Living in a Rural area and having photography as a Hobby is an extremely rare thing. Especially if you use something other then just a Smartphone to do it. Doing street photography in small towns unless they are specifically "Tourist Traps" often gets a me a lot of strange looks from people and 95% of the time I'm the only one doing it.
Seeing another street photographer in an Urban downtown setting is fairly common. I manage to see someone else doing it almost every time I do photography in a major Downtown district on a nice day.
A Street Photographer in a small town on the other hand is incredibly rare occurrence as in my 5 years of living in a rural area and ten years of doing street photography I have never run into another street photographer in a downtown area of a city of less then 19,000 people.
Street Photographers are really missing out on a lot of really cool opportunities for Photography in small towns, however instead of going off the beaten path to explore most seem to be content on having their "usual route in their usual area in the busiest part of a big city".
To preface this: Small towns in the Midwest are my favorite venues for Street Photography for a number of reasons, even if I am the only one out doing it.
First and Foremost small towns are often chock full of Historic 2-3 story buildings that were constructed in the mid 1800s to early 1900s. This type of architecture is a lot rarer in a large Urban Downtown district unless its a preserved "historical area" to make way for more modern office buildings and apartment complexes.
Next while you may have a lot more "confused" interactions of people on the streets in a Small Town overall it is a lot safer to be out in one alone. I've had far less "hostile" encounters doing street photography vs inner city alone especially when I just avoid taking photos around the local "Watering Hole" which is where the few more in-your-face encounters doing Street Photography in smaller towns have been: Drunks.
And last but certainly not least, Small Towns make fantastic subjects during local Carnivals, City Days, County Fairs and Festivals. Here you will get a mix of Car Shows, street vendors, Carnival Rides, live music performances and livestock exhibitions and events all in a much more reasonable sized crowd then events of similar type in large urban centers (IE a State Fair). Taking photos during a Town Festival can make for some great photojournalism photos.
So having this aside of why I enjoy doing photography in small towns: the big picture of this blog post however is about how Hobby Photography which includes but is not exclusive to Street Photography is perceived and nearly non-existent in a Rural or Small Town community.
When you look at "Commonly accepted Hobbies" in Rural areas you can put them all into one of the following interest groups: Fishing, Hunting (which also includes gun collecting, range/trap shooting, etc), Agriculture (County Fairs, 4H, FFA etc), Cars/Automotive, Winter Sports and Powersports (IE Skiing and Snowmobiles), Summer Activities and Powersports (Golf, Camping, ATVs, Recreational Jet Skis and Boating) or "Crafts" which is a catch-all hobby for any sort of Handmade item including Crocheting, Soap Making, Baking, Bead-work etc.
If you have an interest in any of these hobbies in a Rural area no one will bat an eye and you will find large support groups where you can share your passion with others.
So what do I mean by Photography being an "Everywhere and Anytime Hobby" well the catch with many of these listed "normal" hobbies is that they are also restricted to being applicable to only a certain place or a certain time of year as well. Which makes Photography more special to me as it can be done Anywhere at Any Time of year.
Hunting and "Gun Hobby" for example has set seasons on when you can hunt for what and set places where you can go out and shoot. (IE designated Hunting grounds, a Rifle Club or Private Shooting range)
Fishing needs to be done on a lake or river that contains Fish and for some type of fishing there is also a season, much like hunting, which restricts the When. Additionally there is several weeks during both ends of the year, a "transitional phase" where open water fishing is not available or severely restricted and the Ice is not safe enough for Ice Fishing (though some die-hards into the Fishing hobby still try to go out and regret it later...)
Agriculture Hobbies relies on having access to a Farm, Ranch or County Fairground where you can raise and show your animals and/or crops. Crops also have a set season when they can be raised and a very narrow window during the summer and fall where they can be harvested and either sold or displayed as well.
Winter activities and power sports hobbies (Snowmobiling/ Cross country Skiing) have both a very short window of when they can be partaken in during the Late Fall into Early Spring and this season can vary from only a few weeks to at most 5 months out of the year. They also have a restriction of where as well- needing to stay on marked Snowmobile or Ski trails.
Summer Powersports and summer hobbies such as Camping are the mirror of Winter outdoor hobbies; requiring either access to designated ATV trails, Golf Courses, Campgrounds or a body of water similar to fishing. The when is likewise restricted as well especially for water power sports as its kinda hard to move a boat across a frozen lake.
Of all these "Normal" rural hobbies the only "Anytime/Anywhere" hobby is Crafting. However this hobby is "most socially accepted" in a certain age demographic; and while there is no actual restriction of Age with crafting it is going to be harder to connect with that community if you are in your teens or early 20s then if you are over 60.
The reason I am so passionate and invested in Photography is because it is a hobby that has so much variety and no "restrictions" on when and where you can go out and do it. You can take Still Life photography indoors right inside your house on a mid January day that it is -30F with a -50F windchill outside. You can take photos of the night sky outdoors (something I struggle with but I digress) in the middle of the night. With the right equipment (weather sealed camera or protective sleeve) you can even go out and do Photography in the pouring rain.
As the title of the post states Photography is also an anywhere hobby. You can do it at a Nature Trail taking photos of Wildlife; it can be done from the deck of a boat, around a campfire, on the street of a small town (which is perhaps my favorite venue for doing photography) or during a Town Festival or County Fair.
It boggles me to see events such as local fairs, car shows, etc go un-documented in photos minus the "selfie with a smartphone" or the "photo of my kid in the Marching Band (also done these days with smartphones)" during these events.
When I sit and reflect on this it is hard for me to understand why Photography is not more popular then it is in both Urban and Rural communities; but it is overwhelming Non-Existent in Small Town and Rural settings which really baffles me, because it really is such a neat hobby that anyone can go out and do regardless of where they live.
As much as I hate to admit it sometimes, yes you can even go out and do Hobby Photography with your Smartphone. And in rural areas I very rarely even see people going out and taking photos with their phones. To them "Smartphone Photography" is still restricted to "Taking photos of the Family at a Family event or at a place where my Family is going and my Family is in the picture front and center".
The only exception to this seems to be On Vacation. The average person seems more willing to take a random photo of their cruise ship, the airplane they are boarding, the drink or food they are having, etc while "On Vacation".
This perhaps is what baffles me the most why more people don't do photography as a hobby: the gap between Vacation Photography and Street Photography is so small that all you have to do is put one leg length over to hop from doing "Photos to remember an exotic place we once visited on a cruise" to "photos of where I have been recently and seen Interesting Things I've come across close to home".
That gap is so incredibly small yet... 99% of people are content just staying on the "I only take my phone or camera out when I am on Vacation" side of that incredibly short fence and it boggles me how they can't see the potential of doing more with it.
For them bridging the gap between taking photos "once every five years when we go to Alaska/Europe/etc" and doing it every month whenever they go to a fun event such as a Local Fair or Carnival outside of getting "One photo of me and the family to show we were there" is impossible.
I think a lot of the resistance to hobby photography especially in rural communities comes down to public perception; and the only way to change that perception is for more people to do it.
In the end it boils down to, especially in rural areas, that no one wants to be viewed as that "Weird creepy person going around taking photos" and while this is by far most applicable to Street Photography I have had encounters doing other types of photography where people just can't understand nor accept why I am pointing a camera or a phone at something that isn't related to me, isn't my Pet or my own Car, or isn't 3,000 miles away from where I live.
Many Street Photographers are very used to in general being approached and asked "What are you Doing?" or "What are you taking photos of?" by random people on the street. Easily 1 in every 3 Street Photography outing I go on someone will come up and ask one of those two questions with a blank look in their eyes.
Occasionally it can lead to a positive encounter where it clicks with them after you give an answer; but 9 times out of 10 you just get a blank "Deer in Headlights" stare back a shrug and an "Oh..." and then they move on.
Another odd encounter relating to my Hobby Photography out near where I live I had was at work (I work in IT; again Photography is a Hobby not a Profession). Said person came up to me with that tell-tale deer in headlights look "Uh I saw you on the way to work today why were you taking photos with a camera????"
In this case, I wasn't even doing street Photography. I was doing Nature Photography of some ducks, geese and doves along a river on my way into work and just happened to be on a public sidewalk where they passed by and recognized me before they confronted me at work about it. When I told them what I was taking photos of they did a dis-interested shrug and walked away.
Regarding small town Street Photography: it simply does not compute in most people who live in a Rural area that taking photos of random signs, buildings, art, Urban Wildlife and yes even people (but I make it a point that Street Photography is not centered on people for me.) can be Art.
It doesn't register to them that Photography can be as valid as a Hobby as wetting a line in a river, going on an ATV trail to get muddy, taking a gun out to a range to sight it in or knit something at home to sell at the town craft sale.
I've shown up to small-town car shows before where I was the only there one with a dedicated camera. As in, Primo Photography outing material. All other attendees were only taking photos with a smartphone and even then just taking a single quick photo of one car from one angle (probably someone they know who owns it) taking a quick wide-angle selfie with the car show in the background and then stuffing their phone in their jeans for the rest of the show.
Another reaction I will get, primarily when I am out taking photos of a carnival, parade or local car show is dozens of overheard comments "Oh that guy must be from the Town Paper!!!!". No...
While technically when I am at a local event taking photos of a Parade, car show, etc I am doing a form of Photojournalism and I have a lot of fun doing it; I am no more a professional or making money off of it then someone's mother cooking dinner for the family without needing to be a Professional Chef at a Restaurant. I think most people can make a distinction that not everyone who cooks a homemade meal for someone else is a Professional chef, right?
The same applies to someone out taking photos. Even with the Smartphone dominated "camera" market the vast vast majority of "people out with a camera" are still not professionals.
A second relatable example would be someone going to a car show, points to the owner of someone who has a car in it and says outloud "Oh man, I bet he drives for Nascar!". I guess I don't see the connection at all. Having a collector car doesn't make you a professional driver any more then having a camera makes you a professional photographer for the Newspaper...
But I digress; maybe the reason more people don't have a hobby for photography in Rural areas, or atleast leave their own property with a camera unless they are on vacation is they've had too many people giving them the stinkeye for it that they never learned to embrace it.
I can certainly see this. What your Peers do both growing up and in your Adult life influences what you like and enjoy and it is really disheartening having a hobby or passion for something that no one else seems to care about. Hence this rant.
The communities for the "Accepted Hobbies" in a Rural area are all very tight knit. I went to a funeral benefit for a late cousin in law of mine and it was all about trap shooting (I came late to miss the actual shooting portion of the benefit as firearms make me jumpy) but here was a memorial event of 200+ people all coming together to pretty much only talk about one thing "Getting Kids into Hunting and Trap shooting".
It made me pause for a moment and think "When that eventual day comes and I pass on or get diagnosed with a Terminal condition; if I decided to do or have my family do something to share my knowledge or passion of Photography with people would anyone who showed up actually care? Or even have an interest in "Getting Kids interested in Photography"? And the only answer I could come up with was "No".
My family may find and post up photos I've taken. Or a photobook I made. But almost everyone would maybe glance at a few photos and think "Oh that's kinda pretty I guess..." without making a connection of what Photography meant to me and yeah. That kinda stings a bit to think about.
I'll admit out of the "Acceptable Rural Hobbies" listed above I do share one, and that is Fishing. I used to be obsessed with it as a kid and it is likely because I was heavily influenced by my Grandfather to enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with this at all and I still enjoy wetting a line from time to time (Mostly in the summer. Ice Fishing can be pretty miserable).
At the end of the day Fishing is now a passing hobby. Its something I can enjoy but take or leave in most cases. I no longer pass by a lake on a road and go "Man I wish I had my rods with me..." though I did have this strong passion for it before I got into Photography fifteen years ago.
The number of times I've said internally to myself "Man I wish I had packed a camera" or "Man I really wish I could pull over and get a photo of that but I can't..." are unmeasurable however.
I leave this post with a few of my favorite photos taken in the small town I live in, the town I work in, and other small towns I've actually went out of my way to visit because I thought they would be a neat place to take a walk with a camera in, and generally I have never been disappointed in finding something interesting to photograph on the street of a Small Town.
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