This street has a bakery at one end and a stationery shop at the other. Between four and six in the afternoon, most of what happens on it happens between those two doors.
I grew up a few hundred kilometres from here and still found the street unfamiliar. That is part of why I photographed it slowly.
01The Place
The street is narrow enough that both sides are in shade by five.
02The Person
Homework gets done on the step outside the stationery shop, because the light there is better than at home.
03The Environment
The shop keeps pens in one drawer and everything else on the wall. The drawer is the part that gets opened.
04The Action
Bread is carried home flat, across both forearms, so it does not fold before it cools.
05The Detail
A chalk line on the asphalt, redrawn often enough that the older lines are still visible underneath.
06The Relationship
An argument about the rules, conducted entirely at the volume of an argument, and settled in under a minute.
07The Quiet Moment
Just before six the street empties almost all at once, and stays empty for about a quarter of an hour.
Being from the region is not the same as understanding a street. It only means you know how much you are missing.
08The Closing Image
The bakery light stays on longest. It is the last thing on the street that is still working.
Field notes
- Photographed over five afternoons.
- Photographs of children were made with a parent or guardian present and informed; none are published where the context is private.
- Edited for exposure, white balance and crop only.
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