street photography « The Joey's Blog

July 13, 2014

Urban Photography From The Streets Of A Bohemian Mountain Town – Photography Exhibition and Book Release.

Filed under: Street Photography — Tags: asheville street photography, book, buskers, Joe Longobard Photography, living statues, music, street photography, Urban Photography From The Streets Of A Bohemian Mountain Town — thejoey4 @ 3:42 pm

Urban Photography From The Streets Of A Bohemian Mountain Town

I will hold an exhibition and book release announcement this August at Grateful Steps Publishing House, Bookshop and Gallery for my upcoming street photography book entitled “Urban Photography From the Streets Of A Bohemian Mountain Town,The Art Of Performance. A Journal of Asheville Street Photography.”

The work incorporates a mix of photojournalism with a traditional approach to street photography. The book documents in both words and images the dichotomies and juxtapositions of an urban bohemian environment intertwined with a southern Appalachian culture. The collection focuses on the performance of living, creating, and being an “Ashevillian” in downtown Asheville. The exhibition will showcase photographic excerpts from the book, including street performers and daily life in the city.

The work will be available in both print and ebook. For information on the book, visit http://joelongobardiphotography.com/books.html

Grateful Steps is located at 159 South Lexington Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801. The exhibit will run from August 1 to August 30, 2014. Opening reception is on a Friday, August 8 at 6pm. All works on display are for sale.

For further information, visit GratefulSteps.org for updates of upcoming events, or contact Micki Cabaniss Eutsler at micki@gratefulsteps.org.

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September 6, 2013

Skateboarding on Biltmore

Filed under: Street Photography,Street Work — Tags: asheville street photography, biltmore avenue, Joe Longobard Photography, skateboarding, street photography, urban life — thejoey4 @ 7:46 am

skateboarding

Sometimes in the aftermath, one can find the order out of chaos. A simpler approach to the nuances of life.

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August 29, 2013

UNCA Reception for Urban Photography from the Streets of a Bohemian Mountain Town

Filed under: Street Photography,Street Work — Tags: joe longobardi, Joe Longobardi Photography, street photography, Street Photography, UNCA, WLOS — thejoey4 @ 9:53 pm

August 27, 2013

At the last minute, I was informed that WLOS News in Asheville would be coming in to interview me and video tape my UNCA photography exhibit for the 6 o’clock news. With a heads up of no more than ten minutes, I think it came off rather well.

You can view the brief story here.

The show will run until September 27, 2013.

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August 6, 2013

Mountain Moral Monday

Filed under: Street Photography,Street Work — Tags: Joe Longobard Photography, Mountain Moral Monday, Pack Square, street photography — thejoey4 @ 2:29 pm

Pack Square Park on August 5th, 2013.
Asheville, North Carolina.

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/9451305679/[/flickr]

Moral Monday ran for an uninterrupted 12 weeks in the North Carolina State capital of Raleigh. Nearly 1000 individuals were arrested in defiance of draconian measures implemented by the North Carolina State Legislator that have severely rolled back much of the social progress made in the State over the last 60 years. This includes and is not limited to women’s reproduction rights, cuts to education, infringement of voting accessibility, the privatization of city water supplies, and the introduction of fracking running an environmental risk to the very water private enterprises are striving to procure and operate for profit. Under the guidance of Dr. William Barber from the NC state NAACP (and to put things into perspective, Dr. Barber was introduced by Asheville’s first African-American mayor, Ms Terry Bellamy), the thirteenth “Mountain” Moral Monday was held in downtown Asheville attended by a police estimate of some 10,000 people.

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/9454058852/[/flickr]

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/9454073520/[/flickr]

In spite of the personal outrage and the number of people in attendance (including those who expressed their own conservative beliefs via anti-abortion signs and bloodied effigies), the event was a positive and inspiring two hours of peace, music and unity.

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/9454061126/[/flickr]

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/9454078972/[/flickr]

The long term plan under the guiding hand of Rev. Barber is to take the protest movement to all 13 of North Carolina’s congressional districts.

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/9454062800/[/flickr]

For more photos, please visit Mountain Moral Monday Set.

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July 28, 2013

The Final Act: Bele Chere, 2013

Filed under: Street Photography — Tags: Bele Chere, Joe Longobard Photography, street photography — thejoey4 @ 9:46 pm

Asheville, NC.

After 34 years, the annual three day street event known as Bele Chere bids a fond adieu to those who patronized its last 34 years of offerings of music, food, beer, and the ever increasing ubiquity of street preachers. Begun in 1979 as an attempt to revitalize the economy of downtown Asheville, the event continued to reinvent itself over the years. Abhorred by some, loved by many, the festivities provided a boost to the image of the little bohemian town of the hills.

Over the last several years, I enjoyed wandering the streets during the early setup of the event on Fridays, capturing a tapestry of intimacy and serendipity that caught my eye. Vendors seemed more relaxed. Street performers are livelier. People are less inebriated!

I caught a few images for my liking: various performers, people just strolling and eating, cops—those overcome with religious fervor! While preparing to leave, I noticed a street performer dressed in a black and white striped costume replete with a red tutu. He was dancing in front of some street preachers that were engaged in a yelling match with onlookers.

Bele Chere, 2013

I snapped off several shots documenting this narrative that played out before me. The image of the final embrace I believe summed up a positive lasting image of a street event that I’ve both enjoyed and tolerated since my first Bele Chere in 2000.

Bele Chere, you’ll be missed, and definitely remembered.

For more photos, go to 34th Annual Bele Chere on Flickr.

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July 7, 2013

Asheville: Urban photography from the streets of a Bohemian Mountain Town.

Filed under: Street Photography,Street Work — Tags: Joe Longobard Photography, photography, Ramsey Library, street photography, UNCA — thejoey4 @ 3:30 pm

Street photography in Asheville
UNCA Exhibition from August 16 to September 27, 2013

Asheville: Urban photography from the streets of a Bohemian Mountain Town. Street Photography by Joe Longobardi.

My latest exhibition being held at UNC Asheville takes a more academic approach in street photography revealing the dualities of traditional and conventional temperaments in Asheville—from the traditional Southern lifestyle to the influx of a greater ethnic diversity. The exhibition concentrates on varying dichotomies contrasting an array of subjects ranging from a prominent senior population against a growing youth culture; to focusing on conservative vs progressive values and bohemian temperaments. I have also attempted to afford a fair amount attention depicting examples of economic and philosophical disparities from street preachers to street performers to street people. The city itself becomes a backdrop that serves as host to the many faces and lifestyles that make up the whole of Asheville.

The juxtapositions of city life revolve around the contrasting attitudes and cultural climate of Asheville. I strive to capture frozen moments in time exploring the subtle transitions from chaos into a a synchronized uniformity and harmony—a oneness with the people—before transitioning back into the hustle of urban life. Each image is a personal sentiment extracting the essence of the memory of that moment. My aim is to show the gradual transition from a small bohemian Southern town into an emerging city.

The show will be held at the Mel Blowers Gallery in the Ramsey Library at UNC Asheville. The exhibit will run from August 16 to September 27, 2013. Opening reception is on a Tuesday, August 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. All works on display are for sale.

For further information, visit the Ramsey Library website for updates of upcoming exhibitions and News & Events, or contact Nancy Hayes at nhayes@unca.edu.

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June 8, 2013

Poetry in the Park

Filed under: Street Photography — Tags: documentary, Joe Longobardi Photography, street photography, Street Photography — thejoey4 @ 9:50 pm

19th Century Technology in a 21st Century urban setting

William Curtis is a poet I recently had the pleasure to meet at Pritchard Park located in the middle of downtown Asheville. A wanderer and “street poet” of sorts, Mr. Curtis takes on impromptu assignments writing poems on the spot for people he comes across in his travels.

william-1

What initially caught my eye was the obviously antiquated manual typewriter that he was using to conjure up his inspired musings. Not one to pass up an opportunity to capture such moments, I managed to take a few shots just before he noticed me. Explaining to me what he does, I asked if it would be okay to take some photos while he worked on a poem for a woman that was seated next to him. He assured me that it was fine. We parted ways with my promise to send William some of the photos at his behest.

william-2

william-3

This is a very brief series of the images I captured of William as he toiled to create his art on the fly. I personally felt that the “antiqued” treatment I added lent an appropriate “prosody” to the images. The series ends with William presenting the finished poem to the lady on the bench.

william-4

william-5

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March 23, 2013

From White Street to Street Shots: Bunny Clyde Photo Session

Filed under: Portraits,Street Photography — Tags: Bunny Clyde, Jazz, Joe Longobardi Photography, music, street photography, White Street — thejoey4 @ 4:50 pm

I recently had the opportunity—the privilege, if you will—to photograph legendary jazz saxophonist Thomas ”Bunny” Clyde on St. Patrick’s Day. A friend of mine had recommended me to “Bunny” to take some promotional photos for some upcoming studio work,and he needed them on the quick. To fill in those not familiar with the artist, Bunny Clyde’s resumé reads like a who’s who of modern musical history having played for Gladys Knight and the Pips, and sharing the same stage with Kool and the Gang and Jimi Hendrix along with a list of others that you can read up on at your leisure at his website.

We met for the first time in front of the BB&T Building on Broadway in Asheville. At my urging, I persuaded Bunny to allow me to take some location shots downtown, emphasizing his connection he’s had with the city over the decades as well as his globetrotting sessions in cities on several continents. It was a last minute decision to go out that day as the weather was in the 70’s and not a drop of rain to be found. I put on my street photographer’s cap and encouraged “Bunny” to just be natural and play some arpeggiated riffs while I took some candid shots. This being Asheville, playing on the sidewalks is hardly an anomaly, but the combination of camera flash and his slick attire definitely drew some attention from pedestrians.

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/8584227196[/flickr]

I chose several landmarks that I felt would lend an element of history to the shots and chronicling his connection to the downtown music scene. The art deco architecture that graces the sidewalks of the city renders smokey imagery of the golden age of Jazz and the thriving nightclub scene that was a primary source for personal entertainment before the appearance of television and iPods!

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/8583127269[/flickr]
[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/8583128069[/flickr]

Having tested our limits for walking up hills and into back alleys for location shots, I rather pushed to try our hands at some quick “studio” shots at this house. As the day was coming to an end, I thought it best to at least try some test shoots to see what we may like to try again for a more formal session. Having arrived at his house, the one obstacle we came across that entire afternoon was space limitations inside his home. His back porch on the other hand was far more spacious allowing me to set up umbrellas, backdrops and use my longer lenses (even if I had to step outside through the screen door to get a shot or five). I concluded that as the sun began to set, that I can easily set up my lights and not be too concerned about any ambient daylight influencing my white balance from the controlled environment.

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/8583130315[/flickr]

After a quick set up, we took a number of shots. Since we were limited on time, I decided to work around any issues such as glare on his eyeglasses while trying to maintain separation between his black hat and the black backdrop. I was striving for that Film Noir look (and inspired by those iconic black and white photos of jazz legends) and chose a silver umbrella to emphasize contrast since I knew that I could work with the results in the little time we had. After 30 minutes, we had to tear down as he had family coming over. Surprisingly, I found that some of the shots with the silver umbrella reflecting off his glasses added a nice dimension—a sparkle—to the final images.

[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/8583998784[/flickr]
[flickr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_longobardi/8583995188[/flickr]

Overall, a really good session. You can purchase Bunny’s CD White Street at CD Baby. When you get the chance, run, don’t walk, to catch Bunny Clyde when he’s in Asheville, or any city he’s gigging.

For more photos, visit the Bunny Clyde set on Flickr.

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