Redefining street photography in the 21st Century
- Text by Miss Rosen
With the explosion of digital technology, street photography is the last bastion of image-making that exists free from the careerist trappings of industry. With few barriers to entry, it has become the lingua franca of local culture on a global scale, open to anyone who dares to try their hand.
“Street photography has become one of the most popular and accessible genres within the medium. Smartphones have truly transformed and democratised this genre of photography, into an art form that anyone can participate in,” says Isolde Brielmaier, Guest Curator of the new exhibition, We Are Here: Scenes from the Streets at the International Center of Photography in New York.
For decades, street photography was imagined as the provenance of the urban flâneur set against the ever changing cityscape. A blur of private lives unfolding against the drama and pathos of public space. But as street photography takes root in every corner of the globe, new generations of artists are redefining the possibilities of what the genre can be.
For We Are Here, Brielmaier teamed up with independent curatorial assistant Noa Wynn to bring together the work of 30 international artists including Daido Moriyama, Vanessa Charlot, Mel D. Cole, and Joseph Rodriguez who are pushing the boundaries of the form.
The exhibition opens in the 1970s on the Lower East Side where the ICP is now located with “An Ode to New York”, paying homage to the groundbreaking photographers who saw a new city emerging in the rubble and decay of landlord sponsored arson and “benign neglect.”
“This era signalled a critical moment both in the evolution of street photography and in New York City’s cultural and political landscape,” says Brielmaier. “The Lower East Side serves as a crossroads for artists like Martha Cooper, Jamel Shabazz, and Janette Beckman, who made some of their most poignant images here, photographs that continue to inspire the younger generation of image makers.”
We Are Here soon departs from the strictures of the past, leaving the familiar outlines of the metropolitan cityscape for greener pastures. “With our exhibition, we aim to challenge and dismantle the long-standing dominant narrative, which often reflects a Western, urban-centric topography,” says Brielmaier.
Liberated from the limiting tropes of urban planning in the Global North, the exhibition offers an expansive, inclusive, and layered look at “the street”, whether it is to be found in the suburbs, the countryside, or the desert.
The exhibition features lyrical scenes by Farnaz Damnabi (Iran), Debrani Das (India), Stephen Tayo (Nigeria), Soufian Chemcham (Algeria), and Feng Li (China) that offer fresh and innovative perspectives on the language of street photography.
“Street photography serves as a powerful tool for documenting civil unrest, protests, and the daily lives of everyday people from diverse communities,” says Brielmaier. “This genre provides visibility, voice, and encourages social change.”
You might like
Daido Moriyama’s tense photographs explore the gritty underbelly of 20th century Japan
As a new retrospective into the iconic Japanese photographer's work opens, Isaac Muk talks to its editor about a lifetime capturing the darker side of globalisation
Written by: Isaac Muk
Meet Huck 79’s artist-in-residence
Mel D. Cole is a self-taught, award-winning photographer based in New York City. Here he shares insights into his practise and a list of cultural things that have inspired him.
Written by: Josh Jones
An intimate window into New York’s ’70s lesbian scene
We Others — An exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery combines Donna Gottschalk’s unearthed photographs of LGBTQ+ activists and friends, along with Hélène Gianneccini’s written histories.
Written by: Miss Rosen
A tender portrait of life and ritual from Mexico City’s streets
Órale — For the last six years of his life, photographer, collector and designer Michel Hurst documented death rituals, street life and religious pageantry in contemporary Mexico. A new monograph showcases his work.
Written by: Roxana Diba
In photos: Washington DC’s Black communities facing up to gentrification
A Language We Share — A new exhibition featuring the work of Beverly Price and Gordon Parks preserves historically Black neighbourhoods in the USA, before development and economic forces made them disappear.
Written by: Miss Rosen
On the frontlines of Britain’s ’80s protest movements
Protest and Equality — Against a backdrop of Thatcherism, hospital closures and global conflict, photographer Sarah Saunders was a documentarian of the long decade’s effects on society, as well as the communities actively resisting it.
Written by: Miss Rosen
