dirt new york

DIRT-NYC, EDITORIAL BOOK DESIGN + PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY, PARSONS 2016

As New Yorkers, we welcome the whiff of garbage, the steam emerging from sewer holes on a hot summer day and even the dust that compiles on our windowsill…or at least I do. Why? Because among the grit and dirty details lurking in alley ways or showing off in the broad daylight on the streets of Manhattan, there is glamour.

These opposites attract and create an effortless, creative, unconventional energy that encourages individualism, confidence and a fashion-forward approach to self-expression in NYC. Pun-driven ironies were the foundation for my photographic essay through still life moments, such as the high heel found in a street garbage, to on model photography with unpolished thrift apparel contrasting high fashion hair and makeup. While this shoot contrasted Henri Cartier Bresson’s thought process of letting the moment present itself, I knew from the start it would be staged.

Opposites attract.