Mailboxing: An Overview

Good day everyone:

As this blog continues to take off, I want to throw focus on issues and matters in the transit community when it comes to photography as an ongoing series. Today, I will discuss something all transit photo enthusiasts have done one time or another: Mailboxing.

Mailboxing is basically when a photographer revisits the same location multiple times, snapping identical shots. This is mostly done at major transit points like transit centers, downtown or center city areas, or even in the photographer's own neighborhood.

All three of these I have done and to some degree still do but mailboxing has its advantages.

*These locations are places the photographer knows and feels safe taking photos

*These locations are places the photographer can achieve the maximum volume of photos in a short time

*These locations are places the photographer always know is a "sweet spot", especially on days of optimum conditions i.e sunny of snowy days.

However, mailboxing certainly have many disadvantages as well.

*These locations are places the photographer can wear out, preventing growth of style and content

*These locations are places the photographer can become complacent and bored, especially when posting his or her photos on social media sites.

*These locations are places the photographer will eventually burn out from and if they do not expand to other places, will lose interest in the hobby and give up photography.

Everything listed above is what I went through over the years. When I first started, I was mailboxing and did not know it until the day a group of transit enthusiasts noticed a pattern in my photography that I unwittingly picked up from other experienced photographers.

Below are four examples of the kind of mailboxing I did in places like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington D.C, and Los Angeles

These photos were taken in the block I lived in when I first started

 Notice a common denominator here? 

 Transit centers are the easiest place to Mailbox as seen in these two shots...

 

In this case, I literally did not leave this spot for twenty minutes, resulting in 40 photos that all look like these two...

 

Now although all the buses pictured above are either gone or updated and considered "classic" photos, it still shows how mailboxing can become very boring, showing that the photographer is lacking creativity to do better.

 

Once this was pointed out to me, I took it as a personal challenge to become a better photographer and capture transit in its true natural habitat: The neighborhood buses and trains serve. Below are some photos from New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco where while Mailboxing could have been the easiest and safest route, I ended up getting awesome results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The point to all of this besides the self-promotion is that if any photographer feels bored and uncreative while unconsciously mailboxing, get out and explore the neighborhoods your respective transit system serves. I guarantee you will yield better photos and a better understanding how your photography preserves the history of transportation and gives others who want to visit a sense of pride in your city and system.

 

Hoped you enjoyed the ride...until next time.