Minneapolis - waiting for the apocalypse

[Chef]

Lately I've been thinking about whether or not my photography actually represents the city. I tend to be drawn to grit, but to a lot of people Minneapolis is embodied by the polished, prosperous version of the city that exists in the shiny towers downtown, the yuppie bistros in Uptown, and the tree lined neighborhoods around the lakes. A lot of Minnesotans seem to really hate grit, and there is an ingrained civic OCD that seems antithetical to it. I have come to realize that my photos may be of the city today, but they are rooted in the sleazier, seedier version of the city that I fell in love with in the '80s, back when large swathes of it had been abandoned by the middle class and left to their own fortune. I think this is what I am trying to show - visual representations of the things I saw and experienced in the past. That Minneapolis still exists, and the forces of gentrification seem to be slower here than elsewhere, but still there is still a tension between the city that was and the city that is coming. Anyway, this isn't a grit thread, it is just a collection of photos I have taken over the last few months. These are just some thoughts that have been bouncing around my head.


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[Danny]

Very nicely done! Thanks for your pics of Minneapolis, Chef!

I like the views of the city and the shots of people you show. I think Minneapolis is a nice city and has many pretty places to walk around. Of course, I suppose, is much more than grit and abandonment. It has many faces, like the majority of cities in the world.

Enjoyed the snowy pictures. You´re enjoying a very hard Winter there, I know.

Happy New Year!!

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[ue]

Lookin' good in the Mini Apple. I really like those old walkups that are seemingly ubiquitous in Minneapolis.

[Nineties Flava]

The snow shots are beautiful. I can definitely relate to your preamble... Street photography is a field that is for the most part invariably skewed depending on who the photographer is. It's what you make it the same way a city is what you make it. Even when one consciously attempts to capture multiple narratives, in reality the depth of one's photography mirrors the depth of one's experience. In a way you're being more representative when you cover the aspects of the city that are most personally relevant to you.

[Bedhead]

Fantastic set. On my one visit to Minneapolis I only saw the polished part of the city, but I don't think you are doing it any kind of disservice. I think shots like this show that there is a different kind of beauty to parts of city that most people would write off completely, and in that way you are helping people like me appreciate a depth to the city that otherwise we wouldn't be aware of.


mplsdec201303 by afsmps, on Flickr

[harryc]

Very nice - love all the people shots - and you have nailed that night-time lighting.

[MplsTodd]

Excellent portraits, Chef! I also really liked the moody night-time shots--especially 7th Street with Wells Fargo, 2nd Ave w. Sexworld and Nicollet Ave with Glam-Doll Do nuts. I can't wait to get back to Mpls in spring!

[Chef]

Thanks for the comments!

Originally Posted by harryc

Very nice - love all the people shots - and you have nailed that night-time lighting.

I got a new camera in October, this is my first thread with it, it is far superior to my old one as far as night and low light photography goes.

[mthq]

great shots. I knew a friend who had a layover in Minneapolis for several hours and I kept bugging him via text to see the city while he was there. At last he said he and the others had too much luggage on them to leave the airport... excuses.

hopefully one day I myself will get to visit.

[ColDayMan]

You always have great threads.

[Centropolis]

excellent thread!

[LSyd]

thanks for the pics. nice selection of street art stuff.

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