Saved by Street Photography: Inner-City Outsider

Issue 04: January 2023

“The street has a spirit of its own. Surrender to it and come to understand that you are a part of it, not apart from it. This is street photography.” - t.rich

I have so many unforgettable memories of concerts, museums, sporting events and other NYC experiences throughout these past decades. I’ve probably been to 35 Saint Patrick’s Day Parades, and to give another idea of how long I’ve actually been coming in and making NYC my playground, my first two Broadway experiences were the original Beatlemania in 1977, and Peter Pan with Sandy Duncan in 1979. Some of my more recent have been Springsteen on Broadway and Hamilton. I saw Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, and Phish, each multiple times, just to name a few of my favorites. Not to mention the countless intimate shows in small venues scattered all throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. I’ve been coming into this city a pretty long time and as you might have guessed… I ❤️ NY!

Some of my oldest memories are of driving into the city with my parents and little brother. On any given Saturday morning, while my parents were packing the cooler with lunch, my brother and I would be loading up my dad’s van with our roller skates, skateboards and anything else we thought offered promise for an adventurous day in the park. My brother and I were always ready to go into the city, and whatever spot my parents picked that week, would be the place we’d spend our Saturday. And if by chance they asked me where I wanted to go that week, the answer would always be Washington Square Park. For my parents, it was a cheap day out with the kids. For me and my brother it was nothing short of awesome! We would make new friends wherever we went, and even ended up at Tompkins Square Park a couple of times, running wild with the locals… Man those were good times!

By the time I was fifteen, in 1984, some friends and I were jumping on in Rahway and riding the rails up the east-coast-corridor and into Manhattan without any parents. What adventures we had!  This is where we learned so many of the life-lessons that weren’t being taught in the classrooms of Rahway High. And by the time we were Seniors, we had this seedy little dive bar on Canal Street called “3 Roses Bar.” This place would not only serve us alcohol, but would serve any teenager we brought back with us! It was incredible! And you’d be correct in assuming that our trips through the Holland Tunnel greatly increased now that we had our own little watering hole over on the edge of Chinatown. I still remember the bartender and the regulars, and what characters they were. And the Clarence Carter jukebox! Times were different back then, in 1987 in  New York City. And I sure wish I was into street photography back then because I would have tons of amazing shots of places and characters that simply don’t exist anymore. This is why I see street photography as such an important medium for the documentation of what’s happening in the world today. Street photography is not only fun, but important. And if I leave behind only one photograph that somehow makes a difference, then I am happy to say, it’s all been worth it.

For the past 18 years, pretty much every time I came into the city I’ve had my camera with me. New York City has always been one of my favorite subjects. And although I was usually trying to shoot subjects in the city with as little human interference as possible, this was usually undoable. But damn did I try! And after all those years of trying to avoid taking pictures with people in them, I ended up with a handful of photos that resembled what I now know to be street photography. These pictures turned out to be some of the most interesting and captivating images I’ve ever taken, and it is these photographs and the feelings that they provoke, that I’m on a never-ending quest to recapture today.

I woke up one day in early 2021 and began driving into the city, specifically for street. With a desire to create a body of work highlighting everyday people living their day to day lives. But I wanted to do more than just capture life in a photo, I wanted to connect with it. To find our shared humanity, to make eye contact and even share a few laughs. I wanted to recognize those deep but often simple commonalities, and to document it all and prove to myself once and for all that good really does still exist. Street photography has confirmed and solidified this for me.

During this time there was very little commerce and practically no tourism happening, so the majority of the people I met and was photographing were native New Yorkers. I had this route I would take where I could pull out of my driveway in New Jersey, find free parking, and be standing under the arch in Washington Square in just under thirty minutes. At the very least I was doing this every Friday, and sometimes on Saturday and Sunday as well. I would be in the heart of Manhattan, just as the locals were coming out in the morning to walk their dogs and get a cup of joe. I would usually be in the park before it was even cleaned up from whatever went down the night before; and this too made for some interesting photos.

Since I’ve dedicated myself to this project, I’ve met so many incredible people and remarkable photographers. If any of you happen to find your way to this phot-blog, I want you to know how thankful I am for the kindness. To me there is something so special about showing up in an inner-city neighborhood, with my camera and a smile, in the city I’ve loved my entire life, and to be called by my first name and treated like an insider. I can’t even describe how grateful I am for this; other than to say, “Thank you.” And I will. The very next time our paths cross on the street.

Sincerely…