This is My Town - Steve Hill by Skip Rowland Photography

A Steve Hill Expedition

This is My Town These are My People These are the people Steve Hill led through the mean streets of NYC, photographed

by Skip Rowland

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A Steve Hill Expedition

This is My Town These are My People These are the people Steve Hill led through the mean streets of NYC, photographed

by Skip Rowland

www.skippix.biz

To Steve Hill, the ultimate urban expeditionist

Acknowledgements This project is the result of so many people’s efforts and inspirations over the years; I’m going to try to name names, and I’ll apologize now for anyone neglected. Lang Oliver & Drew Ungvarsky, for building the playground and keeping it going; Kavey and Pete Favelle, Ed Clarke, Aznym Adam, & Jon Lucas, for fostering & supporting the notion of international get togethers; Nina, Lexa, & Beau, for supporting all my endeavors; Bob Brown, Dan Beatty, and James Wallace, for getting me going and helping me prove I can do this; Mom & Dad, for my first camera; Gordon MacGregor for turning me onto the SOFOBOMO; Debi Tipton & Linda Hall, for making the Internet real for all these years; Jimmy Carter, for the incredible companionship during the shooting of this book. And a special thanks to Adobe Certified Instructor Janet Frick, who connected me with Jim Maivald (author of the indespensible A Designer’s Guide to Adobe InDesign and XML, who made this book production possible...without Jim’s help, I would be a month away from typing this acknowledgement. Thanks to all the participants for allowing me to photograph them. It was a pleasure getting to know you, as well as photograph you, and I appreciate your suffering through my incessant clicketry. Lastly, a huge thanks to Steve Hill for organizing the workshop and leading the expeditions. That was three days of seeing and shooting a New York City that most people fail to notice. Keeping 25-35 photographers together and moving in the same direction without losing anyone is an art unto itself...keep it up, Steve! And thanks to all who have been a part of this great journey, named or unnamed - your support and inspiration is truly humbling. Thank you! Skip Rowland June, 2010

A Steve Hill Expedition

This is My Town These are My People These are the people Steve Hill led through the mean streets of NYC, photographed

by Skip Rowland

This is My Town, These Are My People I don’t know when Steve Hill first picked up a camera, let alone when the camera grabbed him, but when it did, Steve’s life changed forever. He probably won’t admit it, and I’m sure there are some days when he wishes he could let it go. But, he can’t. That camera is as much a part of his life as his guitar and his cooking utensils. Steve lives in Hell’s Kitchen, and that’s where he cut his teeth with his camera, exploring the urban landscape, looking to connect with his world. Connect he did, producing some of the most honest and engaging street imagery imaginable. What separates Steve’s art from others is that he’s not hiding behind a long lens, providing viewers with voyueristic glimpses stealthily snatched from a safe distance. No, Steve actually engages his subjects, before, during, and/or after photographing them. He’s not looking for the down-and-out, sleeping under papers or sitting in front of a high fashion billboard. No, he’s looking for moments of human interaction, looking for people that are living and connecting with their world, regardless of their situation. A while back, Steve started conducting street photography workshops, sharing his skills and experiences with other photographers. He would lead people through the city and show them that there was much, much more to street photography than hiding behind a camera. Last year someone convinced Steve that he should put on a large-scale workshop and open up the invitation to the international photography community. Steve bit, and after months and months of hand-wringing and planning, he hosted his event. This past June, coming from all over, as far away as Australia, Finland, San Diego, Texas, and all over the eastern seaboard, over 30 photographers came together for three days and nights to follow Steve through his town. It was an overwhelming success, one that hopefully will become a regular event. This book is the first of a series that will be put together from the event. It is simply a collection of the people Steve brought together. Page 1