Most of my time behind a camera is spent in controlled lighting situations, using precision digital equipment. It’s become second nature to shoot party-goers and live talent with a combination of flashes and ambient artificial lighting.
The new Daguerreotype Achromat lens uses light in a playful and often unpredictable way. This presented a unique opportunity for me to use light in a way I couldn’t control, to capture portraits of close friends and new acquaintances.

At the top of the year I spent a lot of time reflecting on my life in New York and on the parts of my job I still loved and that I had become less passionate about.
I realized I no longer had as much of a choice about whose I took portraits on a daily basis, and the camera I used daily no longer presented a technical challenge. Since event photography has become so pervasive in the past 10 years, it’s no longer the special experience it once was, for the subjects or myself..
After a long cold winter, which led many of my oldest friends to leave New York City for the warmer coast, it was interesting to reflect on why I’ve chosen to stay. I moved here to fulfill a dream, and I was curious who else was still trying to achieve that dream, who felt they’d achieved their dream, whose dreams had changed, and who felt they had given up their dream.
I moved to New York City because this is where magazines were made. For the first several years here, I did just that. It was nice to make something, hold it, reflect on the beauty and mistakes, and grow from that experience. At that point photography was my hobby and when magazines started dropping like flies I was lucky enough to have it as my fall back career.
In February I devised a plan to return to my photography hobbyist roots with a film point-and-shoot camera. The plan was to challenge me to take the portrait of a different person every day for the month of March. Each subject would complete a brief questionnaire before the sitting. Since a large part of the objective of this project was to reconnect with old friends, get to know acquaintances better, and meet new people, many of the sessions took place over a cup of coffee, a walk around a neighborhood, or on a short adventure …