Finally… PublicMarkets.com is up on the web-o-sphere, online-and-running! “Years in the making,” as they say. So it better be perfect, right? Well, let’s just say it’s a work in progress. As are all websites, blogs, apps, platforms and the like, when they’re new and raw.  Please be patient while we tweak the site, correct errors and build the essentials in to a true reference source.

And by “Years in the making” what I really mean is “years in the thinking-about.” Any actual making has only been going on for a few months. Except for the photography…

I’ve been travelling the world and visiting Markets for decades. I’m a commercial photographer and photojournalist who’s been lucky enough to get assignments in some fascinating parts of the globe. And whenever I’ve traveled, I’ve tried to make time for visiting the Markets. I’m just drawn to these places, not completely sure why… comfortable in the atmosphere of nourishment? Surrounded by sustenance? It probably comes down to something as simple as the fond memories of being in my grandmother’s kitchen.

And I’m a foodie myself, always cooking the meals and playing in the kitchen. I like to experiment with new foods and attempt to reproduce some exotic fare I found in a foreign Market. So it makes some kind of sense that I like to hang out among the merchants, purveyors, and shoppers in the Public Markets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m originally from the Los Angeles area so the two Markets from my childhood were The Grand Central Market in Downtown L.A. and Farmers Market in the Hollywood area. The Grand Central is very much the same as it was in those days but a big shopping complex called The Grove has now seemingly swallowed up Farmers Market. But the old Market is still there, still a great, eccentric landmark in a big, eccentric city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t set out to create a collection of photographs of these places, but I shot photos as a way to keep track of where I’d been, a kind of visual journal. It took others to point out that there was a body of work here, a compilation of images that brought together a bunch of unique and special places from all over the world.

In the early years I thought I might be documenting a vanishing phenomenon, a kind of multi-vendor Marketplace that was diminishing in relevance and weakening in the face of more efficient competition, but I’m happy to say I was wrong. Great Public Markets are being recognized for their special value around the USA and experiencing the revitalization and resurgence needed for long-term survival. In most of the rest of the world they never were in trouble, but I didn’t know that until I started spending more time in that world.

So PublicMarkets.com seemed like a great way to share and exchange information about these wonderful places. Whether you love travel, or food, or multi-cultural experiences, I hope you find the site a pleasant entertainment and that you might even look there some time to track down a Market or plan a stop on a trip somewhere.