spencer

I got back from out of town and immediately hit the streets on Saturday to find the whole neighborhood alive and seething with all sorts of activity. The panhandlers and prostitutes were especially vocal and talked to me at length, both friendly and suspicious. I've noticed that many of the familiar faces around Ponce seemed to have left and the contacts I made over the past two years have faded. It's difficult because you feel like you've established yourself as someone to be trusted and recently I've come to find that I need to socialize more and introduce myself to a whole new set of residents.

After a few chats with some of the locals at the corner of Boulevard, I headed east to Murder Kroger. The infamous grocery store, so named for its frequent appearances on 90's episodes of COPS, stretches between Ponce and North Street. Behind the Kroger is the Masquerade, which is the largest music venue in the area. Some time ago I noticed that before certain shows, patrons would scrambled across North Street and hit up MK for beer and sugary snacks. I guessed my best option would be to simply hang out before a concert in the rear parking lot and wait for colorful people to wander over.

I did this a few months ago before an hardcore show with mixed results. The people I photographed had painted clown faces and were a perfect sight amongst the lettuce carts but they were difficult to photograph and not the most cheerful dudes. After one threatened me I backed off and decided to find more optimistic music fans.

This time the concert was punk show and the kids were younger and more relaxed. I met Spencer and Eleanor, who were from the city. I followed them and a few other ticket holders around MK and the parking lot. They were friendly and we chatted briefly about my project and other punk bands. I admitted to them that it was difficult to walk up and start taking frames but they understood. The others groups I met were the same way and we shared ten minutes intervals with one another before the gates at the Masquerade finally opened and I decided to call it a day.