About
Melissa Holloway
I shoot street work on foot, in whatever light the city is giving that day. No flash, no setups, nobody asked to do it again.
Most of what I photograph is the stuff people walk past — a hand-painted wall, a chair somebody left on the sidewalk, a bridge that looks different at every hour, a zinnia still holding colour after the sun quits. If I have to stop walking to look at it, I shoot it.
Four long-running series make up most of the work, and none of them are finished. I add to them every time I go out.
The four series
01
Beauty Inside the Beast
What the city leaves behind — hand-painted walls, worn porches, chairs nobody came back for.
02
Over the River
Bridges, crossings and the corners that tell you exactly where you are.
03
Flowers in the Dark
Colour that refuses to quit, found after the light has gone.
04
Outside the City
Back roads, rail lines and open fields — what the light does once the buildings stop.
Street sign commissions
The corner you grew up on, shot properly.
I photograph street signs and specific locations on request — the block you were raised on, the street you got married on, the town you left and still think about. Send me the location and I'll go shoot it.
01
Send me the place
A cross street, an address, a town — anywhere I can walk to it. Tell me why it matters if you want; it changes how I shoot it.
02
I go stand there
I wait for the light that suits the place. Sometimes that's the first trip, sometimes it's the third. You get frames to choose from.
03
You get the print
Archival paper, signed, sized to the wall it's going on. Digital files available if you'd rather frame it yourself.
Prints
Open and limited editions from all four series, archival paper, signed.
Commissions
Editorial and documentary work, plus street sign requests — any location I can walk to.
Have a place in mind?
Tell me where it is and what it means to you. I'll tell you what I can do with it.