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After surviving his fight with cancer and leaving behind his career as a lawyer, Xiomáro pursued photography as a career. His latest book, “Street Photography of New York City: Street Haunting in the Big Apple,” embraces a candid, gritty look at New York City, seeking to capture culture and history as it happens.
The Brooklyn-born artist has had quite the personal and professional journey, going from musician to lawyer to entertainment manager, and finally to photographer. Xiomáro says while he was recovering from cancer in 2005, he picked up a camera and found walking around taking photos relaxing. This hobby blossomed into a full-blown career.
The photographer was commissioned by the National Park Service to document historical sites across the country, and this work has been exhibited at museums and other venues worldwide.
XiomároHowever, throughout his 20 years behind the lens, Xiomáro, a pseudonym that means “ready for battle,” has always been drawn to street photography. His latest book features 160 color and black-and-white photos captured on the streets of New York City over the past two decades.
“Think of it as a photographic time capsule,” the photographer says, echoing a sentiment PBS shared about the photographer, calling him “a historian through the lens.”
“These images document our times as future history — capturing the humanity, energy, and hidden beauty that define New York today,” the photographer says. “And, like me, cancer survivors can tap into those same attributes within themselves to create their own future history.”
Street photography captures inherently imperfect moments. Xiomáro’s images aren’t staged; they are slices of real life. A photographic time capsule is an excellent way to put it.
Compared to his commissioned work for the National Park Service, where all his subjects were stationary — historic buildings, landscapes, and artifacts — Xiomáro tells PetaPixel that street photography is an entirely different beast.
“Everything is in motion and I’m working quickly to capture fleeting moments. I’m shooting instinctively, so there’s little time to ponder about lighting and composition. To be nimble, I use a smaller camera and no tripod. There’s no shot list because I don’t know what stories are going to unfold in a such a kinetic city with a diversity of people and architecture. But there’s a lot more creative freedom,” the photographer explains.
While it may seem like he is wandering haphazardly, Xiomáro says there are certain subjects he is drawn to subconsciously, even if his favorite subjects change over time. He is especially drawn to the people of his native New York City.
“I really like photographing people because there is such a variety — their features, gestures, manner of dress, the actions they are engaged in. It makes me think about who they are,” Xiomáro explains. “As I mention in my book, wandering through a crowd is like entering a library with thousands of unread titles, but their covers and spines provide clues about what’s inside.”
Generally speaking, the photographer always aims to be an unnoticed observer when he’s out taking photos. In most cases, by the time he has pressed the shutter, both he and his subject have already moved on and continued about their day. However, as social media has boomed and more people are always out taking photos, people on the street have become more aware that they might be photographed.
“People are more likely to pose if they know they are being photographed. I find they are more interesting in unguarded moments,” the photographer says. “It’s a bit like that concept in quantum physics where the greater the degree of observation, the greater the change in whatever is being observed. Each person is like an atom in this larger organism called New York City that I’m trying to artistically document without too much distraction.”
It’s not only the people of New York City who draw Xiomáro in, though.
“The buildings are as diverse as the people,” says the photographer. “The minimalist glass and steel monoliths strike a contrast with the older skyscrapers, like the Empire State building, with their stone facades and ornamentation. Then you have the residential brownstones, many with small sculptures and graceful ironwork. The bright lights of Broadway, the giant advertisement screens on Times Square, the traffic… it’s like walking onto a movie set. It’s as if the city itself is a living thing.”
With a background in music and painting, Xiomáro brings a lot of artistic experience and inspiration to his work behind the camera. Of the many photographers who have inspired him over the years, he specifically cites Saul Leiter, Garry Winogrand, and Joel Meyerowitz. However, Xiomáro adds that he has recently gotten into the work of Esther Bubley, “who was active from the early 1940s to the late 1960s. She is not as well known, but the expressions of her subjects are wonderful, and the colors are gorgeous.”
Xiomáro hopes his book is not just a carefully curated selection of great photographs from the streets of New York City, but also an inspiration to others who would like to get into photography.
“From the photographs, I hope they come away understanding that creativity really starts with ‘seeing.’ There is a tendency, by both non-photographers and photographers, to place emphasis on the type of gear used. The majority of the images in the book were created with a reasonably-priced camera. Some were taken with an iPhone 7 and some were taken with an expensive DSLR. But in the end, it comes down to what I saw and the camera I happened to have with me at the time.”
The book also features extensive writing that explains the themes of each chapter and provides insight into how Xiomáro approached each situation.
As for which of his photos is his favorite, well, the answer changes all the time. As of now, it’s the one above.
“I’m within a crowd of tired, frustrated commuters waiting for a delayed train on a sweltering platform. Their misery was on display literally two feet from me. To get a candid shot without being noticed, I held my camera by my side, aimed as best I could, and pressed the shutter. I was surprised at how well composed it turned out and how the thousand-yard stare of that poor exhausted woman was in the direction of my lens,” Xiomáro says of the shot above.
Xiomáro’s new book, “Street Photography of New York City: Street Haunting in the Big Apple,” is available now for $24.99, although it is currently on sale for $16.24.
English (US) ·