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Posts Tagged ‘Neighborhood’

Brooklyn photographer captures neighborhood portraits of hope, unity amidst ‘unprecedented’ isolation

03 Apr

As many artists around the world have had to do amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, photographer Stephen Lovekin decided to make the most of these more isolated times to document families and their messages to the world as shared through the windows of Lovekin’s Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park.

Lovekin, who’s a Shutterstock editorial photographer, came up with the idea for the project after looking for ways to help people feel more connected despite being separated from one another.

‘As a photographer I have always loved and been drawn to shooting portraits – a process that allows a connection to be made between photographer, subject, and viewer,’ Lovekin says about the project. ‘So, when this Coronavirus began to rapidly spread and people were ordered into ‘self-isolation’ and ‘social distancing’, I began to feel compelled to document this unprecedented time in our history by starting locally by reaching out to people in my Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park to see how they were feeling and to see what message, if any, they would like to share with the world, whether they be personal, political, or spiritual.’

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The latest installment of my ‘Words At The Window: Self Isolation And The Coronavirus’ project shot in the neighborhood of Ditmas Park, Brooklyn NYC. #shutterstocknow #wordsatthewindow #selfisolation #quarantine #coronavirus #covid19 #washyourhands #wegotthis #alonetogether #socialdistancing #ditmaspark #brooklyn #nyc #blackandwhite #portrait #nikon

A post shared by Stephen Lovekin (@slovekinpics) on

As for how the portraits became a series of shots framed within windows, Lovekin says that wasn’t the original plan. ‘When beginning the project I hadn’t completely settled on the idea of photographing everyone behind a window. Some people would come on their porches or stoops, but that just didn’t feel right to me for some reason,’ says Lovekin. ‘As the project began to evolve the idea of the window started to make more sense. The window being something that we look out on the world from. Something that literally frames how people can look in on us and how we look out at the world. Something that we normally do not enter or exit from.’

The project has only been going on for a week, but it’s already gained a following across social media. Lovekin says the ‘plan is to have it be an ongoing project for as long as I can safely make it possible.’

Shutterstock also caught wind of the project and teamed up with Lovekin to offer the ongoing series as a collection available to purchase, with 10% of all sales going to GiveDirectly, Inc., an organization that ‘allows donors to send money directly to the poor with no strings attached,’ according to its website. Charity Navigator, a third-party charity auditor of sorts, rates GiveDirectly, Inc. four out of four stars, the highest rating it gives to organizations that offer accountability and transparency in their operations.

Below are a few images from the series Lovekin shared with us:

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Lovekin offers this parting message to viewers of the project:

‘I hope that in this time of chaos and uncertainty this project will help people feel more connected to the outside world even though we are all literally separated from one another for an unknown amount of time. If we continue to communicate and connect with those around us in a direct, honest, and positive way can get through this together. It will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever really is. Stay safe and stay at home! And as my own children’s sign said, “Soon we will be together”.’

You can find the full series on Shutterstock’s website and keep up with the latest portraits on Lovekin’s Instagram profile.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

12 Apr

In this article, you will get 10 photo story ideas to help you connect with and tell the story your community including; bus stops, your community garden, and the grocery store.

Finding a unique and extraordinary scene to photograph can take a lot of energy. Thanks to the internet, you’re bombarded daily with exotic scenes caught on camera from all around the world and suddenly your own community or neighborhood feels commonplace by comparison.

What we often forget is that magic happens in our own backyards. What feels mundane to you, can be fascinating to people from other regions, countries, and cultures (and looking back from future decades).

Animal - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

To get that magic working in photographs of your community, tell a clear story with a mix of long shots, mid shots, close-ups, and extreme close-ups. You’ve already overcome the first hurdles. You know what the light is like and probably have an idea of some settings to use. Chances are, you speak the language and understand the culture.

You know the best place to pick up a coffee, and what time the trains, boats, or sheep go past each day. With technical and communication issues sorted before you begin, you can work on breaking some (photographic) rules. Push your creativity by experimenting with composition, framing, and movement to further convey the vibe of your neighborhood.

Need some inspiration? Here are my top ten subjects to help tell the story of your neighborhood:

1. Bus Stop Narratives

Bus stops speak volumes about the neighborhood. Whether your closest one is posh or plain, busy or quiet – there’s always something there to photograph.

If the bus stop is a building, look for strong lines and shapes. If it’s busy, experiment with different shutter speeds to show the movement of vehicles and people. Perhaps it’s just a seldom-used seat overgrown with weeds.

Use wide angle shots to convey a feeling of space and emptiness as the light fades at the end of the day. Get friends or family to pose to provide context and scale to the scene.

Bus stop Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

2. Animal Life

For some, photographing animals in their neighborhood means capturing images of local domestic pets, or common birds. For others, it means finding larger, scarier animals (the rest of us are jealous).

Even the common sparrow can be a beautiful subject to photograph, and it can help tell the story of your community. Get familiar with where local wildlife (or pets) hang out, and the times they show up. Take snacks and water for yourself, and a good zoom lens if possible.

Using a fast shutter speed is ideal for photographing animals but reduces the amount of light entering the camera, so you might need to increase your ISO to compensate. Try a shallow depth of field for slow animals, and greater depth of field for the less predictable species.

Animal - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

3. Found Neighborhood Alphabet

This subject is super fun and easy to get a bit obsessed over. The idea is to find an alphabet made entirely of shapes and forms, but not actual letters. You might come across twigs making the shape of an E, a roofline that looks like a V, or stonework in the shape of a J. This makes you look at details in quite a different way and is a great exercise for your brain.

There’s a catch to this – you actually have 27 photographs to make. The 27th is the ampersand, which is the “&” shape (and not particularly easy to find)!


4. The Grocery Store

People have a love/hate relationship with grocery stores. It might be a place you associate with stress and fatigue . . . but also with ice cream! All that shelving and stacking provides fantastic lines, repetitive patterns, and colors.

Perhaps your neighborhood store is small and full of old character, or it might feel vast with plenty of reflective surfaces and wide aisles. Keep an eye on your White Balance setting, as it might need some adjustment with fluorescent lighting.

As with photographing any business, talk with the management first about your project, and be prepared to share your results with them.

Grocery - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

Grocery - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

5. Signage

Signs come in all shapes and forms and have a wide range of purposes. Street signs, shop signs, road works signs, lost cat signs, temporary signs – they all tell a unique narrative of your neighborhood.

While the graphic design of some signage can be beautiful in itself, try photographing signs with some of the surroundings in the frame. Look for groups of signs, clever signs, and signage that evoke emotions. You don’t have to include the whole sign in your frame – perhaps pick out specific words or colors that have meaning.

Combined, a series of signage photographs can tell a story figuratively or literally.

Signage - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

Signage - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

6. A Year of a Community Garden

If you’re lucky enough to live near a community garden, you’ve got a fantastic year-long photographic project ready to start. Talk with the garden organizers about access and the best times to photograph gardeners in action. Return regularly to capture the changing colors and textures.

The photographs don’t have to all be pretty. Use a macro or zoom lens to photograph the decomposition and composting processes. Take a small ladder to photograph garden patterns from a fresh viewpoint. If it’s surrounded by buildings, celebrate the contrast of colors and shapes that the garden provides.

Garden - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

7. Ground-Level Series

A lot goes on at ground level, regardless of what type of environment you live in. In our day-to-day lives, we scurry on by without noticing the details at our feet. At ground level, your neighborhood might be full of sand dunes, grasses, and bare feet. Or maybe you’re surrounded by fences, road markings, and running shoes.

Try shooting from a standing position using a bird’s eye view angle, or you can sit or even lie down so that you’re at the same level as the subject.

Hot tip: Take a small mat or tarpaulin to lie down on and make sure you aren’t a tripping hazard!

Ground Level - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

8. Street Art Story

My favorite subject to photograph is street art. I love documenting other people’s creativity – particularly if it’s temporary artwork that is scheduled to be covered up or torn down. Every town and city has their own unique art vibe.

If you live in a community with lots of street sculptures and paintings, find out the stories behind them. Photograph their relationship with the surrounding buildings at different times of the day. Capture people interacting with the artwork, and include some of the environment around it by using different angles.

Street Art - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

9. Demolition Documentary

This won’t work for all neighborhoods, but you might live in an area where there are lots of physical changes happening. Buildings coming up and going down are fantastic to photograph. Apart from the changing lines, shapes, and angles, this is a cool way to document an interesting moment in time for your community.

By using a shallow depth of field and/or by getting close-up to safety fencing, you may be able to get a clear shot of the subject without the fence getting in the way.

If there’s an authorized opportunity to get onto a building or demolition site – grab it! Follow health and safety guidelines at all times, and get to know people at the site so you get a heads-up of upcoming activity to photograph.

Demo - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

Demo - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

10. Doorways

If you have great neighbors who you’re on good terms with, have a go at photographing a doorway series. The good thing about this theme is that you can stick with one lens and work to easily measurable straight-lines.

Places of worship and heritage buildings can have beautiful doorway architecture, but don’t underestimate the aesthetics of barn doors and slick city business entrances.

Hot tips: Photograph the doorways closed and avoid private properties unless you have permission. Watch out for reflections in glass or polished surfaces. You might need to use the distortion or upright tools in your post-production software to make sure the lines are nice and straight.

Door - Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood

Conclusion

Exploring your neighborhood with your camera is a great way to get back to the basics of photography. You can make mistakes and test out new techniques without feeling like you’re wasting time and money. It compels you to find beauty and diversity in everyday objects and push the boundaries of your creativity close to home.

The post Top 10 Subjects to Help You Tell the Story of Your Neighborhood appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Houston neighborhood removes photography ban after sidewalk compromise

23 Dec
Historic Broadacres neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Photo by Ed Uthman, used under CC 3.0 license.

Broadacres, a wealthy Houston neighborhood, has reversed its ban on photography following a previous attempt to prevent photographers from holding photo shoots in the area. The issue, according to the Broadacres Homeowners Association (BHA), was that commercial photographers were blocking public sidewalks. “It’s the abusive commercial photographers that have ruined it for everyone,” BHA president Cece Fowler said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle.

The neighborhood has attracted an increasing number of photographers who use it as a picturesque backdrop for wedding photos and more. This has resulted in 50 or more photo shoots every week, according to residents, which at times are said to include large props and groups. Fowler claims that some of these shoots have even caused damage, such as when a Jeep was reportedly driven onto the neighborhood’s esplanade.

Some of these shoots have even caused damage, such as when a Jeep was reportedly driven onto the neighborhood’s esplanade

Frustrated by this, Broadacres put up signs that read, “Welcome to Broadacres; No Photo Shoots.” That resulted in quick backlash on social media, however, and the signs have since been removed. Photography is again permitted in the neighborhood, but with one exception: photo shoots can’t take place on the sidewalks due to city ordinances. Residents have been advised to call the city’s 311 line if such obstructions appear in the future.

According to the Chronicle, Houston Public Works public information officer Alanna Reed said, “We hope the community will be respectful of the neighborhood. Remember the Golden Rule — would you want somebody coming into your neighborhood doing the same thing?”

Via: Fstoppers

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Paint the Town: Massive Mural Transforms Mexican Neighborhood

31 Jul

[ By Steph in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

rainbow mural 4

Waves of rainbow color cascade down a hillside neighborhood in Mexico’s drug capital as a street art collective paints over 200 houses. ‘German Crew’ enlisted the help of youth living in Las Palmitas to transform the town, brightening the facades of almost every single building in continuous swoops of fuchsia, orange, yellow, green and blue.

mural before

rainbow mural 1

The muralists covered 20,000 square meters (225,280 square feet) with powerful pops of color. Commissioned by the Las Palmitas municipality, the project is five months in the making, and these photos only show completion of the first stage. The aim is to revitalize the town, which is located in the state of Sinaloa, where most of the country’s drug cartels are based.

rainbow mural 2

rainbow mural 3

rainbow mura 5

According to the German Crew Nuevo Muralismos of Mexico, the project involved the participation of 452 families, or 1,808 people living in the neighborhood. Keeping kids and teenagers busy painting all of those houses nearly eradicated violence among youths while it was in progress. Lots more photos can be found on the crew’s Facebook page and Instagram.

favelas

favelas painted

Previously, street art duo Haas & Hahn transformed 34 buildings in a Rio de Janeiro favela (above), with the similar effect of creating jobs, bringing the community together and making a place that’s often feared by outsiders feel more welcoming. These large-scale mural projects can bring attention to under-served neighborhoods and help boost residents’ sense of pride.

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Hilltop Village: Mini Neighborhood Tops a Green-Walled Store

27 Jun

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

hilltop village 1

Fittingly enough for a city that’s all about sprawl, this hilltop village concept for Los Angeles combines residential and retail functions in a way that preserves the conventional house-and-yard format rather than stacking it all in a skyscraper. MAD Architects cover a retail building in vertical greenery to transform it into a hilly setting for a miniature neighborhood on its roof.

hilltop village 3

8600 Wilshire essentially distills the visual identity of Beverly Hills into a single development, clustering white living volumes with their own outdoor spaces atop high-end shops with exterior walls covered in succulents and vines. The complex includes three townhouses, five villas, two studios and eight condominiums, though from street level, you can only see the uppermost structures.

hilltop village 4

Made of white glass, the living volumes appear opaque from the street, but bear transparent facades facing an interior courtyard set on the roof of the single-story retail space. The green wall mimics both the city’s iconic hills and the tall privacy hedges seen around upscale houses, and replicating the established hierarchy found around the city: expense real estate above versus less-valuable property below. “In high-density cities, Modernist and Post-Modernist housing typically prioritizes functions and formats over human relationships to the environment,” say the architects. “For 8600 Wilshire, MAD considers the possibility of a new model for West Coast vernacular amid the sprawling density of Los Angeles. MAD purposes a harmonious architectural space of human experience by placing residents in the spiritual landscape of nature.”

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Floating Neighborhood for NYC, or: How to Hover a Whole Megablock

09 Sep

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

NYC Floating Skyscraper 1

How do you fit an entire new neighborhood for 65,000 people, complete with offices, schools and streets, into the already congested and overdeveloped island of Manhattan without knocking anything down? Hover it. That’s the plan for Hudson Yards, the largest private development project in U.S. history, which will be erected on a super-strong platform over an existing active rail yard between Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen.

NYC Floating Skyscraper 3

The whole massive, incredibly heavy thing will barely touch the ground, resting on 300 concrete-sleeved steel caissons inserted 40-80 feet into the bedrock. Borrowed from bridge-building techniques, these supports will hold up a slab that will serve as the foundation of six skyscrapers, 100 shops, 20 restaurants, a school and 14 acres of parks.

NYC Floating Skyscraper 2

The 26-acre West Side Yard over which this development will be built is a critical part of New York City’s transit system, serving overflow Long Island Railroad trains during rush hour with 30 tracks and space for storage and maintenance. Luckily, its original developers in the 1980s realized that one day the space would be prime for redevelopment, and left a gap around the edges of the yard just big enough for structural members to be installed without interrupting traffic.

NYC Floating Skyscraper 4

Since the trains will still be active while Hudson Yards is under construction, actually getting everything into the ground will be a bit of a challenge. The builders plan to sink the caissons in sections and then attach them to 100-foot trusses whenever there’s a window of opportunity in between moving trains.

NYC Floating Skyscraper 5

Gizmodo got an early look at the plans and has a series of mesmerizing gif images of exactly how everything will come together. It’s an interesting example of developers finding space for something new in a bustling metropolis without disturbing existing functionality, and even arguably improving a lot that many find an eyesore. The final phase of the city’s High Line park, set to open later in 2014, will connect directly to Hudson Yards, which should be complete by 2024.

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Urban Wraps: Neighborhood Scarfs Make Videos Wearable

07 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

scarf

Cut. Print it. That’s a wrap. One section (or scene) at a time, these designers are turning areas of Brooklyn into fashionable products that abstract the motion and colors of a place, converting them into a physical scarf.

neighborhood scarf design dumbo

nice city urban scarf

First they film a given neighborhood; next they stretch out and process the results; finally they print it out along the length of the scarf. So far they have five to sell but hopefully more to come.

wearable city apparel design

The Brooklyn Block “are a passionate bunch with back ground in interaction, architecture and urban design” whose “goal is to create remarkably thoughtful and exploratory products.”

neighborhood printed scarf 1

neighbordhood printed scarf 2

neighborhood printed scarf 3

One could accuse them of being a bit gimmicky, but a few brief rebuttals for would-be critics: first, on the aesthetic side, the scarfs are quite attractive, and second, on the conceptual side, there is something to be said for the patterns and colors of a place, whether the memories they conjure are consciously or subconsciously recognized. Finally, “The Brooklyn Block offers products that tell stories” – if nothing else, these are neat conversation pieces for those curious about their origins.

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Multi-Building Murals: Repainting a 100-Home Neighborhood

01 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

mural project neighborhood rio

Previous efforts of Favela Painting transformed 34 buildings in Rio de Janeiro via huge rainbow-colored community mural, creating jobs and beautifying an area often feared by outsiders. This time they are raising funds on Kickstarter to head back to Brazil and paint an entire favela with over 100 hillside homes.

mural town square

mural project creators context

The results of work by Haas&Hahn to date have been multifaceted, including international recognition for dilapidated and under-served neighborhoods and positive attention to these as destination landmarks rather than faceless slums. Using a spectrum of colors, each building receives a distinctive and unique design, yet a sense of unification is achieved across an area at the same time.

mural art project

mural finished color spectrum

mural hillside from above

mural city streets

This ongoing project has a series of parallel goals – it both empowers and employs locals, and provides an opportunity to shore up and plaster shanty-style structures to make them more energy efficient and safer. “Visual beautification, job creation and positive attention boost pride and self esteem and help bridge social gaps in a creative and artful manner. The projects create a voice for the inhabitants, influence public opinion and media, and can help to change perception and remove stigma.”

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Multi Building Murals Repainting A 100 Home Neighborhood

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