Suzy Halpin
Artist's Statement
All of these photographs were taken on my first trip to NYC in November 2010. I met up with some girlfriends from England and it turned out that they were set to shop and I was not. So I buddied up with my camera for a few days and walked.
Pretty soon, I noticed how gracious the people of New York were, like they were totally used to being watched all the time by everyone. With the exception of the 9/11 location, I wanted images of true New Yorkers, not tourists or visitors of any description. What is important to me in taking a picture is to take a photograph that can never again be taken. Almost always this means capturing people in a unique and personal moment. Whether it be 'Three Girls' sitting together at a bus stop, a scene above 'Times Square' the week before the Thanksgiving shopping rush, or a room full of people quietly thinking about a hole of 'Nothing from Something' in the ground and all that that hole means, that moment is not coming around again for anyone. I stole it with my camera. I own it.
I also want my photos to connect in someway with the viewer. It's when I hear, 'that picture makes me think of a time when....' that I know a connection has been made.
I have always been a photographer, even before I ever received my first camera as a gift from my husband. Voyerism is an instinct to me. What I have loved about this journey with my camera is that I have learned that this is ok. It is ok to try to see and then know someone that you really never will see again. It is ok to steal that moment. Now, pretty much where ever I go, I take my camera. People who I know are used to being photographed by me because it has become so second nature in who I am. Even people who don't know me quietly cooperate. Somewhere, I guess I have a cloud above me that says, 'I'm going to take your picture, but that's alright'.
