How I decide who to photograph on the street

Photographing people on the street isn't necessarily an easy decision making process, but it is a fast one. You often have a span of 20–30 seconds to decide whether to approach someone before they walk by, maybe less, given the faster pace of walking often found in NYC.

I typically decide who to photograph extremely quickly. It's not often about what they look like, but their aura. Does their energy whisper, or does it shout?

The people in my photos are not just subjects, they're celebrities in their own right. They are icons, superstars, representatives of a specific moment in time.

I see myself, or iterations of what I long to be, in many of the people I photograph. I love to photograph happy and confident people, because for a long time I didn't know what it was like to be happy or confident. Through my journey as a photographer, I find this more and more every day.

I like weirdness, uniqueness, friends having fun on a night out, couples in love.

The city is a powerful song and my street models are the lyrics, the beat. The right photograph becomes a symphony of a moment: the life of a young adult in New York.