This is round 5 exploring New York City but the first time I’ve been this passionate about street photography and film at the same time.
I brought 15 rolls with me and prepared to click through it all. Little did I know that in my process I’ve become particular yet accepting. Not restricting myself from taking photos but waiting for a moment I find interesting. This presented an interesting challenge in NYC. Life moves exceedingly fast there and each frame is unique in and of itself. Unlike moments I find in the southeast where I have time to capture several frames of the same subject, NYC is a one and done type of environment. Because of this I became more aware of each moment as I walked the streets. Being present at all times took me away from the fact that I had walked an average of 15 miles a day over 5 days.
6 rolls of film. That’s all that I exposed over all those miles walked. One of the rolls was dedicated to a skate session I came across and decided to post up through the entire roll (favorite shot from that below). What I found is that in the speed of the city I had to become sharper than I’d even been before. Once the moment presented itself I had to be ready to capture it. I could walk for miles and see nothing that sparked in me and then turn a corner to shoot 10 frames of uniquely different ideas. I was in love, and exhausted each day. Fortunately New York has the best food on the planet. It was easy to refuel and head back out to concur the city the way I saw fit.
Below you’ll see 6 of 120 photos from my recent publication “74 Miles In NYC”, a 64 page publication documenting NYC over 5 days in both Kodak Portra 400 & Ilford HP5. If you’d like, you can order a copy here. Thank you for following along.
Matt Pittman / Kodak Portra 400 / Ilford HP5 / Leica M7 / Street Photography / New York City