Basketball in Baltimore

This is one of the earliest photographs I made on the streets.

In 2016, I was photographing around the West Baltimore neighborhood — Sandtown, Winchester — very frequently with my Ricoh GR2. I’d tuck it in my pocket, walk around… this was just the kind of scene available to me in my backyard while attending university.

I spotted the mural. I noticed the beautiful light — it was golden hour, the sun setting. I saw the shadows and the light cast on the mural and I had to approach.

One of the first things I did:

• I approached the people.
• Asked for permission.
• Told them I’m a student.
• They were eager and open to letting me photograph them.

Pro Tip:

Breaking the ice, getting permission, and getting closer physically and emotionally leads to more impactful photographs.

In the frame:

• Foreground: A man gazing downward at his hand.
• Background: Another man looking up at the basketball on his fingertips, with light casting on his face.
• Right side: Two men looking back towards me.

There’s a spiral composition here — a windmill effect. It’s strange, mysterious, visually impactful.

Other details:

• Shadows of basketball players, including my own shadow.
• The interaction of the shadow basketball with the mural basketball.
• Gesture of the boy with an outstretched hand on his forehead.
• Smokestack from the mural interacting visually with a hand gesture.

Always follow your intuition.

I saw a beautiful background, I approached openly, and through honesty and curiosity, I came home with complexity.