Back in 2015 around my 40th birthday I was contacted by someone for a show of my candid street photography. I was very excited seeing as how it would have been a solo show in a pop up gallery of sorts that was just a gallery, not a coffee shop or another additional business with some space on their walls. It would also be, technically, my first time exhibiting.
There was room for 200, give or take, 8×10 photos I made from 2001 to 2015. I made this playlist as a mixtape for the show. Each photo would have a title that was the song on the mix.
Anyways, as with most things for photographers, it was too good to be true and the show didn’t happen. The playlist still exists, though, minus some songs that are no longer streaming. I doubt I will ever get a solo show in the future as I’m no longer on social media peddling my photos and my id. That’s all ok, though, because keeping up appearances on social media is exhausting and bad for your health.
Looking at photos that were going to be in the show is like seeing a past that does not exist anymore. I have mixed feelings about all of that. One of the more sad feelings is that I’ll not be able to make the same type photos again in Rochester. Most so called street photography done in this area are pretty landscapes with minimal people and with almost nothing that says anything about the human condition or the times we are living in. Or they are posed. That’s not a complaint, just an observation, and a reminder of the reality photographers face in smaller towns.
Now that I’m ten years older, I have different photographic goals that I am ironing out due to a burst of inspiration from the movies I’ve been watching and the news I’ve been reading. I’m itching to get back out there and try to make something of meaning, despite the dangerous reality we all face at the moment in our country.
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/seen-on-walks/pl.u-LdbqqeBTqqqyxW
Jason Wilder 
Leave a comment