TBow

Being able to hold someone’s attention for a few precious photo seconds on the street is a valuable skill worth learning.

While I was making this image his friends were right behind me yelling, “Hurry Up, We’re Leaving, What are you doing?”

Growing up I was a fan of Elvis and his music, everybody was. These days I’m much more a FAN of the FANS of Elvis. Elvis Fests are a great place to photograph “interesting people.”

If you look through the lens long enough and hard enough, wonderful things will appear.

I don’t always photograph in street portrait style, sometimes I just wander the streets looking for that famous “critical moment.”

Kenny told me, "Michael Jackson is my Guardian Angel and believe me, you need protection if you’re living on the streets.”

Kat and Freddie traveled the entire U.S. “riding the rails.” Every year they returned to New Orleans to renew their marital vows. I saw Freddie the following year without Kat. He told me that his “drunken rage” had ended it all.

In 100 Summers, I would never get tired of Coney Island.

“The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.” Russell Baker

Quickly gaining your subject’s trust is one of the most important skills of a street portrait photographer.

If you walk a fair distance on a city street, odds are you’re gonna meet some interesting people. I count on those odds.

Loyd told me, “Being a mathematician is about time and space and the birds and the bees.”

I was walking the streets. He appeared suddenly. A gift from the street photography Gods.

Here’s an explanation for a photograph that probably needs no explanation…. It was the Fourth of July.

New Orleans has the light, the colored walls and some very interesting people. It should be on every street photographer’s bucket list.

She wouldn’t stand still. She told me, “Look … hurry up, I’m on my way to an important meeting.”

There was no time on the subway platform to get this couple’s story. Over the last 10 years my followers have created their own backstories for this image. If someone asks you, “What’s going on here in your photograph?” That’s a compliment. Sometimes viewers like to create their own explanations for life.

On Christmas Day I met Mad Dog at a homeless camp under the freeway. After losing his wife and child in a car crash he said, “I went a bit mad after that, so they call me Mad Dog.”

To be honest, I didn’t get much information about Meg because her image overwhelmed me. I was bewitched and tongue-tied. She ensorcelled me.

Chris lives in a shelter and writes poetry. He asked me to please use his Tibetan name, Chotak. I asked him for a poem and he obliged. “I feel haunted and unwanted as the full moon begins to rise, in this deserted castle beneath the darkening skies.”

Stephen and his daughter were homeless. She went to live with her Mother and gave Stephen her backpack to help him carry on.

After the downtown bars close at 2am, Marshall collects the cans. He works all night and by morning has an impressive pile worth $40.

Johnny ( Jazanae ) has secret places, hidden in the woods and under a downtown bridge. It was here where we talked about her struggles with homelessness and being sexually non-binary. In these sanctuaries she feels safe to become Jazanae and enjoys making photographs.

I saw an interesting woman and she gave me permission to photograph her. I found out later that she was Jill Freedman, a famous New York City Street Photographer. Jill passed away in 2019. RIP Jill

Based on years of street photography, I estimate 2-5% of homeless people have a love for fashion. HUCK Magazine published my work titled, “Extravagant Street Fashion From People Living on the Margins.”

David wanted to make sure I told people that he was proud of the word “prostitute” and that he was the best male prostitute in the city.