New York via X100

About six months ago, I picked up a Fuji x100. I’d had my eye on it since it was announced, even selling a camera to get ready for when it came out. In my transition from photography to directing, I’ve come to realize that when I was ever good at photographing, it was on the street. It was in the wandering, in the back alleys, in the interactions with strangers. It was (and is) the best suited genre for the way that I see things. I’m not a compositor, I’m not a strobe guy. I’m not a set builder. It just took me a few years to figure it out.

About a year ago, I picked up my first rangefinder, a Bessa R2, and have since burned through more rolls of TRI-x than I care to admit. It’s not for anyone else. I don’t shoot that camera for paid work and I rarely show the images to anyone. That isn’t the point, really. Last December, I was able to shoot with an M9 and I can honestly say that it was the most satisfying photographic experience to date. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I was shooting on the set of a big budget commercial that I’d help write. That wasn’t really it though. A rangefinder helps me disappear in a way that I don’t normally feel capable of. For lack of a non-cliched phrase, it let’s me really “see.”

Well, a few weeks ago, Anne, Ellen, and I spent a week in New York. I had a few meetings scheduled, but largely we just spent time the three of us, wandering through the city. It was an amazing thing to see Ellen taking everything in. She’s intensely curious and I found myself frequently following her gaze to see what it was that she was so intently looking at. It was a beautiful few days.

I carried my x100 with me, shooting as we went. Then, late at night, I’d slip out and cruise the streets making photographs of anything that I could find… 

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 A few images:

I was out and about on the Friday before Halloween. It was the beginning of Halloween craziness in the city. Costumes and characters filling every nook and cranny. I decided that I’d shoot my x100 like a film camera. Never checking the back of the camera, dialing exposure from the viewfinder meter and my best guesses. I also decided that I would follow the “hand on the shoulder rule” (if you’re hand isn’t able to touch the shoulder of your subject, you’re too far away). Let me tell you, I was fearless. Hands on the shoulder, right up in people’s faces, camera ready. I was alert and gliding around the city.

I photographed for about three hours before I decided to head in, following a walk all the way across the island. I resisted the urge to look at the photographs I’d made until I got back to the apartment. I was absolutely stunned to realize that, after only four or five photographs, my memory card reached capacity. I’d forgotten to change cards before heading out and I’d shot all night on a completely full card. (Another x100 quirk - the “writing data” flashing lights still go off, even if it’s full). I lost everything, or rather, I never actually captured anything. I just stared at the camera in disbelief. But somehow, while sitting there at 3am, a full night of shoooting lost, I realized, in so many ways, the images are secondary. This kind of photography, the kind of photography that I truly love, is as much about the roads your feet walk you down, as much about the people you meet, as much about the moments you witness than it is about the final images…

Occupy Wall Street 

I went down to Battery Park one night to meet up with some friends. I made it down the 1 to the park, but it seems the plan had changed while I was in transit. So suddenly I found myself with some time to kill and my X100 in hand. I walked a few blocks up to Zuccotti park to check out the OWS crowd. Like I’ve said before, I’m a crowd kind of guy. If there is a crowd of people gathered for some specific reason, I’m like a moth to the flame. I’m always curious.

It was surprisingly easy to get around and generally speaking, people didn’t mind me pointing the camera at them. I shot for about 30 minutes before I attracted enough attention that several people started trailing me around. When I took the photograph of the guy in the Guy Faulkes mask below, I felt a hand on my shoulder followed by a gruff, “why are you taking pictures.” 

That was my cue. I turned and walked away.

A few images:

Interesting that only a few days later the police raided the park in the middle of the night and broke down the camp. It looked (and smelled) like they were going to be there for a long time to come…

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You know, it’s been a really interesting year for me. I’ve cut out nearly all the photography from my core business. Sure, I still get paid to take photos occasionally, but it’s rare. (Interestingly, I don’t engineer records anymore, either). It’s been a year of focusing. That isn’t to say that I don’t still love photography. I’ve just begun to finally put it in the proper context. I’m not a photographer. And I’m fine with it. However, for now, I’ve found that this little silver, finicky camera is a perfect way for me to scratch an itch that won’t likely ever go away. Photographing the streets I find myself on.