Matt Weber (Street photography), Men of New York, Portraits, Subway

“Subway Gaga” 2011

Sometimes you’re sitting on the fence. You don’t know if it’s worth it or not. The guy on the right is not a happy camper. Then he raises his hand to his face, and all of a sudden the impulse becomes too strong to ignore. It’s as involuntary as sneezing. He might object or much worse, but now the image looks so good, you no longer care about the consequences and you push the button, while hoping not to push his…

Street Photography © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), Fights & Playfights, Men of New York, Old New York

The Shopkeeper 1988

If you grew up in a city, this scene was pretty common. A store owner defends his turf against some thugs with a baseball bat or other club. I just found this while searching negatives from over twenty years ago. Even though the picture depicts something fairly common, I was totally psyched to find this because it’s something which I never thought I’d photographed. For reasons unknown to me, I found this image to be unworthy of printing when I took it. If I was shooting with a digital camera, would I delete it? It is amazing how time itself makes a picture seem better, even though the very concept is absurd.

I’d advise young photographers to keep ALL of your pictures on a hard drive somewhere other than your house. Terabytes are now affordable and you will be very happy that you kept some of your outtakes twenty years from now…

Street Photography © Matt Weber