For Olivier Metzler, photography is far more than just taking pictures. It is a creative pursuit that he has, over the years, learned to prioritize amongst the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Street Meet, NC State’s very own photography and video-savvy organization, is dedicated to creating an outlet in which students like Metzler, a third-year studying communication media and current president of Street Meet, are able to exercise their ever-flowing creativity through compelling visual art forms.
The budding, visually-charged student organization was formed last year, after NC State alum James Huang recognized a lack of creative communities here at NC State. After Huang graduated, Metzler was appointed to carry out the group’s mission, which is aimed at uniting students through photography and video. While first gaining an appreciation for the compelling art form that is photography about four years ago, Metzler truly became dedicated to the craft after meeting his girlfriend in Belgium, whose high-quality camera was “a little intimidating at the time.” Now, he has developed an even greater appreciation for photography, video and their unique ability to tell a story.
“With photography you don’t have to think about movement as much as [with] video, and for me it was a way to move up to video,” Metzler said. “It’s interesting to capture things that are going on around you, or to capture a moment. There’s a certain feel in these images that are mentally frozen — you get to see a moment still in a picture.”
This semester, Street Meet was able visually tell the stories of 10 Carolina Ballet dancers through artfully designed photographs taken in Downtown Raleigh. The unique project was aimed at showing what each dancer’s life is like outside their careers as renowned dancers. Afterwards, group members were then able to photograph the dancers’ professional work at an upcoming performance — this is only one of the many community-focused projects Street Meet has taken on thus far.
“In the spring we had our first Street Meet gallery with Lumina [Clothing] downtown,” Metzler said. “It was cool to see the people that enjoy the photography [in person] — it’s different than seeing people on Instagram liking photos.”
Although the eccentric visual arts group began with a focus on street photography — hence the name “Street Meet” — the group has since broadened its horizons, consistently photographing and filming whatever speaks to them at the time.
“It’s always been open to what the individual creative photographer wants to do, and what the individual is comfortable with or wants to work on,” Metzler said. “Street Meet is a facilitator, where we bring all these people together and meet in a location, and then branch out.”
Street Meet’s impressive lineup of artful photographs are full of unique angles and shadows, proving the group’s utmost versatility when it comes to capturing an image. But there is one stylistic theme that seems prevalent in Street Meet’s overall work — the exquisite simplicity of everyday happenings that seem, somehow, magical when captured in just the right manner. For roughly seven years now Conor Lenhardt, a third-year studying graphic design and current secretary of Street Meet, has been working to do just that.
When he was young, Lenhardt continuously found himself casually playing around with photography and video projects before recently becoming more serious about the art form. Now, by getting involved with Street Meet, he is able to work with additional innovative photographers who are constantly opening his eyes to different, fresh ideas full of individuality.
“I like sharing my ideas with other people, seeing what they’re into and what they like taking pictures of,” Lenhardt said. “[I like] seeing if they have different perspectives on different subjects.”
The organization goes adventuring around Raleigh once a month in search of anything and everything that would make for a good shot. This creative wandering allows group members to bounce ideas off each other and take in different perspectives, all while exploring one’s individual niche in the vast field that is photography. As a whole, the newfound student group has worked to include and foster all types of photographers and videographers, acting as a sanctuary of sorts for those with insatiable creativity.
“It’s a great way to meet new creative people, and people in general who like spending time with each other and having a good time,” Lenhardt said. “Our mission is to spread community, and build our media culture and creativity around Raleigh and the surrounding area.”
Perhaps here lies the true beauty of following one’s creative passion — sharing it with others.
Street Meet members search around Raleigh on monthly trips in search of interesting photo opportunities.
