by ClydaJane Dansdill
Street photography requires an element of visual investigation. Curiosity and attention to detail are
necessary to capture street scenes that evoke more than just their actual happenings and go further to
resonate with a deeper reality of space and location. Most importantly, the street photographer should
possess a spontaneous hand and an aptitude for catching momentary action. When street photogra-
phers shoot, they intervene upon a fleeting occurrence that would otherwise go unnoticed. The raison
d'etre is to capture something that is true.
Matthew Kraus’s 2016-2019 collection is a forthright nod to the very purpose of street photography.
The objective is to play with portrayal; to illuminate the lesser-known performances of human nature.
Kraus has a personal, subjective relationship with his practice. He says, “On a good day, you are see-
ing things as only you can see them.”
The title of each of Kraus’s photographs is often portrayed via signage within the image, offering an im-
mediate sense of grounding for the viewer. This is Lafayette Street. This is The Bowery. Rain threatens.
We are standing on the Manhattan Bridge. It’s winter in New York. The cold does not diminish the dirty-
sweet smell of garbage. A bicyclist clatters over the cobbles on Greene Street. Kraus’s collection is part of
a long legacy of street photographers who were fascinated by New York’s exhilarating grit and grandeur.
There are inklings of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson in his work, but Kraus makes it his own.
Modern effects are not included in his pictures, the reason being that he intends to capture New York’s
timelessness. All his photos are composed in medium black and white contrast. Settings are applied to
achieve a resolution closest to the silver gelatin print.
The street scenes are studded with iconographical Manhattan mentions - the Empire State, the Flatiron,
Sabrett hot dog stands, Lady Liberty in the distance, a horse-drawn carriage at Central Park West. An
empty, snow-trodden Walker Street conjures the famous blizzard of 1888. Kraus achieves an archival as-
semblage of this classic city. When we look at his pictures, we glimpse his impression, and we are invited
to reframe our own modes of surveillance.
Kraus curated his collection of seventy digital photographs into a beautiful book. Nothing To See Here will
be a limited edition of 100 copies. His scenes are sometimes somber, possessing little action, sometimes
awash with pedestrian activity, but always possess a consistent meditative monotone. One feels the
coexistent fatigue and bustle of urban life. Lively Chinatown markets hum under achromatic neon. Shut-
tered storefronts await new keepers. On the Laight Street footbridge, alone umbrella basks, abandoned,
beneath fluorescent tunnel lights. A feeling of isolation permeates these captured moments and reso-
nates with the simultaneous anonymity and identity that can be felt by one New Yorker walking among
millions. Kraus’s photographs possess a thematic allegiance that imparts an homage to, and a study of,
the great city of New York. It is clear that he is a devoted participant.
Matthew Kraus, Flushing Avenue. Brooklyn Navy Yard. Brooklyn. New York. 2018, from the book, Nothing to See Here, 2019.
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