#Street Photography

Last weekend the Johannesburg Development Agency sponsored 13 walking tours all over the city as part of an initiative called #JoziWalks. The weekend was meant to encourage Joburgers to get out of their cars and engage with urban communities in ways they might not do otherwise.

I took an Amtrak train from Baltimore to New York City.

Upon arrival, I climbed from the depths of Penn Station up into the forest of skyscrapers in midtown Manhattan. I walked to the taxi stand and told the first driver in line that I needed to go to Brooklyn.

I’ve just finished looking through the photos I took during my six days in Zanzibar, winnowing down the group of pictures that I plan to share on the blog. I nearly cried about halfway through, trying to figure out where I will even begin to tell the story of this trip.

A year ago, I wandered into a gallery in Joburg’s Maboneng Precinct and discovered a photo exhibition comparing Sowebo – a low-income neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland (USA) – to Soweto.

Emily, a friend of mine from America who is backpacking around the world, visited me in Jozi this weekend. The timing of Emily’s visit was both lucky and unlucky. Unlucky because it rained all weekend. Lucky because this was the funnest Jozi weekend ever, jam-packed with quirky art exhibitions, musical performances, photowalks, and other awesome things.