New York City Street Photography Project
New York City is pretty much unbeatable for street photography in the United States. It’s a huge metropolis filled with people. Given its people and density, it’s quite different from the sprawl of the rest of the United States.
Whereas other cities in the U.S. were casualties of the automobile industry and are filled with highways and parking lots, New York City stands as one of the few walkable major cities in the country.
The architecture and skyline of the city are truly awe-inspiring. There’s no wonder the city has achieved such legendary status not just for street photography, but in the public imagination as well. It’s where many musicians and artists came to make a name for themselves.
As far as street photography goes, you’ve probably heard of it referred to as the “mecca”. I don’t have hard numbers on it, but I would say that a majority of legendary American street photographers are either from New York City or lived there. You don’t have to have even been to New York City to see why it’s an incredible place for street photography.
Living in New York City Was My Dream
For many years, I wanted to live in New York City to do street photography. I wanted to live in Brooklyn or Queens and be able to wake up, walk out my door, and start photographing. Maybe catch the subway into Manhattan.
I applied to countless jobs in my field, either in New York City or remote jobs that would allow me to live there. That never panned out. I tried but couldn’t find a job there while living in another city. And I didn’t want to just up and move there with no savings and no job lined up.
I’m from Kansas City, and it’s a difficult place for street photography. There were years that I spent daydreaming about living in New York when I should have been out photographing my hometown. It’s nowhere near on the scale in size as New York, but there are pockets of areas where it’s possible to photograph people. I also have family and friends there.
I made it as far as Philadelphia. I came here for a job. It’s a nice city in a lot of ways, but it never really felt like home. It’s nice that Philadelphia is so close to New York (it takes maybe an hour and a half by train and some driving), but unfortunately, I didn’t take advantage of this while here.
I have gone twice now to do a couple of day trips to New York City. Once was for B & H’s BILD Expo, which was cool to see. I felt pretty good that day after having surgery on my hip, but I wasn’t quite fully mobile yet, and my hip was killing me the next day.
I went again, and this time, I had more time to dedicate to street photography, which was nice. I also got a new lens from B & H on the same day, so it was interesting getting to know this lens on kind of a high-stakes day for me (I say that because it’s not often I get to photograph in NYC, so I wanted to make it count). I think things turned out OK, but some of my photos are a little softer than I’d like. I’m not sure yet how much that was due to the lens or me being a scrub, i.e., user error. Probably a combination of the two.
This Is My First Foray into a New York City Street Photography Project
I want to preface this by saying that this project is nowhere near complete. I’m just dipping my toes into the water at this point. By the time this is done, which could be decades by now for all I know, I might not even use some of these photos, but they serve as a starting point for now.
I want to do this project because I feel that, as an American, it’s almost like my duty to photograph it. Or maybe just a calling. While I grew up in a place very different from New York City, I feel very connected to it. I grew up watching movies and shows set in the city. It’s a funny trope that New York City is a character in itself in a lot of films.
I don’t know when I’ll be back in New York City, but I plan on going frequently. And who knows, maybe I will end up living there someday. Until then, here are my street photos from New York City:
