Interview with Street photographer Alex Coghe

Hi Alex thanks for doing this. where do you live and how does this influence your photography?
I live in Mexico City and, of course, this influences a lot my experience as a
photographer. The thing is, I live in a popular ‘hood, and I work a lot on identity
My humanist photography leans heavily into the idea of identity, sense of place and community spirit.

My photographs are not a stylistic exercise but rather the result of research to propose as honest a documentation of the human condition as possible, where the subject matter is more important than the form. In this sense where I live is crucial.

How did you get into photography?
Like a natural landing place for a writer, in the first instance, who realized how
photography could be an extraordinary tool to continue observing and offering my point of view on the world around me.

If you had to explain your work to someone who has no idea of what street
photography is how would you describe it ?
Raw, gritty, and authentic. Often capturing the essence of everyday life in urban
environments, focusing on the people, culture, and atmosphere of the streets. My
photography is characterized by candidness and intimacy, as I try to document the
human experience in its most unguarded moments.While my work is deeply rooted in the tradition of street photography, I bring my own unique perspective, capturing fleeting moments of emotion and expression, revealing the beauty and complexity of everyday
life.

What’s your thoughts on today’s street photography landscape?
There is a clear distinction between photographers who are within the festival and
competition circuit compared to others. Furthermore, with the boom in popularity that the genre is experiencing there are many photographers who are obviously not street photographers, they can be easily recognized.

Certainly there are interesting names that from my point of view are doing a really good job. I’m trying to show some of them in my series dedicated to the masters of street photography on YouTube, where I feel free to also propose some contemporary names.

What is one street photo you never get tired of?
This one from Janet Delaney. Howard Street toward Fourth, from the series South of Market, 1978-1986, 1981-printed 1998 I think this photo condenses a lot of what I like in street photography, especially urban observation within the composition, with details that can make you feel the atmosphere of the place and at the same time reveal a lot about the human condition.

Whats your thoughts on Street Photography Festivals and contest?
I believe they created many of the problems we see in the current street photography scene today. The frantic search to satisfy a certain aesthetic created by these competitions and festivals has generated a street photography increasingly devoted to the visual game on the one hand and to the conceptual/fashionist on the other. Many photos are clearly staged or at the best, based on working the scene. When a Bruce Gilden or an Alex Webb are judges they do not have the intellectual honesty to reward truly deserving photographs because they see something new, but rather they reward what is similar to their work.

To be a judge is a serious work, with a big responsibility. It is crucial to reward photographs that do not respond to a certain prevailing trend, because what we see is the effect of these decisions. It is like in photojournalism awards
where we see reality constantly violated by HDR images that look more like paintings than photographs. Photoshop prevails with photographs retouched down to the smallest detail, using clone stamps, lightening and shading by area and anything that makes the photos fake photos. It’s funny because all of this is perfectly replicable today by AI. What is not possible to reply is real life, but you know there is an evident desire to lower reality because so the system wants.

Here are more recent 1st place winners in contest, rate it from 1-10 (10 being the best & 1 being the worse) and reasoning.

Forrest Walker Italian Street Photography Festival singles winner 2022

Score 9 – I think is a stunning image, with several layers and a great composition. From a formal point of view I find no defects.

Armin Garca Brussels Street Photography Singles Winner 2023

Score 7 – Really this image won? I am a little bit surprised. Maybe I am not following anymore the festivals thing and I should more, maybe something has changed. I appreciate the fact the photo is documenting the human condition. From the formal point of view the composition doesn’t drive me crazy. But I don’t know if the conditions existed to do better. The fact this photo won, however, continues to surprise me.

Akbar Mehrinezhad Lensculture 2022 Singles Winner

Score 4 – No way this photo won! Really? This is exactly what bothers me about certain contests. This is an absolutely mediocre photo. Should this moment of applause drive me crazy? It’s basically like when a wedding photo is awarded for a street photography festival. Photographs and photographers pumped in an inexplicable way if not because the judges don’t know how to do their job. And don’t tell me that in a competition of that kind, with so many submissions, this was the best photograph sent.

Name three contemporary photographers you really admire?
Daniel Arnold: I agree very much with his ideas and approach. Armed with skills such as shoot from the hip that allow him to take photos that would otherwise be impossible.The fact that he managed to break into fashion photography, practically doing the same job as a street photographer in many events is simply a role model in the current scene.

Andre Wagner: I think he really took up Gordon Parks’ baton, in the context of today’s America, obviously.

Londeka Thabethe: she is a young woman photographing in Johannesburg, focused on human condition. I think her work needs to be known more and this is my support to her art.

If you could have dinner with one street photographer past or present who would
it be?
Gordon Parks, for sure. I am currently reading his book A CHOICE OF WEAPONS. I
believe he is part of the gotha of photography. When photography is good is a political act.

When you aren’t making pictures you are doing what?
Reading, writing, cooking, watching movies. Spending time with my wife.