How will street photography change after covid?
I think people are going to look at the history of street photography a bit differently after covid. We’ll see images of crowds gathering and our entire generation will have a slight cringe, a reminder of being near people and the potential for germs and viruses to spread. Many street photographers (Gary Winogrand, Walker Evans, and Louis Faurer to name a few) made images documenting the uneasiness of being in public. Albeit for different reasons than the virus we have today. I think one of the reasons so many people enjoy seeing street photographs is because they show a kind of vulnerability in their subjects that’s hard to obtain through other types of image making.
Being vulnerable around others
It’s really hard to be vulnerable. This is something covid has probably exacerbated. I think post covid some of us are going to have a surge in social gatherings while others are going to retain a bit of the uneasiness of being in crowds. Some of us are going to realize how much fun it is to go out and be in public, and some of us will be reluctant to waltz back into the places where breath can flow freely. What’s interesting to me is to think about how street photography can make someone think critically about these actions. What’s good and what’s bad about being around other people? Why do we go into public in the first place? To exhibit ourselves? Spend time with friends? Talk with strangers?
How we act in the future
Maybe the way we act post pandemic won’t be the best reaction for ourselves, the people around us, or the planet. Are we going to have so many dinners and parties and consume so many fossil fuels in post pandemic life that we forget to be modest with our resources? Or are we going to think twice before going out and spending time and energy on superfluous events that don’t improve ourselves, our society, and our planet? Are we going to be so extroverted and social that we forget to spend time to just be alone and think? Or are we going to be so happy being in a place with strangers that we can be content with who we are and the great unknown nature of the universe? Anyway, I don’t want to answer any of these questions for you, I just wanted to spend a bit of time writing down these thoughts and I hope you enjoyed thinking about them for a little while.
Have a great day.
-Jeremy