Plaza Photo Walk

This Spring, I am making several journeys throughout Kansas City and the surrounding area—to explore, capture, and eventually print in the darkroom. I am placing images and stories here as blog posts—to share both my journeys and my most recent work. If you have thoughts or comments, feel free to leave them below!

I follow many photographers on Youtube and blogs, from whom I have learned so much. Many of them are “street photographers” or “street-style” photographers who walk about their city—exploring and capturing. “Street photography” (as I understand it) is often characterized by the photographer catching people in their everyday moments as they walk, run, bike, and even drive. Some photographers push this idea by influencing situations with the presence of the camera—evoking a unique tension, reaction, or moment outside of the everyday norm. In either case, photographing complete strangers is incredibly intimidating, even though the experts (like, Eric Kim and Ed Pavez) encourage the goodness and joy that can come from an encounter like this. I, and probably most “green” street photographers,  think that people don’t want to be bothered or their space invaded. My hope over the coming months, is to break down that comfort zone and capture more people, situations, scenes that I find interesting. Though Kansas City streets are not very crowded, I think they have something to share.

With that said, you’re not going to see many humans in these photos. My effort here was to see the Plaza in new ways. Really, I want to always photograph with “fresh eyes,” but I particularly want to see my city in new light this year.

The plaza is an geographical and commercial icon of Kansas City—nestled near Brush Creek between downtown and KC’s extensive suburban sprawl. It’s full of local boutiques, fashionable chains, and corporate businesses, and it’s particularly known for the Spanish architecture and plethora of fountains.

I shot two rolls of Ilford Delta 400 black-and-white film with my Voigtländer Bessa R4M (Voigtländer 40mm Nokton f1.4 lens)—all processed and scanned in my darkroom.

Thanks for viewing!