Elliott Erwitt

The lesson: look for the joke. Erwitt joined Magnum in 1953 and became known for gentle irony, the small coincidence or mismatch that makes a stranger smile, and four of his books are given over entirely to dogs. Dogs are a smart first subject for a nervous beginner, and he said as much: they do not object to being photographed and they do not ask for prints. Watch how often his pictures depend on pairing, a dog and its owner, a small creature beside a large one, two people echoing each other's pose. Training your eye to spot those rhymes works anywhere, from a park bench to a bus stop, and it never requires confrontation.