Matthew Gallagher lives at the end of a Port Richmond block that, on a chilly January afternoon, seems relatively tranquil. Garage doors are neatly closed and cars are parked in a row as I make my way to the home studio of this Philadelphia photographer and zine publisher.

"It's quiet out now, but when the weather is nice, this is the most lawless street," Gallagher laughs. "Kids don't go to school, they're out here skateboarding, lighting shit on fire."

Sometimes they do both at once, as we see in some of the photos he's preparing for a month-long exhibit at newly resurrected Philadelphia concert venue The Level Room. In a small color shot, a boy in his early teens zooms down the block on a Razor scooter with flames licking off its wheels; in a larger black-and-white print, we see where those flames came from. One of his friends has figured out how to turn a can of spray paint into a blowtorch, and our subject is wearing an impish smile as he shoots an arc of fire at the asphalt beneath him. Over his shoulder, down the block a little ways, we see a familiar diamond-shaped street sign: "Watch Children."

A survey of photographs taken over the past decade-plus, Downward Years to Come is a candid study of the neighborhoods Gallagher, 28, knows best: his current home, his own childhood stomping grounds in Juniata Park and Kensington, where many of his lifelong friends hail from. The images are not presented in a gawking way — despite the mischief he often captures, the point here isn't "look at this crazy shit people do." Gallagher's perspective is more knowing and nostalgic.

"When we were those kids, we were probably out doing the same thing," he says, as his friend Domenic Palermo nods knowingly. Palermo's band Nothing is playing an acoustic set at the Jan. 20 opening of Downward Years to Come; it has also used Gallagher's photographs as cover art on all of its releases. "What I write about in my music is the same thing he's looking at in his photos," Palermo says. "Being from here, knowing this, a lot of this is what made us happy growing up. That's why any time I need art, I don't have to look far."

Gallagher calls it "finding beauty in places other people might not see it." This is most evident in his images of an abandoned, graffiti-covered pier along the Delaware River. Gallagher likes to visit it with his camera around sunset, and the rose-colored light he captures splashing off the water is absolutely breathtaking; as a kid, he would visit the pier with his father to go fishing.

Back on the street, we see an archetypal shot of a corner in the summertime. From behind a brick Verizon building, mist from an opened fire hydrant fills the air. In the foreground, the silhouettes of neighbors rush excitedly to cool off.

Other photos focus on the details. A convenience store has its first dollar taped to the wall, with "Fuck the police" written in bold letters over top. Elsewhere, there's Sharpie graffiti that used to say "Sabrina + Josh," until one of those parties came in and crossed it out. "Not any more," reads the update on the side. "Anatomy of a relationship in Kensington," explains Gallagher.

The photographer's goal is partly to immortalize his friends (like Anthony Smyrski, publisher of Megawords, pictured), his surroundings, his life in a way that connects most directly with those who also lived it. It's also to offer an outlet to the next generation he documents: Sales of his photos, posters and zines during the run of Downward Years to Come will be donated in part to the children's art program at The Studio at Beacon.

(john.vettese@citypaper.net) (@johnvettese)

Fri., Jan. 20, 7 p.m., free, with Nothing, Creepoid and the RockTits DJs, The Level Room, 2102 Market St., 215-920-2070, mattygallagher.tumblr.com.