Jennifer Murphy is a writer and a volunteer EMT in Brooklyn, she chronicle her year on the frontline of the epidemic in a book: First Responder: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Love on New York City’s Frontlines coming out in April.
We spent a lovely morning late december, in and around her house in Bedstuy, shooting some portraits and discussing our common plant hoarding tendencies.
Early August, Hauser & Wirth sent me for a quick studio-visit with Rashid Johnson to get a few portraits for the promotion of his upcoming exhibition.
In July, Swiss magazine Generations made me crawl out of isolation for a few days to photograph some of the “seniors who made America”, some famous, some regular citizens.
I gathered the portraits in a dedicated gallery for your viewing comfort.
On July 7th 2014, 12 years-old Genesis Rincon got killed by a story bullet in a gang shoutout in Paterson, NJ.
The aftermath of her death and the quest for justice of her family was the subject of my friend Jean-Cosme Delaloye’s documentary Stray Bullet.
Surprisingly, during the court proceedings, a friendship developed between her dad Alexis and criminal attorney Harley Breite who represented one of the gunman; an colorful character, who lives with his mum, his ferrari and a loaded gun, safety off in each and every room.
Jean-Cosme is now preparing a documentary serie about their relationship and the long term impact of Genesis’ murder. He asked me to tag along and shoot portraits of the protagonists for pre- production.
We met Genesis’ grandma, Susan whose health has been degrading and has been quarantined since the beginning of the pandemic in the basement of the house.
We met her uncle too. The Commissioner was a prominent figure in the streets of Paterson before being incarcerated on unrelated charges. He was let out recently due to the coronavirus.
More soon.
Mid-March, just days before the world went to absolute shit, Moya McAllister and Ed Levine at Psychology Today had given my dream assignment, shooting street portraits around the city for a few days to illustrate a story about the benefits of face to face interactions.
You can see all the portraits, including many outtakes, here in a dedicated gallery.
I recently came out as an amateur botanist/ plant hoarder, these past few years I turned my Bushwick apartment into a small jungle, 130 plants and counting.
Amid that coronavirus shit, to retain a semblance of normalcy and not sink too deep into depression, I started photographing them.
You can see more on my instagram
Real Estate developper Don Capoccia photographed inside the Bedford Armory
This was my first portrait of the year thanks to the always amazing Ronnie Boo Boo at The Wall Street Journal.
Colin met me for a very quick shoot at a midtown studio, he was just back from rowing all the way to Antarctica, yeah you read that right, so I was expecting him his skin to be burnt by the cold and saltwater but to my surprise he looked like he just exited the spa.
We exchanged a few moisturizing tips and shot this few options.
Read Colin’s book ’ The impossible first and follow his new adventures on his instagram.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Indian industrial giant Tata Group, shot on Roosevelt Island of all places.
Coach designer’s Stuart Vevers at his Upper West side townhouse for the fashion section of The Wall Street Journal.
