Union City, Pa

Main Street USA

7.21.19

For over 15 years I have been traveling in and out of Union City, my husband's hometown. Located about 40 minutes outside of Erie, Pa where we currently reside. My Mother-in-law still lives in this small town. With a population of 3,239 and a high school enrollment of 338, Union City is the stereo-typical one light, main street, dirt road, small town USA. Like many small towns, the residents of Union City once thrived on the three factories that were located here. Those factories are long gone, replaced with vacant buildings and thrift shops that never stay long. There's not much to draw people in, and that is what draws me to it. I find myself looking through the passenger window of our car on the way to Nana's house and I see so many things I want to photograph every time. Up until now I have never found myself alone with camera in hand to do so. So I took full advantage.

I started my photo walk by exploring some alley ways off Main Street. It was a Sunday and the roads were pretty deserted. The people I did run into were very friendly, asking me about my photography and talking to me like I was an old friend. I talked to this father and daughter who were sitting right next to Syed's Indoor Yard Sale for about half an hour about the tornado that hit town in 2013 damaging the buildings across the street as well as many other tornados they experienced throughout their life times. They both have been life long residents of Union City.

Union City was founded in 1800, you can see parts of the original brick road exposed on Main Street.

I stopped in the Creekside Emporium, another one of the many thrift shops on Main Street. I found the owner in a back room filled to the ceiling with old books. She was warm and welcoming and we shared a wonderful conversation about the shop, Union City, our kids, education, passions and life in general. She and her husband (also pictured here) opened the shop in November.

The combination of architectural elements mixed with peeling paint and abandoned storefronts as well as the appeal of antique items that fill the spaces is what pulls me to this place. Some may see a run down town that once was booming and is now falling, I see history, people who love this place and are working to improve it, and buildings transformed through the years waiting for their next assignment.

I see things all the time that in my mind that make a great photograph. I don't often have my camera when I see these images. I wish I could blink and capture what I see with my eye. Picking up my camera and making images the way I see them is not as easy as you might think. I have never walked the streets and photographed the people before. It's something I have always wanted to do, and I envy the many amazing street photographers that I have studied in the history books. This experience has taught me that street photography is not as hard as I anticipated. I enjoyed talking to these people I did not know and getting to know them and I did not feel awkward asking them for their photographs. I can now see how this could be addicting and how a photographer could spend an entire career documenting places and the people in them.