My love for photography began at the age of fifteen when my high school art teacher at John Hay suggested that I take photos so that I would have content to draw in class. I began at that point walking my neighborhood, creating images of everything that caught my eye. I was most drawn to creating images of people, either in everyday life situations or portraits. I was quickly obsessed with taking a camera everywhere I went. I didn’t want to miss a thing. The love grew even stronger when I attended a program that allowed me to use the darkrooms at the Cleveland Clinic. I was able to develop my own negatives and make prints on their machines. It was fantastic; they even gave me a small stipend. This love for the camera followed me into college at the Cleveland Institute of Art. I still had no idea I was a photographer: I was using the images for reference and giving pics to my friends. It wasn’t until I got in the school darkroom and developed my own images from start to finish that I was hooked.

Walking or riding public transportation was my main way to get around, and there was always something going on to photograph. People intrigued me. The characters that I would see on a daily basis fueled the need to document everything around me. The idea that I might be a street photographer didn’t come until much later. After being introduced to the photography of Gordon Parks, I realized the power of the tool I was carrying with me. It was the first time I looked back at what I had created and saw it as more than just a hobby: I saw what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I also saw how I could change people’s opinions, educate them if you will, with my images. The streets are always changing and evolving for the better or the worse, and the camera allowed me to show the world how it was affecting me and those around me. I have been walking the streets of Cleveland with a camera for over thirty years. I never miss an opportunity to capture something: at this point it’s a part of me.

My equipment has changed over the years—just as much as I have—from film to digital and now video as well. Currently I use a mirrorless camera, and I love prime lenses. I try to commit to one lens when I go out, but I always bring more than one. Generally, I carry a 23mm f/2, 35mm f/2, and a 56mm f/1.2 lens, and lately I have been bringing a 90mm f/2. I keep a medium format 120 film camera in my kit as well. I have not brought up brand names of cameras on purpose, because I view all cameras as pencils; whatever camera works for you is fine. Mine work for me to make it easier to produce the images I want. It’s no different than using graphite, charcoal, or a No. 2 pencil: they each produce different results, depending on what you want to render, in my opinion.

When I go out to create images, I don’t have any predetermined images in mind. It’s a lot like meditating. I let the day carry me through the streets with my music on shuffle, providing a soundtrack on my journey through the alleys, into bus stops, rounding each corner never knowing what is waiting to feed my visual hunger. Sometimes I find a spot to just sit and watch, letting the day move past me and seeing what images call to me. I’m usually out for about three to four hours, sometimes more, sometimes less. Over the years I have had friends and peers join me on my walks. This is always welcomed, but more times than not, I’m by myself.

Over the years, life had made it harder to get out as much as I wanted, but an opportunity arose that allowed me to work on the Cleveland 20/20 project documenting the city for the public library archives, while also working as a teaching artist for the Cleveland Print Room. This reignited my passion for street photography—a feeling I had not felt in years. It allowed me to hone my skills even more. Even while the world has been gripped with a pandemic, street photography has helped me to cope with the isolation and solitude.

I’m grateful to the streets of Cleveland for always being a wonderful subject and teacher, sometimes my worst enemy, and even my best friend.

I Love Cleveland.

 

Photo Poets is a Street Photography feature curated quarterly by Aja Joi Grant.