NY/LA Project – Forgotten (August 2011)

Continuing my project with friend and fellow photographer Paul Kingsley (see his photo for August here), this project was a challenge for me. When I initially thought of the word “Forgotten”, images of abandoned buildings, deserted cars, people down and out on their luck came to mind. After some thought, I decided I wanted to photograph the homeless man who occasionally sits at the top of the stairs of my subway station, asking for change. I watch people in the morning rushing past him, afraid to look at him, unable to put themselves in his shoes – where a few different circumstances could have landed them right where he is. But the picture above is not of him because I felt that taking his photo would be exploiting his hardship for my creative endeavor. I struggled with the idea but come away feeling good about the choice. Since New York is never short on forgotten items, instead I give you the abandoned shoes I came across on my walk to work. I imagine someone found them askew and lined them up for the visual effect and then went on their way. They caught my eye as an everyday item left behind.

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