In Praise of Street Photography. Which we used to just call....photography.

Nearly every study about health, remaining healthy, being healthy, reaching for longevity, etc. makes it very clear that a sedentary lifestyle (which means sitting on your ass all day long at work and then taking a "long" walk from your car to your couch for an extended evening of sitting in front of your TV, computer screen, etc.) takes years off your life expectancy. Full stop. Other implications are that being isolated in your office or home isolates you from the shared reality of existence. At a certain point, as you get more and more cloistered, your ideas about reality, society, wealth, and general healthiness become a distillation of whatever media you consume. And I was going to say, "For Better or Worse" but I think I'll go with "For worse or worser." And yeah, I know "worser" isn't a real word. 

The reliance on media for cues about society and the general condition of life is fraught with real peril. More media = more sadness. More isolation, and an increasingly narrow point of view. Social isolation robs one of the mental health guardrails that an engaged and vibrant embrace of life outside your door and into your community can provide. So, why are so many photographers seemingly content to sit at home and endlessly scroll through blogs, vlogs, videos and the like instead of tying those nice walking shoes (recommended by one influencer or another...), grabbing a cool camera (of which you have many; I am sure) and heading out the door into a vibrant cityscape in order to get exercise, visual inspiration, a better sense of who lives near us and with us and, as an extra bonus, to get some practice framing, exposing and capturing interesting images with your camera? 

Staying home. It's like a giant mental health breakdown...

Street photography is one enjoyable cure for cultural isolation. One can go to events and venues that cater to people who are different from the insulated and "safe" people who surround you in whatever bubble of comfort you've created for yourself. I try to go to events, public gatherings, farmers markets, parades, and sometimes just the day to day flow of life as often as I can. And not just in my own neighborhood, my own church, or nestled into my own social and economic demographic but in as wide a choice of experiences as I can find. 

Street photography is merely the practice of going outside, being among the public at large and getting comfortable documenting real life. Current life. Diverse cultures. New stuff. You can watch the news and get riled about isolated events, curated to make you feel sad, angry and aggrieve or you can step outside and see how actual people live day-to-day. It's different. I assure you. 

I went out to do a few errands this afternoon. I parked at the grocery store and walked the six or seven blocks to my bank in downtown to deposit a check. Sure, yes, Europeans, I know I can deposit a check from the comfort and "safety" of my home with a phone. And I know that checks have become a meaningless form of payment for most of the "first" world country dwellers. But have you considered that the physical act of depositing a  paper check at a non-virtual bank can provide you with a nice walk through the urban landscape? That you can stop and photograph things or people you didn't know existed but which suddenly present themselves in front of your eyes and your camera? That you can greet the bank tellers who, here in Austin at least, still exist? That you can walk back to the grocery store on a different route and see even more new things? That you can detour down an interesting street? That you can extend that walk for as long as you like?

And then you can head back to the grocery store. Yes, all my young GenZ friends, I know I can order groceries online and have them delivered to my house by someone trying to make a living. But I would miss an opportunity, an excuse, to get up from my chair in front of my computer and .... experience more shared, real life. And I get to look through the various pints of blackberries and choose the one I think is freshest. I can investigate the breads on offer and see which one best matches my habit of eating hearty toast with olive oil on the side before swim practice. And I can see what other people are buying, how they are dressing, how they are interacting and how they flow through their lives, which are different--- but the same as mine. 

I read about wealth distribution on a photo blog site yesterday. There are rich and poor people. But the whole exercise immediately reminded me of the sage saying that "comparison is the thief of happiness." 

There is an equalizing effect in walking together through the streets and down the sidewalks. A joint experience that's missing, really, in all these online media. The media create granular silos of thought and expectations that fly in the face of the idea that we're all going through life while trying to be as happy or as comfortable as we can be. Chasing love, companionship, belonging and joy. Belonging being the key to the rest.

On the street there is poverty but after the hurdle of poverty is overcome everyone else is more or less equal in the moment. And the camera is there to document that feeling of community. From documenting a random hug between old friends, a shared coffee with a small group out shopping together, families out sharing meals, and even the occasional documentation of budding love. It's all so life affirming. Such a great cure for a sedentary and lonely life...

Street photography is, in the moment, on the street,  a social equalizer. One afternoon I photographed billionaire, Michael Dell as he walked past me on the sidewalk near the Austin convention center. A few blocks away I stopped to talk to a person experiencing homelessness.  I didn't need to give the billionaire anything but a smile and a nod. I felt compelled to give what I had with me to the person living on the street because, well, in walking outside I've come to see him as an equal in the process of living, albeit one who needs a bit more help. There but for the grace of God go I.  I purposely bring along cash now when I'm out photographing just in case. But a donation of time and money is not just for someone down on their luck, it's also for me so I can understand better that we're all, in some way, connected. And there is always hope.

If more people in the comfortable middle class got up off the couch, out of their cars, and walked through the streets of their cities and met the people who live all around them and saw life as a breeze flowing in and around the individuals who surround us their understanding and compassion might grow. Their jealousy of people who have more might recede. Their compassion for those who have less might surge. And, in general, they might feel more comfortable about real life. Their real life. Instead of the lives of virtual strangers and the politics they get fed through their ever present screens.

Sadness, jealousy, rancor and division seem to be addictions. Just as strong and as destructive as alcohol or drugs. Maybe street photography is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things but every positive effort is somehow rewarding. Even if it's just an excuse to get outside your bubble and experience more of real life. With real people. And real scenes. Every smile and nod from a stranger is a connection...

Cameras can be more than toys or tools. They can be magic carpets that give us some insight to experience more. To see more deeply and intently. And to incorporate what we see as learning for ourselves. Just a thought.