The Old French verb “alley” is the source of the English word “alley”.
Alleyways, by definition, are places that you leave behind when going somewhere else. They’re not the final destination. What if they actually were?
We searched the Offset Photography collection for alleys that were so stunning, they made us want to stay a little longer. These photos span the globe and take us from Italy, to Japan, Kenya, to the Czech Republic. The pictures are taken under a warm, glittering sunlight and in the shadow of darkness.
Alleyways are all about those in-between magical moments that happen on the way from A to B. These alleyways tell us what it is like to be deliriously lost in a city, or even within our imaginations. The corners of the globe were never intended to be the center of attention, but this is where the drama of life takes place. A hidden alley has its own unique charm that can rival the busiest main street.
Ansel Adams, in the 1970s wrote this to describe Jacob Riis’ turn-of the-century photos: “These people are alive again as vividly on paper as they were when their photographs were taken.” Ansel Adams wrote in the 1970s that Jacob Riis’ turn-of-the century photographs “live again in print as intensely as when their images were captured.”