I still add reviews, but what I have found I really like doing is adding photographs to Yelp.com. These are all photos that I also add to Flickr, and they are mostly not very creative. In fact, that’s really almost the aspect of this that I like best. I feel like I am on assignment for Yelp to add photographs to local businesses and institutions, especially ones that don’t already have any photographs.

I don’t try to be artistic with these, I try to be straight, accurate, basic. I take a picture of the business, or occasionally of just the sign, and I try to provide objective, identifying information.

I don’t have any strong sense of commitment about this. I know that Yelp.com is a commercial venture, and that users like me who contribute content are providing them with free content that in effect they are selling to others. I also am aware that my photographs are a free PR or marketing service to a lot of small businesses and organizations who may be completely unaware of Yelp. That’s fine with me — this is a totally voluntary activity, one that I do for my own reasons. It’s one of the ways that I document ordinariness. It encourages me to take pictures of everyday places that we take for granted, but that could disappear overnight.

My Yelp Photos — This is the link to all my Yelp photos