Morning Commute in Tribeca

I've been inspired lately by Henri Cartier-Bresson and the recently discovered Vivian Maier. I'm trying to be more daring with how close I photograph my subjects. It's been a thrill each time I've been out. There are more misses than not! Here are some of the images I've captured lately.

Eye Contact

In my humble opinion, getting your subject to make eye contact with your camera can increase how interesting your shot is. I'm still wading my way through this street photography thing. I have such a desire to capture what's happening on the streets in every day life, yet it can be so scary sometimes. That fear definitely holds me back. In New York City I haven't had a scary situation arise but recently in New Orleans I did. A man noticed that I had been trying to take his photo and he started yelling at me. I kept my cool and pretended I was photographing something next to him. Thank God that worked!

Now that the weather is finally warmer, I'm going to make an effort to try and overcome my fear of photographing strangers. No one wants to see pictures of pigeons, and how many more pictures of building facades and statues can one look at? What is interesting are people and what they do on a daily basis.

These photos were not taken on the same day, but I did manage to get eye contact with my subjects. As I look into the eyes of both of these men, I wonder who they are and what their life is about.