Seeing Beauty on the Streets of South Bend
This story originally appeared in Ryan Blaske’s email newsletter. Click here to sign up for the next bi-weekly installment.
Over the past year, my stories on West.SB—Seeing South Bend on Foot and Documenting the Signs of South Bend—have centered around my simple practice of walking the city with a camera in hand. Today, we continue this thread with a new friend along for the stroll.
A few months ago, I was looking through the South Bend, IN location tag on Instagram, and I came across some beautiful film photos of downtown South Bend. These photos were captured by Nik Guiney, a grad student from The University of Notre Dame.
I reached out to Nik shortly after and asked if he would like to join me on a photo walk.
Our first walk was on the west side of South Bend just outside Rosales Super Market on Western Ave.
Photo by Nik Guiney
One of the best aspects of a photo walk is there is no plan, I like to pick a location and just start walking. Letting the morning light and interesting compositions lead the way.
After the holidays Nik and I met up again for a second photo walk, but this time in River Park. This is a part of town I often just drive by and haven't spent a morning just exploring.
We met up just outside the old River Park Theater and made our way west.
Photo by Nik Guiney
Photo by Nik Guiney
Photo walks have been a great, covid safe way for me to meet new people in the city and continue to document/explore my environment.
I would encourage you to try this out even if all you have is your phone. Let your curiosity lead the way and don't be afraid to take a different path. You might be surprised by the beauty that is just around the corner.