I’m Michael Kirchherr, a street photographer and software developer based near Düsseldorf in Germany. I build software products for a living and spend most of my free time walking cities with a camera, looking for light, shapes and quiet human moments.

I have been working as a self-employed developer for more than ten years, mainly on web and mobile projects. I like simple, efficient tools, clean interfaces and code that does its job without getting in the way. The same mindset shapes my photography. I prefer minimal compositions, natural light and images that feel honest rather than overly staged.

My focus is on street and travel photography in cities like Düsseldorf, Cologne, Lisbon, Porto and Valencia. I’m interested in how people move through urban spaces, how hard light cuts through buildings and how small gestures can tell a whole story. A lot of that work is shot on 35mm film and compact cameras such as the Contax T3, mixed with digital work from cameras like the Leica Q3, the Ricoh GR III HDF and the Ricoh GR IV. I enjoy switching between these tools and treating them as different ways to see the same scene. Film slows me down and forces more intention, while the Ricoh and other digital cameras let me experiment quickly and try out ideas on the street.

I also like to play with the way light renders in-camera. Diffusion filters such as Tiffen Glimmerglass are part of that process, softening highlights and adding a subtle glow to night scenes or harsh daylight. For me, these details are less about “effect” and more about giving the image a specific mood that matches how the moment felt.

This site is a place to collect my street photography, film experiments and personal projects, and sometimes to write a bit about cameras, workflow and how I balance software development with a creative life. If you want to collaborate, license an image or just say hello, you can reach me at kirchherr@priorapps.com.