Photographing Trash Collectors for the New Yorker
Approaching the tricky shoot with lighting and Dark City model.
In the Flash is a reader-supported publication about intent and creativity in photography.
Last few weeks have been busy. I’ve been on back to back assignments as well photographing, and modeling for a campaign. That was my first ever foray in front of and behind the camera, and it was both nerve-racking and exhilarating. More on that once the campaign is officially released, and in the meantime, a small preview.
One of my favorite recent assignments has been photographing trash collectors for the New Yorker. Andrew Katz, an editor I have worked with previously at TIME, thought of me for the oddball shoot because of my Dark City project. He proposed spending a night shadowing a garbage truck that was making its rounds on the Lower East Side, and creating photos with a dramatic and Hopperesque feel. Or, in other words, he asked me to make trash look pretty. I immediately said “yes.” Besides the photographic challenge, I was curious to learn more about how my favorite metropolis operates. For a few hours, I rode behind a garbage truck with two collectors as they picked up all kinds of things lying abandoned on the sidewalk.