Matt Weber (Street photography), 9/11 Related, Old New York

“Collateral Damage” September 11th 2001

A friend of mine mentioned that there was this action movie due to hit the theaters soon after 9/11 and wondered if a lot of people went out to see it. I don’t think this picture is very special to look at, but the thought process behind it is far from routine. I had just watched the tallest building in New York collapse twenty minutes earlier, and the Empire State Building had always been my favorite. In the crazy unthinkable events of that morning, I thought that another jumbo jet would be zeroing in on the ESB at any minute. Fortunately, that never transpired, but you can see how a completely frazzled mind would think that I better take one last shot of that amazing edifice…

One more thing, the movie poster reads “Veteran firefighter’s wife and child killed in bomb blast!”

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), Old New York, Portraits

“The Chaser” 1987

Back in the ’70s & ’80s there was a certain group of tow truck drivers that were known as chasers. This was a sick lot of crazy hot-rodders with souped up trucks that screamed around New York at over 100 mph! The first to get to a wrecked car, would claim the wreck for his body shop. Since a totaled Mercedes might be upwards of $10K to repair, the chasers would take almost any risk to get to the accident first. Red lights rarely slowed them down, and eventually it became obvious that these psychos were causing almost as many accidents as they were collecting. Finally the city figured out a way to control the chasers and I guess that’s a good thing.

They were a bunch of badass mother f*ckers though…

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), Old New York, Subway

NYC 2007

Suddenly I’m at a loss for words. I wish I could explain why this photo appeals to me, but sometimes I just don’t know what to write. Saying that it’s old, doesn’t quite cut it. I guess you have to trust me that there’s something indescribable about this plain Jane fixture worth documenting, despite my inability to articulate it…

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), homeless, Old New York

West Park Church 2009

God bless the developers. They have purchased the right to develop this church. Fortunately they have installed brand new bars to prevent this horrible spectacle from ever being seen again. Maybe they will build a new community center because that’s basically what the church was before laying dormant for the past five years. The developers were of course hoping to raze the church and replace it with a “beautiful” glass tower with a separate entrance for the section 8 eyesores, who would occupy the lower floors. I’m not religious but this church did a lot more than preach the gospel. When it seemed that AIDS was spreading like the plague, this church was busy making sure that those too sick to leave their apartments were still fed. My daughter played in the Pre-K programs they offered. The church is actually the largest brownstone in Manhattan, and maybe New York. Built in 1890 it is crumbling and needs attention (money) to preserve its details. Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I think an angel of the human variety will save it at the last moment…

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), Old New York, Urban Wildlife

Central Park Zoo 1967

This might be the first photograph I ever took. There were none taken in ’66…I like that this image has a dark foreboding vibe to it. I also like that this was Winogrand’s world that I may have taken my first picture in! I came here often with my grandma, and I’m sure that on one of those sunny days, Garry was clicking away while I shoved peanuts down this poor guy’s trunk…

All Photos © Matt Weber