment of shadow and light.
“In a world that’s constantly loud, I look for stillness,” he says. “Street photography helps me slow down. It anchors me.”
For him, the street isn’t spectacle. It’s meditation. A practice of attention.
As we finish the conversation, he lifts his camera again, eyes scanning the corner. The crowd shifts. Light bounces off glass. Somewhere, something is about to happen.
He waits, calm as a lighthouse.
Then, softly, another click.