NEW WORK - NEW YORKERS

We love supporting new talent. Every issue, we try to feature a few unpublished works from some of our favorite artists. We give them free rein of a full spread (or, in this case, two spreads); the only limitations are the generous dimensions of the page. For our Spring issue, photographer Darren Hall contributed a series of candid street shots of anonymous New Yorkers. Here’s what he had to say about it.

“There are some people who interest us immediately, at first glance, before a word is exchanged.” —Dostoyevsky

One of the best things about New York is New Yorkers. I love being here and I would love to be able to photograph every single one of them. I love being able to approach someone on the street, take their picture, and end up walking away after being told their life story. It’s a lot like being in my native Yorkshire.

This series, however, was really born from a desire to be more remote and candid, not only as a departure point for a new investigation but also partly because making good on my promise to forward JPEG’s to participants in my schemes can become somewhat time consuming—I didn’t get into photography to sit at a desk. But it was while I was sat reviewing some stuff I’d recently shot that I realized it has become difficult to define a person’s role in the city. Not that one is defined by one’s labors, I hasten to add; it was just an observation that mostly gone now are the signifiers of traditional employment. I was actually thinking of calling it “Ney Workers: Where are the tradespeople of the 21st century?” I went looking. These are some of them.

When I found myself considering the facets that make up a New Yorker I found myself contemplating the city’s role. I remember coming here for the first time and thinking how much it looked like “the movies.” I still do. When my brother-in-law asked me where my TV was I laughed and asked him why I’d need a TV when I lived in NYC, and told him that when I want to watch something I go outdoors. And I think that’s why here, in this series, the city is so much more than just a backdrop or set or setting for a character. It is both an inherent and an intrinsic aspect of a character. Nature/nurture, set and setting, half and half. One half of the year you walk on the sunny side of the street, the other dodging the sun on the side engulfed by shadows projected upon the city by itself. It’s also a bit of a reminder to take time out. Stand still for just a while and you’ll see the light creep down, along, and then up a wall. Even when we’re still we’re still moving. The universe doesn’t revolve around us, but us around it. Maybe there’s also something of a nod towards the direction of Plato’s Cave.

Of course, it’s possible not everyone here is a New Yorker. New York has a rich, historic tradition of being the port of entry for many people and peoples so, really, do there exist any truly native New Yorkers? If you’ve generations of legacy or are here for just a time, is there a difference? I think I took advantage of this ambiguity when shooting this work, insofar as tourists may very well have taken me for a local, and locals a tourist. After being here for almost four years I’m not really sure of what I am, but I can say without any hesitation that I ♥ NYers.

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