Faced with the expense of hiring a studio space for his next photography project, Justin Bettman told Wired he was struck with an idea: “A studio shot is just a back wall and a floor and that’s what the side of a building and a sidewalk is,” he said. “Why don’t we try to shoot these outside?”
Together with collaborator Gözde Eker, that’s exactly what happened. Locations on the street were scouted, with four in New York City and one in California, and elaborate sets were constructed from unwanted materials and furniture — much of which was appropriately found on the street in the first place.
Once Bettman’s open-air photo shoot was completed, the sets were left as an invitation for passers by to use them to stage their own impromptu scenes of domesticity, tagging them #setinthestreet. And while these sets have since been removed, the project is ongoing — so if you see what appears to be a domestic scene pop up In our city, you’ll have an idea of what’s going on.
All images © Justin Bettman