When I was in college, I use to hang out in Soho every Saturday afternoon and take photos of people whose clothes I liked in front of this colorful wall. The wall was a multi-colored vertical stripe pattern and made for an interesting backdrop. Decades, okay, maybe not decadeS, but years after college I still have an interest in capturing what the people are wearing. My criteria has changed since my art school years. I think I’ve become more strict on what I choose to photograph. For me, when I see someone who’s style I like, I ask myself “Would I wear that or if I were a guy, would I wear that?”. If the answer was yes, I’d approach the subject and ask for a photo. Below are some shots of today’s adventure:
Artem is an actor looking for work. The whole outfit is pretty sweet. It’s so early 20th century. Anybody with the balls to carry a sign like this in a busy area like Union Square, deserves some screen time. Imagine what he could do on celluloid…
I love that this guy is wearing a plaid vest with a striped blazer. His cell phone matches his vest…sort of.
Rules were meant to be broken. That’s right, white hightop sneakers (after Labour Day) and white jeans, with a great brown raincoat.
Pretty sexy outfit here. He’s got a fashion marketplace blog too. Check it out: blog.bellaga.com
This is just my interpretation of fashion I like-clashing patterns, vintage design, casual sexy, or just plain quirky. My only restriction today was to not shoot anything in black, and believe me, doing this in New York was not easy. I didn’t find much today, because I was a bit apprehensive about approaching people. I think I need to just grow a thick skin. It’s never a good feeling being rejected for a photograph. But every once in a while, you get a really cool person to talk to who you can connect with and maybe you can help them out as well. So, I guess the rejections are worth it when you get a couple of great finds.
So here’s hoping for more posts about the fashion capital of the world. Or is that Paris? Or Milan? Or London?
The TEAR-N TAN Files 
Cool! Great photos (and commentary).