Capturing Community: Street Photography at Mile of Music
At the end of July a group of our Photo Opp photo walkers headed out to the first night of Mile of Music (MoM)- a four day music festival that stretches through College Avenue in downtown Appleton. MoM is a brilliant weekend of original music and live performances from musicians all over the country. The stages pop up inside businesses, on parking lots, in alleyways and of course, in Houdini Plaza. The festival is free to attend and much of the activity is in, or adjacent to public spaces making it a perfect opportunity for some casual street photography.
And that's really the key to good street photography - public spaces. Aside from relieving photographers of the need to obtain permission from property owners, public spaces are ripe with the things that make great street photographs. Sidewalks, alleys, city parks and the streets themselves are the places where people can gather freely to celebrate, create, speak out, get fresh air and sunlight, and generally create a community culture. All of this can make great photos.
Photos by Josh Crowe
Photos by Brian Blazer
Photos by Graham Washatka
Photos by Giles LaRock
Photos by Mike Burman
Photos by Tania Nelson
Interested in seeing more about what street photographers are doing across the globe? Here are a few of our favorites to help get you started:
Paulie B - In his extensive Walkie Talkie series, he interviews street photographers while they're out in the street.
Framelines - Street photographers Josh and Shane regularly publish zines, create POV videos, and do gear reviews.
Walk Like Alice - Partners Jeff and Sarah push out POV photowalk videos of the British seaside, review photo books, and publish zines.
Of course, all of our favorite photographers are right here at The Photo Opp. If you'd like to join us for the next Community Photo Walk, or any of our other activities visit our programming page, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and sign up for our newsletter to get a heads up on upcoming opportunities.
