Highlights September 2024

That was really a good month, showing that I was right with my full switch to monochrome

My humanist approach. I am focused on humanity and the human condition. I reserve the right to photograph even difficult situations because no one should be discriminated against or forgotten. The street is what it is: often hard, but also exhilarating and fun. I leave nothing out to have a portrait as faithful as possible. I do not do dull colorful conceptual. Always with one constant: respect. I don’t lie and my photography doesn’t lie in this sense. I am not son of a “like a gangsta”. I am a photographer, connected with the real street.

The salvific army of smiles. Pretty sure that they noticed me. But that is. The street. The people. Me. Street Photography I love you.

I took a shoe and then I went and bought myself a wool hat. Pieces of human being. I love that.

Now this photograph is the new desktop wallpaper of my computer. Because it makes me proud. Because that makes makes sense of the shot. Because this is my kind of photography, imperfect, with a content, really immersed in the reality of the street.

People started to understand. The awards and the festivals of street photography are a huge bullshit. The reward is better when you are focused on emotional. And to achieve it in photography we need to read books. And we need to love for real people. Don’t be focused on your dick, be focused on the world around you. Be interested for real. We can leave that crap of festivals to daddy’s boys. This photograph, made in the state of Mexico (EDOMEX).

The landscape element provides the street photographer with a great opportunity to offer a view of the context. People, OK, but in context.

Sa va…sa va…In my photography, I often fill the frame with faces, reminiscent of historical artworks like frescoes that have shaped art history. This approach connects my work to the classical art of portraying humanity, where every face tells a story within the frame, echoing timeless narratives. Or maybe is just my way to try to understand my having fallen into a megalopolis in comparison which makes Rome seem like a small village.

Our living in the barrio. I am proud to be in a popular neighborhood and living my life here. It makes me different. Usually people expect a photographer is living in some nice place, a residential neighborhood…I think I am the photographer I am also because my dimension is that.

I throw echoes of Stephen Shore in your face. And I wave a middle finger at those who think that photographing people from behind is a reprehensible action.

Damn, how dissociated I am from Instagrammable shit?

In the space of a month I gave several workshops one by one. Do you know why after so long the miwi workshops continue to sell? Because I take a lot of photos and have a significantly higher average of results. Because even though I am not one of the masters always quoted, I continue to take photos and I have not remained to always propose those four shots. I am the present. Next year I will be 50 years old but I do not play with the works already done, even though I have no conflict with the archive, on the contrary... people are not stupid. Yes, they can often fall into the traps that mainstream narratives propose but there comes a time when the truth always comes out and it comes direct and violent like the passage of a train.

I put this photo because I really like how I achieved to manage the shot, with three vertical rectangles that actually indicate the intent. There is a surreal vein suggested by the glass and its reflections.

And speaking of reflections, this beautiful laugh is already a story in itself.

Relating glances and glasses. That's all. Then the rest comes by itself. Like when I shoot, struck by something and then the rest magically forms around.

No discussion here: a shot that has clichés. Yet still with elements that respect my vision, my way of seeing things and therefore making my photography. The pole in the middle. The material observation of the wall. The almost wanting to erase the subject's head, make it disappear in that darkness.

The brilliant choice to create a frame and make you see what I noticed. Choice of position, height of the frame, a visual essay on how to photograph on the street. I remember that English idiot who, just to criticize me, claimed that shooting from the hip was dishonest. Oh, guys, you know world of photography is fantastic but you can stll meet crap.

Photographing even in the dark. How many people show you the dark in street photography. Well, Moriyama for sure. And in fact he is not invited to festivals either.

For obvious reasons I don't go to the barber. And like with starbucks I only photograph the windows.

Landscape. Street. Street photography. You think I shouldn't post a photo that isn't what street photography is today? How the fuck can they talk about Lee Friedlander when they don't respect his essence?

Do what you want with this photo. I see some symbolism. Use the lateral vision and maybe you will see it too. I never claimed that this photography thing is an easy thing and within everyone's reach. And, after all, do you want to stay here or go and chase that colorful sloppiness that fills people's heads with shit?

THE VIDEO

CONCLUSIONS

Too many photos? Maybe. But I also had a lot to say. And it wasn't easy. I have a lot of good photos taken this month. I'm rocking hard. And over a lot of heads, too.

This and the youtube channel are the most exciting places you can find yourself. Trust me. It's like a raw and fast Motörhead speed metal. Amphetamine, vibrant, volcanic. And eating broken glass. The fact that you are here to read and not wasting time in some social media is already a great difference we are making. Thanks to be here: you are the inspiration to give you more content as always, not politically correct, not framed in fixed schemes, to get you inspired for real.

One last thing: thanks to those who are signing up for my workshops and expeditions. We are making great guys. It is a work we are making together and I love to share my experience and being a facilitator. I am not a maestro and I don’t want to be that, I just share the experience and I hope to get people inspired with my passion, because the flame doesn't turn off.

Alex, a real street photographer