invited guest: Kathleen Fonseca

People excite me, the streets thrill me. For me, street photography is all about the people. I don't have to travel to a different country, or even a different city, to shoot. The street could be any street in almost any city, Park benches, corner stores, automobiles, trees, sidewalks; all could be anywhere in the world. The street is a stage. The background scenery is irrelevant. It is the drama I have come to see and record. The people and the photographer inhabit a stage, for moments performing their unique script and then someone else takes our place. Lives and relationships overlap, strangers meet, separate, smile, frown, bump into each other. The performance continues with endless acts and scenes, prop and costume changes, lighting and weather variations. I am fascinated endlessly by people whose expression or physical presence is very strong or whose interactions convey some essential human truth or universal behavior.

I feel a great deal of affection and respect for the subjects of my photos. When they knowingly and generously give of themselves for my photograph my joy is boundless and our connection, though momentary, is quite complete. When they are simply and candidly themselves I quietly record the moment and withdraw, cherishing the breathtaking authenticity I have just witnessed. I am honored to capture and preserve these moments in their lives. These people are real, were here, I saw and confirmed their unique performance before the curtain fell and the lights went out. > I am not making a social statement. If there must be a statement that I am trying to convey it's our oneness as human beings, our brotherhood and sisterhood and that I reach into a culture that is not my own to connect on the streets of San José, Costa Rica.

More of Kathleen's work is here