uninspired photowalk inspiring changes
%%yellow%%i used to find my city easy to photograph%%. after i moved away and moved back, %%red%%i can't find the same inspiration%%. it is now a very instagramable city. %%red%%i hate the instagramable%%. gentrification has turned it from something with a bit more bite to a disneyfied coco-esque parody of itself.
yesterday i took early to the streets and markets, but found little to inspire. found a panadero to chat with and photograph a bit. a few travelers coming in from the sierra. some aging walls lit by the morning sun. %%yellow%%but overall i felt meh about the walk%%.
%%green%%my photography typically focuses on the working class%%, %%orange%%which is something my city has done well to try and hide and/or bury%%. i can go to markets far from the city centre and talk with folk and photograph folk. i can hang out with folk from the sierra, or protesters who have com into town. but when it comes to my old work here, the city is nothing like what it was. that city and its people have changed.
i have never followed stories in my photography. %%green%%i prefer the spontaneity of the every day%%. %%red%%one thing gentrification does is spoil spontaneity, it flattens everyday life and makes it predictable%%. %%yellow%%when everything becomes predictable, it doesn't feel worth exploring and documenting%%. %%purple%%this has led me to the decision that i will have to start approaching my photography from the perspective of a storyteller%%. at least here in my city. i wonder what that will look like?
%%green%%i am also going to start photographing more of my community and friends%%. our everyday lives, meet ups, and events. uninspired days can inspire, just not in the ways we think.