Urban Wildlife – Page 5 – Black and White Street Photographs of New York City by Matt Weber

March 11, 2010March 11, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), signs, The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife

“Canine Prisoner” Harlem 1988

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 11, 2010March 29, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), Old New York, Urban Landscape, Urban Wildlife

“Pigeon Platoon” Chelsea 1987

This building was razed years ago, and these pigeon’s descendants have long since found other spots to sunbathe, all in the name of progress. (which means “ugly glass tower”)

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 11, 2010March 11, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), Harlem, Urban Wildlife

Harlem 1986

There are few pictures which didn’t make it into my book which I wish had, but each page cost almost $500 and decisions such as this were unavoidable…

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 11, 2010March 11, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife

The Holiday Cocktail Lounge 1990

The “holiday” is a popular dive bar on St. Marks Place which I must have passed a thousand times. This time, someone had left their little sidekick outside while they attempted to wet their whistle…

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 10, 2010March 11, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), Harlem, signs, Urban Wildlife

“No Lottering on Stopp” Harlem 1987

Literacy was one way to tell the economic status of a given neighborhood. For years Harlem’s schools had been left behind in terms of funding, but recently some of the better charter schools have been established in Harlem and other poorer neighborhoods. I wonder what it would be like to look at the headlines on the Daily News and see indecipherable characters. It must be very depressing. The things we take for granted…

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 10, 2010April 17, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife

Harlem 1987

Not just junkies were setting up shop in the abandoned tenements of Harlem, but gangs of stray dogs. This pooch was rather cute, don’t you think?

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 10, 2010March 10, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife

NYC 1987

Maybe I should have snatched the kitten right off her shoulder, but I didn’t and I guess I fucked up. I did have a big orange cat named Poober who didn’t like other cats, but I still didn’t like leaving this little Poober clinging on for dear life…Add this to a list of things I should have done…

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 9, 2010March 9, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), Harlem, The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife

Harlem 1989

These stray dogs were acting like alley cats when I saw them up on this abandoned building’s ledge in Harlem…

All Photos © Matt Weber

March 9, 2010March 9, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife

“The Unlucky Seven” 1990

I was cruising Pelham Parkway in the Bronx when I saw these poor horses in their prison cells. I feel like horses are the last animal I want to see confined to a tiny cubicle, cause they have always represented freedom to me as much as any eagle…Of course I know nothing about horses and they may feel much safer in their tiny rooms…

March 9, 2010March 9, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife, Women of New York

St. Marks Place 1988

March 9, 2010March 9, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), homeless, Urban Wildlife

Birds 1990

I changed my mind…Maybe it wasn’t a sacrifice…Maybe rats or stray cats ate the bird raw…I know that there were quite a few Santeria sacrifices going on in the outer boroughs back then, but I’ll give the homeless people who lived in the tunnel the benefit of the doubt…I wasn’t there

March 6, 2010 Matt Weber (Street photography), Fights & Playfights, The Urban Prisoner, Urban Wildlife

NYC 1991

In case you were wondering, the cat won…