Corinne Spector — Progressive Street

I view photography as a method of observation - gathering characteristics, metaphors, symbols,
and describing things, rather than “measuring” them.

I was born in 1961 in Morocco, and live in Israel at the age of nine months. I spent my childhood in Jaffa. I was always a storyteller; I am the eldest of six sisters, so I always invented and told them stories. My passion for photography was born
a long time ago. It seems I always had a camera but I never really learned to take photos. I always documented my daily life, and that of my family, and with my camera, I wanted to tell stories.

I have been taking photographs for the past five years, and in the last two, focusing on street photography.

The street, from my perspective, is a place where I am a participative observer – and this requires me to listen carefully and watch closely. There is a great deal of attention to detail needed but my focus changes all the time – suddenly something else attracts my attention. In street photography, the camera is a tool that intensifies our senses with regards to our surroundings. We look at the world from a perspective that can be critical or empathic – in this way, one often chooses to tell one's story.
My learning process moved from technical to a form of self-development. Now I look outward in order to look inward; photography has become a language that exposes my internal world and my perspective of the world around me, so if you know me, you should be able to identify me through the photos I've taken.
It's strange but via my camera, I've learned to see better without it; my focus has changed and now what I see is out in the street is what I see inside myself as well.

Street photography is direct photography; it has the power to mark, to indicate, to make something visible and present. This makes the chance meeting between what I see and am, and the object in front of me right now, into something more commemorative. From my perspective a frame is "good" when it continues to excite me, and I can find more layers of meaning every time I look at it.

Pro-democracy demonstrations in Israel

Corinne Spector - second prize of Series category 2022

Corinne Spector is an inspiring photographer who seldom disappoints. While these photographs suggest solitude and all the potential meanings the motif can evoke, I feel they would have had more impact and the tonal quality could have been greatly enhanced by using more contrast. But that’s just my viewpoint, they represent a powerful take on the theme.

Michael Kennedy