The Summer of Street and COVID. With Gallery Uploads.

In 2019, I began watching as many photography documentaries that I could find on every streaming service available. There were three that really stood out and captivated me; ‘The Many Lives of William Klein,’ ‘Everybody Street’ and ‘Gary Winogrand: All Things are Photographable,’ all of which focused mainly on street photography. These films really inspired and motivated me to take my camera out and try my hand at this genre of photography. Street photography was something so completely out of my comfort zone, but as I watched these documentaries, as well as others, I couldn’t help but see just how incredibly exciting and rewarding it all seemed.

These street photography documentaries focused mostly on the big league cities like New York and LA etc. To have even the remotest possibility of having an experience like those in the films, I knew that my best opportunity for good street images would be State Street in downtown Madison, WI. With its summer farmer’s markets, car shows and sidewalk sales, State Street can become just as congested as many of the hot spots you can find in the bigger cities. This was the perfect place to see what I could do.

To preface, there are some ethical conflicts that I struggle with when looking at examples of other’s street photography. I find those that take photographs of the homeless or destitute to be reprehensible. There’s not much to say other than it is selfishly exploitative and nothing more. Unless you are working towards helping these people with funding or to bring a greater awareness of some kind, then you are doing this for the wrong reasons. Likely, they are just hoping for those likes on Instagram and it is shameful.

Another type of street photography that I find ethically distasteful would be confrontational photography of the likes of Bruce Gilden. With the in-your-face-with-a-flash gimmick(and to me that’s all it is, a gimmick)I find him to be akin to a bully in the streets and I do not see the allure in these photographs. His street portrait work, although he is given permission by the subjects, is the very definition of exploitation. Personally, with his unapologetic attitude about his egregious style, I think he is a piece of garbage.

As far as how things went when I finally found the courage to get out there, my first attempts at street photography weren’t very successful. When I began, it was during the colder months of winter and early spring. There just weren’t very many people around except for UW students. Though it can still become quite crowded, especially during the college lunch hours, I always seemed to be there at the wrong times when there wasn’t much to capture.

I was able to get a couple of interesting images, but I had to be very selective and mostly utilized what many call the ‘fishing’ style of street photography. The process of first finding a scene or background and then lie in wait for a figure to enter the frame to complete the vision of the photographer. The cover photograph of my Facebook page is an example of one of my successful ‘fishing’ images. Phan Ho is typically seen as the most representative and influential photographer of this style.

Through some trial and error and multiple days of shooting, I found that the fishing style of street photography was not what I was particularly interested in. Both in photographing and in viewing. It wasn’t what Henri Cartier-Bresson so famously coined(and perhaps overly quoted)as the “decisive moment.” Many of the most high profile and great street photographers such as Winogrand, Joel Meyerowitz, William Klein and Robert Frank, just to name a few, also actively engaged in this type of street photography. Moving about and weaving your way through the crowd, it was a sort of sport or ballet in the streets to capture that one standout moment in time. This style of photography is typically called ’hunting.’ This was my jam. I love everything about it and it was what I wanted to do.

It was a slow burn at first as I am rather introverted and I was honestly quite intimidated by the process. I mean, what if someone got angry and confronted me? What if I were assaulted? In this day and age, a white guy walking down the street taking pictures of people isn’t exactly seen without pre-misconceptions or judgement. At times, I feel I missed the glory days where it was less likely to be seen as a threat or suspect.

Then, I hit my groove and I became obsessed. It was like an addiction. I found myself thinking of it constantly and went out almost daily. I spent every weekend after work on Capitol Square and State Street for the farmer’s markets and other events. It was exhilarating! I had no idea it could be such a rush. I understood why the photographers mentioned above were in love with capturing these candid moments in the street. It felt right. Like I should have been doing it a hell of a long time ago.

All of this happened within the timeframe of the winter through summer of 2019. Then, just as I was settling in with the idea that this was going to be my focus in photography, possibly forever…COVID. Well shit.

And so that was that. For the foreseeable future at the time. I lost my groove. I lost my motivation. It was all gone. The crowded streets, the events, and therefore, all that I had fallen in love with just a few short months before. Since then, I haven’t gotten myself out on the streets or mustered the courage again to go for it. There is one thing about how COVID affected my street photography that does haunt me though, I definitely regret not taking advantage of capturing the barren streets and the population walking the streets in masks when we were finally allowed to go back out. The scenes that have never happened before(and hopefully never again)and such a definitive moment of our time.

I am committed to finding that courage again to step outside of my comfort zone and find that rush. In the meantime, below you will find some of my favorite images from the street that I am uploading into their respective B&W and color ‘Street’ folders. There are many more images to be found those galleries. If you are taking the time to read this or visit my site, I hope you enjoy them!

~Cory

You can access the B&W Street gallery in its entirety here