My photographs give voice to the silent stories I find all around New York City, most of them in plain sight. When the sun, the Hudson River, and the corner of a building all join in a dance of reflection, light, and shadow; when the last of the leaves blow ominously across an abandoned piece of playground equipment late at night, these are the stories my photographs tell. There is a solitude that is known to most city-dwellers; a hollowness against the artificial light and the din of the city’s razzle-dazzle. It is that isolation that my camera seeks.
This is a city full of diamonds. New Yorkers train themselves to tune out the everyday sensory overload; barely seeing what’s right in front of them. Looking at a collection of my work, I’ve seen people experience something extraordinary, beautiful, and even life-changing. It’s amazing how often they start discussing memories as they move from photo to photo, it’s as if they move through their own life as well.
I prefer black and white to color, buildings and landscapes to portraits, large-scale to small. And I have exceptions to each of those preferences. I welcome you to enjoy this series of photographs, and to experience what I see through my lens, the real, raw magic that is my city.
Joseph O’Neill
