Mini Scooters + Roller Skates

[ Tom Lee Park ] Love the mini scooter + roller skate combo. I'm pretty sure I can still meet the weight limit on these things. / Photo is pre-flood. We're glad the flood craze is over. Tom Lee will be open for Sunset Symphony this weekend.

Hula Hoop Girl

[ Beale Street ] Taken after the 2011 Beale Street Music Festival by Memphis photographer Ziggy Mack. We love how intimately close this shot is taken, and with the expression on her face, it seems she enjoys the intimacy.

Welcome Home

I was a part of a crowd of about 1200 people at Wilson Air Center last night, assembled to welcome the Memphis Grizzlies home from their historic 2011 Playoff run. These guys grinded out more wins than anyone ever expected them to, and in the process created an amazing atmosphere of unity and pride in the city.  Can't wait for next season.

See whole slideshow of photos from the homecoming rally here.

HITTING NEW HEIGHTS

[ flooded streets of downtown ] These were taken this past Monday and Tuesday, the day the floodwaters finally hit its highest point - 48 ft (the record is 48ft 6in).  How long it will take the waters or the crowds to recede is unsure.

Photos by Dirk Olsen. All Rights Reserved.

Biblical

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 2011, this might be called.  Old Man River is now above 46 feet, and still rising.  Riverside Drive is now flooded at Beale, and will probably be flooded in other places by the time the river crests next Wednesday. Mud Island is noticeably smaller these days, and is still shrinking. The historic level of the Mississippi is causing tributaries in the area to flood. Nearly 1,100 people have been evacuated from their homes in Memphis.  Hopefully the worst of this will over soon, but Memphians may be dealing with the effects of this flood for quite a while.

SUBMISSIONS + FIRST FEATURED

Thanks to everyone who has shown such great support for this blog and to those who have submitted their work so far.  In the spirit of the collective effort, we are asking to see your best street photography of Memphis in order to see the city and its people from as many angles as possible.  Although street photography as broadly defined is photography of the public realm, we wanted to also describe what we consider great street photography. The first and easiest way to illustrate what we are looking for is referencing the work of great street photographers, past and present, that inspire us.

[ Inspiring Photographers for Street Photography ]

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Robert Frank

William Eggleston

Yanick Delafoge

Eric Kim

Charlie Kirk

[ Other Resources ]

In-Public

Smashing Magazine

[ Key Ingredients ]

We want to be inspired by you. The photos that will most likely get featured do not have to be technically perfect. Needless to say they can be digital or film, color or black and white. They just need to move us with certain key ingredients such as nice composition, interesting subject matter, emotion whether it be humorous or distressing, and capturing the perfect moment, Henri Cartier-Bresson would call the “decisive moment.”  Capturing that decisive moment in many ways takes luck and patience. This is the reason great street photography is so difficult but rewarding and also why we’ve made this a collective effort.

[ Submitting ]

To make it easier for all the contributors to see and “vote” on your submitted work, we’ve created a Facebook Submissions Page. You may upload your photos to the wall with the photo date, location, and contact info.  Even if your work is not featured, the wall will have enough viewers to see your work that it may fit someone else’s need in another way. Go here to like the page and submit. If for some reason you are not on Facebook (no judgement here), just email me sophorn [at] hotmail [dot] com, and I can post the photos for you. As a side note, I may come across great photos on my own that I will feature with the photographer's permission so you are welcome to send suggestions of any Memphis street photo you find exceptional.

[ seen ] 

FEATURED PHOTO Valerie June /  Java Cabana Cooper-Young / 2010 Cooper-Young Fest / Raising money for her new cd / Memphis as a true music city really does have musicians performing in the streets regularly. Thanks to local photographer Amanda Hill for submitting this great photo.

LINKS Amanda Hill - Web / Twitter / Facebook / Email: contact [at] amphotography [dot] us / 901.652.0432

We look forward to your submissions.

Up Sh*t Creek

At least this guy brought his paddle

Taken at the Greenbelt Park across from Harbor Town, closed as of Monday morning due to flooding

Snowden CommUnity Festival

SNOWDEN SCHOOL put on a fun CommUnity Fesitval Saturday.  Lots of music, food, face painting, inflatables, and, of course, community spirit.