Driving home one night during the last part of 2011, I started looking around my neighborhood. We moved to the east side of Indianapolis two years ago and up until our realtor brought us over to this side of town, I had no idea it existed. The east side is an interesting place. I’ve heard people use the following adjectives when describing it: transitional, run-down, up & coming, forgotten, inventive, new, old, historic, renovate, rehabilitate, poor, economical, creative, friendly, hostile, energetic, and the list goes on. Maybe it is because I have a thing about underdogs, but I really like our neighborhood. I love our cozy, old bungalow, I love Irvington, I love 10th street, I love Woodruff Place, I love the Y, I love the food co-op, and again, the list goes on. Our neighborhood isn’t perfect. There is poverty, dirt, crime, and abandoned buildings but that’s what makes it a real place to live.
I was thinking about all of these things while driving home and that I wanted document this place that we live in. I like to take pictures but I don’t pretend to have any real skills in photography. I just love my Nikon D40, so this brings me to my photography project idea for 2012.
I am going to take my camera out into our neighborhood and take a ton of photos. I don’t know what the photos will be of but I’m not limiting myself, so they could be of buildings, animals, plants, people, whatever. The only parameter for this project is that the photographs will all be from the east side of Indianapolis. I will pick one photograph each week and post it with a location and brief description. My plan is to post these weekly entries on Friday. I hope to stick with it and I hope to learn more about my neighborhood in the process.
The first photo will be posted next Friday. Stay tuned.
Brianna Pike 