Branden May's photography captures Atlanta's architecture and everyday life

There are a lot of architecturally unique buildings here in Atlanta. You have the Westin Peachtree Plaza, the King and Queen buildings and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis to name a few. Atlanta street photographer Branden May captures these buildings and the people who walk alongside them in his works, and his photographs have been featured in exhibitions internationally. Branden joined “City Lights” producer Summer Evans to talk about his work and how he approaches the art of photography.

“I started photography around the age of twelve,” May said. “[My dad] had a camera that he really loved – I think, an Olympus camera, like a 35 millimeter. He let me use it a few times. I believe that I broke it.” Undeterred, May continues shooting to this day, inspired by his dad’s support.

Though May now shoots his photographs on a digital camera, they maintain film-like qualities, like a subtle graininess; they’re also mostly black and white. “Black and white is, in my opinion, a little bit more forgiving. You can miss your shutter speed, or your ISO could be off, but you can still get a great image out of it,” said May. “But mostly, I think I am drawn to black and white and the grain because of Gordon Parks and Berenice Abbott and photographers that I look up to, because they got started in 35-millimeter film.”