Little Moments in the Big City

Photographing in a city – any city - is challenging, exhilarating, tiring and overwhelming – sometimes all at once. The visual possibilities seem endless. Stand on any corner and watch them come at you like a fleet of yellow cabs gunning for a jaywalking pedestrian. Yet in the midst of this life threatening chaos, I often notice how easy it is to feel anonymous and pretty much invisible in the middle of crowds of people, vehicles and buildings. Camera in hand and eyes wide open, I happily burn through pixels, calories and shoe leather. In contrast to the visual gumbo and confusion, or maybe just to cope with it, I'm drawn to it's opposite - simplicity. I keep my eyes open for visual juxtapositions, humor possibilities and unusual architecture. And I'm always on the lookout for little visual moments that tell a story, or convey a mood or an emotion. I also look closely at shadows and reflections, themes in which I've long been interested. I love their ambiguity. They're everyday inkblots, challenging us to bring something of ourselves to the party. They're real, yet unreal - everywhere, yet often unnoticed. I’m also intrigued by public spaces, designed to be filled with an endless variety of people – bringing with them their energy, sights, sounds and smells. But what really interests me is photographing these spaces when there’s no one around – the financial district at 6 in the morning on Sunday, the amusement park in the middle of the week – in the middle of the winter. We seldom see these venues devoid of people. They feel peaceful, almost disturbingly so, as though something is wrong. With few or no people, my eye notices other things like the details of the street furniture and buildings, the graphics of the sidewalks and streets themselves. Even the emptiness becomes a possible element. By the time the shoot is over, I’m usually exhausted, but it’s a good exhaustion. And if I’m lucky, I will have collected a few more little moments in the big city.