This past Sunday was my first outing in my return back to Street Photography. There's nothing about 2020 that I can say that hasn't already been said other than to stay creative. 2020 had certainly put a creative dent in my photography and I found myself to be rather conflicted. On one hand, you had historic moments involving a virus infecting millions around the globe, an unfit president that wore out his 4 year presidential welcome and the ongoing issue of racism and police brutality in America. I can remember walking through the streets in 2020. Downtown DC literally looked like a ghost town, not a soul in site. The buildings were boarded up out of fear of riots and looters and graffiti tagged on the walls that left the words “Black Lives Matter.” With so much going on in the world, why wouldn't I want a piece of all this action and capture some of these historic moments? I remember one weekend there was a protest down at the White House over the murder of George Floyd. Protesters filled the streets with unjust rage marching in unison and where was I? I was in my room, sitting on my bed watching it all unfold on TV. The only thing on my mind was, “Yeah, you did the right thing, you should be socially distancing anyway.” Still, It would've been nice to actually been there and witness history unfold. A few months later, we had the world’s longest presidential election and then a couple of months afterwards, a bunch of crazy white men thought it would be a good idea to invade the US Capitol Building (I wonder whose idea that was lol). If my camera could talk it would probably say, “really nigga?!” 2020 could've very well been a damn movie.
Fast forward to September 2021. Things are slowly getting back to normal. People begin to fill the streets and yet my creativity is still at a low. Nevertheless, that creative itch that needs to be scratched tells me to go out anyway. While I’m out and about, I’m starting to feel jitters as I’m walking around with my camera. The missed shot opportunities and the stares that I’m getting are starting to set in. There was once a time when I could walk down a street without my camera and I could visualize a subject that could potentially become a photograph. It’s that kind of sixth sense that some are rarely blessed with and I felt like I lost it. At this point, I can’t imagine myself not taking any pictures and I don’t even think I’ve reached my 10,000 hours mark yet. After aimlessly walking up and down the streets, I finally muster up the courage to take a snapshot, then another, and another, and another. I was finally back in business. Even though I only took about 48 shots, I got a something accomplished.
©2021 Odell Griffin, Jr.
©2021 Odell Griffin, Jr.
©2021 Odell Griffin, Jr.