Margarita Mavromichalis's street photos look like happy accidents (but never are)

An elderly couple perfectly position themselves between a sunbather's outstretched legs on a Greek beach. A woman in Tokyo makes a cartoonish expression of shock while carrying a child on her back.

Look at these images from Margarita Mavromichalis's exhibition, When The Pavement Breathes, and you might think: "That was a stroke of luck". You'd be completely wrong.

The Greek photographer's series, winner of All About Photo's February 2026 Solo Exhibition, presents what looks like a collection of perfectly timed flukes.

But here's what every street photographer knows and every aspiring one needs to learn: there's no such thing as a lucky street photograph. There's just preparation meeting opportunity, repeated thousands of times until muscle memory takes over.

An invisible discipline

Take the pig head image above. Consider what had to happen for this frame to exist. Mavromichalis had to notice the pig head. She then has to predict the staff member would move to the window and position herself at precisely the right angle to frame the green opening against that perfect pink wall. And then wait.

Street photography is 90% standing around looking at interesting things and 10% pressing the shutter at the exact right moment.

The beach shot demonstrates something equally instructive: perspective and layers. Anyone can shoot a couple walking. But creating a frame where outstretched legs become foreground elements that dialogue with distant figures requires a level of spatial thinking that's closer to sculpture than traditional photography.

You're not just recording; you're constructing relationships between planes.

Why languages are useful

I also don't think it's a coincidence that Mavromichalis speaks five languages, and studied translation and interpreting before picking up a camera at New York's International Center of Photography. Think about it: translation requires you to see beyond literal meaning to capture essence and emotion. And that's precisely what these photographs do.

The pig head picture isn't about a pig head; it's about the absurdity lurking in commercial transactions. The beach legs aren't about anatomy; they're about the generational rhythms of leisure.

Street photography is its own visual language, and Mavromichalis is remarkably fluent. Her work spans cities across continents, yet maintains a consistent vernacular of humor, irony and careful observation. This consistency comes from understanding that wherever you are in the world, gestures and expressions form a kind of universal grammar.

Finally, Mavromichalis's resumé reveals another truth about successful street photography that's easy to miss: persistence.

She has work in permanent collections at the Museum of the City of New York and Brooklyn Historical Society. Publications in The Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post. Multiple international awards, including a Leica Oskar Barnack Award nomination.

You don't achieve this level of recognition by getting lucky every now and again. You achieve it by shooting relentlessly, editing ruthlessly, and understanding that for every extraordinary frame, you've probably made ten thousand forgettable ones.

It's ironic, really. Your street photography looks effortless because of the enormous effort you've applied systematically over years on end. Or, to put it another way: the pavement doesn't just breathe on its own. You have to learn to feel its pulse.

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Tom May is a freelance writer and editor specializing in art, photography, design and travel. He has been editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. He has also worked for a wide range of mainstream titles including The Sun, Radio Times, NME, T3, Heat, Company and Bella.