San José / Streets
San José Street Project
San José Street Project
I have been photographing San José for roughly twenty-five years, returning to its streets as buildings disappear, neighborhoods change, and new pieces of the city take their place. One of my earliest San José series followed the area around the new City Hall, including homes along Fifth Street that were removed as that part of downtown was remade. Those photographs helped establish a way of working that I have continued ever since: walking, looking closely, and returning.
The San José Street Project takes that approach block by block. Rather than concentrating only on landmarks, I photograph storefronts, signs, houses, commercial strips, architecture, and the ordinary details that make one street different from another. First Street, Race Street, Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen, and the other galleries become individual chapters within a much larger portrait of the city.
The value of these photographs often changes with time. A building that seems ordinary when I photograph it may later be altered or demolished; a business may close; a streetscape may become almost unrecognizable. The project is therefore both an exploration of San José as it exists now and an accumulating historical record—one built from the details encountered while moving through the city rather than from a checklist of famous places.
San José · streets and everyday details
