Walk and watch. There are small plays all around you on Medium Street, if you learn to see like a street photographer. Catching the perfect moment on the street is like watching a play, knowing you are about to critique the actors. Watch. It´s not something that comes naturally in the city, where we try to create a zone of personal privacy.
Watch. Within each cocoon, is an actor in a private play. Look carefully; how do they walk? How do they carry themselves? What does that tell you about them. Is there a small photographic metaphor in the way an old man walks past a patch of flowers reaching toward the sun?
Those happy teenagers chatting, smiling and laughing against a movie poster of the latest disaster film. A man and a woman talking; she is smiling broadly, he stares right through her. Do you see? Learn to see the private plays on Medium Street and your camera´s eye will record it forever. Snap their story.
“Everything that is visible hides something invisible. Gary Winograd
When I view scenes for possible shots, I ask myself, “What is the hidden story?” I watch. Sometimes I wait – for the moment to draw viewers inside the secret plot. To help them see the invisible. With a medium format camera to capture the layers of detail that pull back the curtain on each private play.
How will you know when to open the curtain and close the shutter? Weegee, the extraordinary street life documentarian knew. “When you find yourself beginning to feel a bond between yourself and the people you photograph, when you laugh and cry with their laughter and tears, you will know you are on the right track.”
Get in touch with your feelings about your subjects. Wait. Your empathy and emotions will tell you when it’s just right. Street photography means not just training your eye, but listening to your heart. That´s the entrance to Medium Street.
Short Stories on Medium Street
Walk and watch. There are small plays all around you on Medium Street, if you learn to see like a street photographer.
Dark Shadows on Medium Street
What better holiday than Halloween to discuss dark photography. An evening dining al fresco. A rainy night stroll. A walk down a
Walking With Vivian
What is street photography? Depends on who you ask! It’s a metaphor, it’s a memory, it’s a frozen moment, it’s a document
Old Friends and a New Lens on Medium Street
Sweaters? Dark mornings? How did that happen!? Chicago is grudgingly surrendering its idyllic 2024 Summer. As the smell of pumpkin spice crowds
Just Breathe On Medium Street
Electric fusion of Mexican Latino rhythms, tacos, tiny magical alebrije dogs and frogs, carved from wood and whimsically painted. Families in flag
Artistic Skinship on Medium Street
Twice a year Chicago hosts the largest “Call to Arms” in the country. The Villain Arts Chicago Tattoo Festival fills a cavernous
Dog Days of Summer
Dogs, dogs, dogs. You meet many interesting people during photo walks and dogs are some of the most interesting “people” that you
A Multi-Cultural Medium
Chicago is a tapestry of cultures and every summer they celebrate in the street. Every weekend, festivals honor neighborhoods, foods, authentic dress,
The Museum Is the Medium
Street photography belongs in the museum, and not just in frames, hung on the walls. Museums are temples of art, color, geometry
The Big Medium
When life is big, bright, and popping with color all around, you’ve just turned onto Medium Street. There is nothing small-format about
Hot and (Medium) Heavy
I just tell myself “He ain’t heavy, he’s my….camera!” walking with my big Fuji in the sweltering heat of a surprise Summer
Oh, The Places You´ll Go, When You Go Medium
You might worry about using a medium format camera for street photography. It´s bigger. It´s out there. You are Out There. Do
Up Close and Personal
I headed out on my photo walk on a beautiful, sunny day in Chicago. The temperature teased near 80 degrees, but, it’s
Blaze Your Trail
The One of a Kind Show happens only twice a year in Chicago. Hundreds of artists, craftspeople, jewelers, nuns selling handmade baked
The Oddities of Medium Format Street Photography
Huge pet Tegu lizards, pierced Goth lithographers and perky midwestern purveyors of bondage paraphernalia recently provided a macabre feast of street photography
“Medium Powdered” Street
Red, yellow, blue, purple and green powder was being painted on, and tossed in the air, by the joyful, dancing crowd at
Getting to Medium Street
The road to medium format street photography, for me, began with traditional street photography. If you “get” street photography, you’re on the
Welcome to Medium Street!
Street Photography in a New Medium and Medium is the New Street Photography! What is Medium Street? Medium Street is somewhere new
