I love this idea. Though in truth we as photographers always try to capture the essence of the people we photograph, the reality is that we all bring a bit of ourselves and our perspectives to every shoot we do.
I saw this video today and instantly fell in love as it so freely reflects the way the things my clients tell me affect the way in which I capture them and what results in their final images.
Humans of New York.
Probably the most fascinating photography series I have come across... ever. It doesn't rely on fancy costumes, makeup and design to illustrate a concept or a story. It simply relies on the depths of the subject.
Some stories are silly, some are heartbreaking. But all are colorful and inspire me daily that this is an amazing world full of interesting and complex people.
Follow them now at www.humansofnewyork.com or www.instagram.com/humansofny
These are just a few of the stories that captured my eye today. Every day it changes and each brings something lovely and inspiring to the day.
"They’re always covering for each other. This morning I found them both sitting in the kitchen, and there was Reynolds Wrap strewn all over the place. One of them looked extremely guilty, and the other said she saw nothing."
“I was the youngest in the family. I went to Israel first, and the rest of the family was supposed to join me. Nobody made it. We sent letters to each other for the first few years. The last letter I got from Poland came in 1941. It was from my mother. It asked me to send food. Then the letters stopped. I knew that the Germans had occupied Poland, and I heard rumors about the things that were happening. I never learned the specifics of what happened to my family. I never wanted to.”
"Let’s put it this way, I’m living in a homeless shelter, and I hate my life the least right now. My mother was very verbally abusive. I was a chubby kid, and she’d make fun of my weight whenever she got mad at me. She was always on drugs. I’d come into the kitchen sometimes and find her passed out at the sink with the water running. She gave me my first heroin when I was 17. She used to make me panhandle to support her habit."
“There have been very good parts and very bad parts, but in the end, I love life. Every night before I sleep, I ask God for three more years, so that I can make it an even one hundred. Then I recite a blessing that my mother gave me when I left her in Poland. It was the last time I saw her. The blessing is much more powerful in Hebrew, but it says: ‘Wherever you go, may people always recognize that you have a beautiful heart."
"What’s the most romantic thing he’s ever done for you?"
"You don’t talk about those things!"