Tryalz

All those long solitary nights in Harlem shooting what society had deemed outcasts and vagrants, forced him, in rather an aggressive way, into mastering his craft and doing so without the influence of others; a sort of self-inflicted solitary confinement.

The concept of slowing down and relating to subjects, converting strangers into familiar faces seemed to be absent from the digital landscape. The new-age “point, shoot, post” mentality seems to be lacking something visceral. In a way it only goes skin deep, never penetrating the core. Grazing the surface, rarely delving into the vast unknown.

How many have no knowledge of the greats; Araki, Moriyama, Eggleston, Meyerowitz, Shabazz, Davidson, Klein, Bresson, Gilden the list goes on and on but is somewhat finite. Icons aren’t plentiful, they’re staples in an industry and linchpins to compare all others to. All took great risks and allowed themselves to be consumed by the world instead of a self-indulgent desire to own it all. They weren’t collectors of artifacts but rather historians documenting moments, the viewer being permitted to bare witness.

To go there one must go inward and get familiar with the most primal of urges. It’s a dangerous game, one that many never return back from the same way they entered.