NYC Street Photos

Thanks for posting this. I think it's essential viewing for "today's" street shooter. For at least a century, there was a filtering or editing process by which only the "best" (or rigorously vetted) street photos reached and lingered with the viewer. Though not guaranteed, there was basic assurance that someone had made the effort to select among his or her best shots and then print and find a medium for display.

Today, this most democratic of genres welcomes all, and that has changed the nature of not only the photos but how we experience them.

I'm less interested now in the solitary shot posted for it's (usually questionable) artistic merit. Instead, I've become more interested in how multiple selections add up in order to reveal (or suggest) something distinctive about the photographer. I'd say this distinctiveness is close to "vision," but it could also be personality, politics, perspective, values, and so forth.

The brief WNYC documentaries contextualize photos in the larger vision and purposes of the photographers, adding value to photos and generating insights that go beyond the particular images.

Photo discussion forums should be well suited to this marriage of "the shot" and the larger context, although there are obstacles. Some blogs work well, but often their photos are relegated to "illustrations" of text that is responsible for carrying most of the impact.

I keep looking.
 
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