I was a little disappointed by my photos of Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea, so I decided to give it another go about two Saturdays ago. I had a real breakthrough; well, at least I think I did. I've always been very shy about taking photos of people and, if you've noticed, people haven't exactly been featured prominently in my photos. For only the second time in my life (and third and fourth and fifth), I actually stopped and talked to a few people, asked if I could take their photo. I know some of these photos are mediocre, but it's a work in progress.
This is Gabriel (as you may have concluded). He grew up in Puerto Rico in Santurce, but has lived in Hell's Kitchen for 50 years. I can't imagine the changes he's been. He had a few words about gentrification, and he was pretty blunt about the change in demographics. He was a real nice guy though - having lived in PR for two years on a mission for my church, he was the easiest of all to talk to.
This guy was on break - from Ecuador. His friends laughed at him while I took a couple shots. He was a good guy though.
Doo-Wop Bob - He was my first victim. Nice guy, I wish I would have talked to him more, but I was nervous and kept going after snapping a couple.
I didn't talk to any of these other folks. Albert Einstein above seems pretty content.
I've got a lot of great content to add in the next few posts - a trip to SoHo with a guest photographer and another contribution coming from Portland, ME. Stay tuned.
Great entry into the portrait arena--of course, NYC provides a great diversity of people; you couldn't have done this in Provo! Seriously, great selection of people--and they're all intriguing pictures. If I visit NYC, can you show me where to get a Doo Wop Bob cap? Dad
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Doo-Wop Bob!!!!! Oh and you're so funny about Albert Einstein! Silly, silly. These are great people-shots. I'm sure its intimidating taking photographs of people, but you've done a great job!
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