25. Postal Delivery Bikes
Street Photography
If you take photos in the same city over a long enough period, you become aware of the wide cast of characters that are part of the public theatre of the street. This includes people you might notice once and never see on the street again. Others are familiar characters who perform their roles with some predictability. There are also types of players that appear with regularity, even if the individual taking the part changes.
Mail delivery people serve a role in our cities that is not as central as it once was. The use of email, Skype, Zoom, and social media have reduced our dependence on paper-based forms of communication. It might not be a daily occurrence anymore, but physical mail is still delivered to our physical mailbox, and collecting it is still part of our regular (if not daily) routine. And someone still has to deliver it. The mail must get through.
Most days when I wander through the city with my camera, I see a mail delivery person in their New Zealand Post uniform on their bike with bags of mail to deliver. They ride by, sometimes reappearing moments later as they thread their way back and forth through the city streets.
Posties are among the characters who go about their business in the background. Although they don’t attract our attention, they fill an important supporting role in the daily functioning of the city. And their regular appearance against the changing backdrop of the streetscape provides us with a needed sense of familiarity and continuity.
What’s next?
I’ve recently been photographing heritage builings, hand-painted cars, and couches on front porches. I plan to publish a post about one of these topics, or something else, next weekend. You can receive the next post by email by subscribing below.
What do you think?
Feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post. Just say hello if you like.
I like the last one. Just kind of grungy... in a good way! :)