Yesterday I was at Times Square with my camera, not because I planned to go there to shoot, but because I was waiting for my wife to buy some pants at GAP, and I always carry my camera with me. This time I was lucky enough to have a tripod as well.
First, I saw a man smoking weed right in front of an NYPD booth. Instant shot right there, slow shutter:
Then I passed a group of teenagers dancing, like a K-pop group, and took some shots of them too. This time I stayed a little longer while they rehearsed some songs. The best one I got was this one:
It was hard to find a composition without disturbing the girl who was filming themm I would need to camp for too much time. The person making a video of the group was doing some bold takes with a DJI Osmo Pocket running back and forth, and I didn’t want to get in her way.
When I left the scene, the cutest and sweetest Chinese woman approached me and asked how much I charge to take some photos of her.
I told her I would do some for free. She insisted and wanted to pay me, but I said it wasn’t necessary. She told me an amount (hundreds of dollars!), I told her it really wasn’t necessary and I would do it for free. She insisted on paying me some tea. I really like the Chinese culture of respect and empathy.
I explained that I take photos of people on the street and that I would be very happy just taking some portraits of her. This whole interaction happened through a live translation app she was carrying on her phone.
Meet my new friend JiangQing:
I realized that Times Square is a good place to photograph. Indeed it’s sometimes tacky, touristic, and New Yorkers hate it, but it has lots of light at night, there’s always something spontaneous happening, and the vibes are great.
I love Times Square for photos. Judge me.
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