Matt Weber (Street photography), homeless, Women of New York

Rachel

RACHEL-1999RACHEL2005 copyScreen Shot 2014-11-12 at 8.48.32 AMI met Rachel on my corner in 1999 and she was just a lost girl “Seeking a Little Kindness”. I gave her a copy of Howl since she said she liked poetry. I bumped into her again six years later and she had grown up a bit and life on the street was starting to show. Still seeking kindness she appeared on the cover of a very powerful photo book a couple of years later, much to my surprise. I saw her again a few years ago with her hair bleached platinum blonde and didn’t take another picture.

©Matt Weber

Matt Weber "New New York", (Street photography), Coney Island

Coney Island 2014

Coney-Black-family-matt-weberOn 9/11 I photographed the final tower’s collapse with my 200mm lens. I never picked the lens up again. I don’t know why this happened, but I have only used two lenses, a 28 & a 35mm since then. The old saying “If you your photos aren’t good enough, you weren’t close enough” sometimes has some truth to it, but you can get too close and that can be bad as well. I think we live in a time where experts, and so called experts can’t shut the fuck up! It is very tiring to read all of the so called rules which are now available everywhere, online and in print. By far the worst is “How to become a fearless street photographer” Every soldier knows that some fear is necessary for self preservation and when on the street, being fearless can get one into trouble but quick.

The only advice I would give, and I won’t charge anyone a penny, is shoot what you want, when you want, but use some common sense! That’s what it’s there for…