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Streets Ahead – Sixteenth Edition

Welcome to the sixteenth edition of Streets Ahead, a weekly column dedicated to women mobile street photographers.

Each week we have a curator review all of the work submitted to our Flickr group, and present a few of their favorite shots along with some thoughtful commentary about the technique, composition, subject matter, and a short description of why they thought each photo was special. We also present a sampling of all the work submitted in a showcase video.

We select all the images for the column from the Streets Ahead Flickr group. To be considered for next week, please submit your best shots here. We also have a Facebook Streets Ahead group where we share information and have discussions (who, what, when, where, why, and how) about Street Photography.

Your enthusiasm and support for this collective has been tremendous. If you are a woman street photographer please join our growing community!


 

“Untitled” – by Serap Günay

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Flickr link

For me, this is a subtle, but beautiful capture of an elderly woman who is maintaining her independence. Because even though we know that she must be walking slowly and carefully, we can feel her strength as she firmly presses her cane forward. I also love the fact that she’s walking down the middle of a cobblestone street instead of on the sidewalk. Yep. She’s definitely in control. But the perfect punctuation to this image is in the graffiti… which speaks of an unseen presence of rebellious youth. And I’m willing to bet this woman had a streak (or two) of rebelliousness during her younger years.

 

“Rainbow Flavors” By Jeanette Vazquez

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Flickr link

I think this image has a wonderful Hopper-esque feel to it. I found myself immediately drawn to the strong diagonal division between light and darkness… and the light reflection cast by the cart really brings this image to life for me. But the thing I’m most intrigued by are the feet. Here we see two people sitting on a city street… one person has their feet crossed, which gives us the impression that he is relaxed, yet somewhat composed and guarded. And the other person is sitting on the ground with their legs completely spread apart… which suggests an air of carelessness, exhaustion or “feeling a little too much at home.” Beautiful capture, Jeanette!!

 

“Untitled” By Allie Astell

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Flickr link

For those of you not familiar with Allie’s work, I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to visit her Flickr Photostream. She shares with us some very candid and authentically beautiful moments of life in Egypt. And to be honest, I had a really hard time deciding which one of her images I wanted to talk about. However, this particular photograph really warmed my heart. I felt something very special about the laughter being shared between the young girl and old man. All I could think about was “Did he just tell her a joke?” or “Was he teasing her with a trick using the cups?” But whatever transpired between them was really unimportant, because the true beauty of this photograph lies in how it clearly illuminates a fun and spontaneous moment shared between two people separated by many generations.

 

“Train Waiting” By Lee Atwell

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Flickr link

This image immediately grabbed my attention while I was looking through the Flickr Group this week… and here are the reasons why: Firstly, I love Lee’s POV (Point of View) in this photo. I think there is something really cool about being able to see our environment from a bird’s eye view. Secondly, I like her choice of tones and textures… they add a nice charcoal feel to the photograph. But what I find myself being drawn to the most is: the graphic quality. Because if we remove all the narrative and “labeling” in this picture and just look at it from a visual standpoint, we will see a gorgeous geometrical composition of shapes and lines. Very nice!

 

“Cape May” By Cecily Caceu

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Flickr link

Before talking about why this image “spoke” to me, I wanted to share that Catherine Restivo and I had the great privilege of meeting up with Cecily during her recent Philadelphia visit. And if there is anyone who has a fun, outgoing and sharing personality — it’s Cecily. So, why am I drawn to this photograph? Well, I happen to come from the generation of girls who grew up reading Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren… long before she was made into a movie or television series. One of the things I loved most about Pippi was her quirky house… and this house feels like a perfect representation of what I imagined Pippi’s house was like. This is one fantastic find, Cecily! And thank you for inspiring me to revisit the Jersey Shore with a new set of eyes…

 

“Hellllloo” By Therese Cherton

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Flickr link

Now, if I captured this Hipstamatic shot… everyone, all over the world, would simultaneously hear me screech with joy. Because this has to be one of the best and most upbeat shots I’ve seen in a long time. Geeesh… talk about seizing a decisive moment and having a good Hipsta combo ready! In my humble opinion, this image deserves to go viral. Fantastic image, Therese!!!

 

Flickr Showcase

 

 

JQ's background is in painting and printmaking at the Pratt Institute, she also owned and operated a Books Arts & Textiles Studio in NYC. Three years ago JQ discovered mobile photography and her work has been exhibited in a number of exhibitions around the world.

4 Comments

  • teresa cesario

    How exciting J.Q! I’m going to check all of this out. Sounds like so much fun!
    I love to look at street potography. I hope that someone interesting walks in front of my iphone!

  • JQ Gaines

    Thanks so much, Teresa… I really appreciate your kind words _/\_ And it would be GREAT to have you join us and share your work!! Looking forward to it 🙂

  • lee atwell

    i enjoy being a part of this collective so much and i love taking the time out to read your commentaries and spend time with the featured photos, JQ! viewing the images every week via the films feeds my soul and inspires me! i am honored to be included – heartfelt thank you!

  • Tracy Mitchell Griggs

    Thanks for including my image, “Nacho Baby” in this showcase – it was shot very spontaneously – I was having brunch with a friend at an outside table at a local cafe. The child was inside with her parents and seemed more interested in what was going on outside and kept getting out of her seat to view the goings on outdoors. She had such an angelic face (and her t-shirt had a funny logo, “Nacho Baby”), that I wanted to capture her via my iPhone.

    Cheers and congrats to all the wonderful women who contribute their unique vision to this nice showcase~