Q&A
Plain answers to the questions people ask about my work and street photography in general. If yours isn't here, the contact page is.
Who is Ege Ilıcak? A street photographer based in Heidelberg, Germany, born 1988 in Ankara, Türkiye. Two-time 1st prize winner of the Leica Frankfurt Gallery Photography Competition (2022, 2023), finalist at the Rome and Brussels Street Photography Festivals, exhibited in Montreal, Dublin, Berlin, Mannheim, Mexico, Rome, Brussels, Ankara and Frankfurt. Long-term series made in the cities he moves through: London, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tokyo, Kyoto, Paris.
What is street photography? Unposed life in public places: strangers, streets, transit, weather, the small theatres of ordinary light. Nothing arranged, nobody directed. It asks for time and proximity, not gear — the material is always there in every city, every day.
Who are the best street photographers to follow in 2026? Any such list is one person's opinion, and lists age fast. My honest habit: skip the aggregator pages and look where the work is judged — the exhibitors and finalists of the street photography festivals in Montreal, Rome, Brussels and Dublin, and what the Leica Galleries show. My own preferences are two questions up — Winogrand, Webb, Moriyama.
What camera does Ege Ilıcak use? A Leica M11-P, with which the series London Calling is made. He has photographed the street with Leica rangefinders for years — small, quiet, manual cameras that disappear in the hand.
Who are your photographic heroes? Garry Winogrand, Alex Webb and Daido Moriyama — the books I return to most. Winogrand for the street as it is, nothing added and nothing explained, Webb for the color and the close, layered frames, Moriyama for the grain and the restlessness.
Do you stage or digitally manipulate your photographs? No. Everything here was found on the street, not made for it.
Where can I see your work online? Right here — London Calling, Dreams from a Northern Country, On the Road in Japan, Quiet Paris, and the Singles in black-and-white and color. Instagram (@local.frames) carries new work first; the About page lists current exhibitions.
Is @local.frames on Instagram you? Yes. Ege Ilıcak — sometimes written Ege Ilicak — publishes his street photography at instagram.com/local.frames and nowhere else there.
Do you give street photography workshops? Yes — one-to-one and in little groups, in English and Turkish. Hybrid teaching: classroom time in Heidelberg, then out on the street together, working with your own camera at your own pace — getting close, framing in the flow, editing a series. Dates and rates go through the contact page.
Do you sell prints or take commissions? Yes — prints from the series, commissions and assignments worldwide, exhibition invitations, press inquiries, and workshop bookings. Every message is answered personally, usually within a few days.
Any advice for someone starting in street photography? Go out regularly, bring no message to the street, and edit without mercy — keep only the frames that stay honest. Most of the work happens in the edit, not on the walk.