For South Street Sam, street photography captures authentic joy in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – He's captured more than 30,000 street portraits on South Street, and if a picture is worth 1,000 words, photographer Sami Aziz has a lot to say.
Every day for the last four months, Sami Aziz has come to the street where he grew up to take portraits of his neighbors.
He's known on Instagram as @SouthStreetSam, and his account has more than 60,000 followers.
Aziz spends his mornings at the Spread Bagelry on the corner of South and 5th Streets combing through the photographs he took the previous day.
"I'm going through the photos I took yesterday, and what I do is, each day I post a curated selection of ten," he said.
His method is simple – an introduction and a question: "My name is Sam. I'm a street photographer. Can I take a portrait of you?"
His photographs show the humanity of South Street, he said, with each image telling a story beyond the perceptions of its often rough exterior.
"Maybe [there's a] reputation or narrative about South Street being an unsafe place or in decline. You have a picture of a group of kids having an authentic joyful moment," he said.
And it's those moments that are worth everything, Aziz said.
"I'm a street photographer at heart and I love what I do," Aziz said. "To spread joy and positivity on South Street and my home city, I feel like it's my life's work."