One of the enduring questions in any kind of dialogue work is how to hold a sense of the 'whole'; a view of the wider context that doesn't fragment, categorise or label parts at the expense of the bigger picture.

As photographers, we often tend to direct and confine attention - looking perhaps at our subject matter in extreme close-up, seizing a split second of the action, lifting the detail away from its background through differential focus and narrow depth of field. In fact, this tends to be a bit of a reflex action for me - portraits shot with 85mm lens at f1.4 - you know kind of thing...

Back in NYC, I felt really compelled to not separate... To tell stories in a way that held as much of the context as I could.  As I look back, I'm getting more attached to the pictures. Sure they are chaotic at first sight... but then seem to reward the extra attention...

I like the way this image holds the madness of the city while also letting us into a little moment... and lets me build my own narrative of family, intimacy, and conversation within a broader story.

I'm enjoying the freedom to roam in these shots.

f1.4 will never be the same again.