Street Photographers Get 'eXposed'

Street Photographers Recognized in Harvey Milk Photo Center

Work of many talented street photographers in San Francisco is being recognized at The Harvey Milk Photo Center. The exhibition includes 52 works of 28 street photographers, with all images captured within San Francisco, California. The exhibition was the brainchild of David Christensen, the Director of the Harvey Milk Photo Center. A group member, CJ Lucero, brought the group to David’s attention and, after having reviewed the images from the SF Facebook page, he became determined to present the work to the public. The groups' administrators then labored over several months to put together this amazing show: that team included Michael Kirschner, RE Casper, Denis Englander, and James Watkins.

Photo Credit James Watkins SF Street Photographer

“People see these moments all the time and say to themselves, ‘I wish I had a camera’. We’re the guys with the camera.” SF Street Photography Groups President Michael Kirschner 

"eXposed" is the name of the exhibit taking place now through January 22, 2017.  A selection of San Francisco Street Photographers work will be featured at the esteemed Harvey Milk Photo Center. Street photography is considered one of the toughest genres of photography, capturing a unique moment that will never happen again, and cannot be reset. By tapping into the emotion of the subject in a fast moving urban environment with an abundance of people, buildings, cars, trains, and uncontrollable lighting is incredibly challenging and rewarding.

Street photography, in general, has such a range of emotion, I'd imagine in a bustling city encompassed in 49 miles, there is a lot to cover! The rough realities of living on the streets mixed with the high profile business women and men all mixed together in this vast metropolitan jungle make for a big range of visual representation. 

Photo Credit James Watkins SF Street Photographer

Street photography groups like these are all over the US and exist in cities of all sizes, this group started in 2013 and engages photographers of all levels to share and engage with each other. Combing their work experiences and wisdom with each other, it offers great benefits to the members and let's be honest, sounds like a lot of fun! James mentioned to me that sometimes you end up shooting alone and other times you'll have a small group gathering to stroll the streets together.

When asked what must have gear piece is with him on all his shoots James says his Tamrac Stratus 15 Shoulder Bag, exclaiming that it has lots of capacity for his street photo needs. Also, being a hip shooter, he finds his two-axis hot-shoe bubble level to be an indispensable piece of equipment. You just snap it onto the camera’s hot shoe and you can keep that camera reasonably level in those times when you’re not looking through the viewfinder.

Photo Credit RE Casper. SF Street Photography

On how this group got its start and the purpose it serves, James Watkins says

​By undertaking this exhibition, we trying to sustain our group’s effort to bring together a diverse community of visual artists dedicated to documenting and preserving photographic images of life in the City of San Francisco. In doing so, we hope to do our part to promote the continued growth and public appreciation of street photography.

All images used with permission from SF Street Photography Group.

Group Website: http://sanfranciscostreet.photography/

Facebook Page (where it all started):  https://www.facebook.com/groups/sfstreetphotography/

Log in or register to post comments