Baltimore - STEVEN R. TABOR

Baltimore

I was born and raised in Baltimore. Though none of my immediate family lives there any longer, it still feels very much like home. For most of those who live in Baltimore, life is hard. Housing conditions are poor; good jobs are few and far between; schools are awful; street corners are dangerous; and crime and violence can lurk around any corner. Nina Simone's song Baltimore sums it up quite well when she sings: "Ain't it hard just to live".

This series contains street scenes from different parts of Baltimore's inner-city. These are images that were taken by Google Earth, and which I've appropriated and post-processed. Google street view sends cars through city streets, and using its nine-eyed cameras, they take images that are then uploaded to the net. Most of these streets are not terribly photographer-friendly, so having images from Google's cars provides a glimpse into the day-to-day street life that the bulk of Baltimore's residents experience. Thinking about what has happened to Baltimore over the years fills me with a mix of anger, shame and frustration---despite so many efforts to make things better over the years, the situation just seems to get worse.

If you'd like to see the full series, download the PDF catalog here.