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 of our time, it’s bizarre, it’s normal, it’s people in love, it’s people in pain.
Every street photograph says something about the photographer, so street photography is a two way mirror as well. Every street photograph is a double exposure of the image and the photographer making that image. And that is why many people find it difficult. Photographers reveal themselves with each photo they take; what they are willing to show, what risks they are willing to take, what they demand you must see. Are you brave enough to be a street photographer?
Maybe that´s why Medium Format street photography is harder. You can´t shoot with your nearly invisible Ricoh tucked between the buttons of your jacket. Not a chance. You’re carrying a big box of metal and glass in front of you, announcing your intentions with every step.
You have to decide; am I an extrovert and connect with my scene? Or am I more like Vivian Maier, invisible in my obviousness. I can’t help feeling that she walks beside me with each photo walk. Each of us blending in. Each of us photo journaling the same great city with a medium format camera. We walk together, nearly invisible and completely implacable, day by day, documenting, always documenting, shot by shot, week by week, year by year.
I like to think that if Vivian Maier were alive today, she would be posting her photographic diary of Chicago on Facebook and Instagram. Just like me. She dared to observe. Are you open to really observe the world while so many are staring at their phones to avoid it? Do you dare?
Street photography dares you to open your eyes. Elliott Erwitt reminds us that “finding something interesting in an ordinary place…has little to do with things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” And on Medium Street, the layers of truth, detail and magic in your vision become that much more powerful. Are you brave enough to take the next on-ramp to Medium Street? If you do you’ll never be the same.
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
