One of my Photos is Part of a Museum Exhibit in New York

This is a story I’ve wanted to share for a while now, but I wanted to wait until the exhibit actually started. One of my photographs is part of a Museum exhibit in New York. Even just saying that sentence seems surreal. One of my street photos (above) from New York will be part of the “Street Food City” exhibit at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn.

When the curator of the museum first contacted me about this, I thought that it was spam, as I get a bajillion spam emails every day. But, after careful checking, it was legitimate. The photo in question was one of a food cart taken at night in New York. It was one of my favourite photos of that trip, but there’s kind of a funny story about it.

My wife and I were going to New York fairly regularly, and on this particular trip, back in 2019, I just didn’t feel like hauling a camera around with me. So I had only taken my little Canon G7XII and my iPhone. It was an iPhone XR at the time, too, so this was before you could even shoot ProRaw. On this particular night, we were out in the city, going for a meal, and we just happened to be walking through grand central station over towards the public library.

I only had my phone with me, and I wasn’t really even planning on taking photos, but as I saw the scene unfolding in front of me, I couldn’t resist capturing it. So yes, this was an iPhone shot!!! The funny thing is, that’s the second time a photo of mine has been used by a high-profile client, and in both cases it was an iPhone photo. I guess this kind of validates that whole “the best camera is the one you have with you” thing. I blogged about it after the fact, and to be honest, I kind of forgot about it until I got the email from the curator.

I’m normally pretty critical of my own work, but this was, in my opinion, a good shot. I mean, it was a pure fluke, but it works well. The funny thing is, I had pretty much given up on street photography recently. Between my knee and ankle injuries, I hadn’t been able to walk very far or for long (although that’s improving) and I was having a confidence crisis around it. There was also the niggling feeling in the back of my head that it was a pointless endeavour.

Well, I guess not!

It looks like a really good exhibit, too, and a good museum. I wish I had gone there when we were in Brooklyn a few years ago. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely we’ll be going to New York again any time in the near future, but if anyone is in the area, please stop by and check out the exhibit. (And let me know what it’s like or if you can find my photo in it).

The bigger lesson here is never give up. This has been a difficult year for creatives across the board, myself included. I have talked to many of my colleagues int he design and video industries, and they’re all feeling it. Between the constant threat of AI and economic uncertainty, it’s been difficult to stay positive. But this just shows, that if you keep putting the work in, good things can happen. And while this isn’t as prestigious as winning an Oscar or anything like that, it’s always nice to be recognised for your work.

The Street Food City exhibit at the Museum of Food and Drink opens tomorrow (at the time of writing) December 6th and the museum opens Thursdays - Sundays 12PM - 6PM. You can find out more details on the Museum Website.