"I made this image, Man with Windex, in New York City, in 1996. I was, and remain, obsessed with making photographs on the streets of New York. At that time, I was using a Leica Rangefinder with colour negative film because of its malleability and ease. One of the beautiful things about the Leica is its stealth qualities it is quiet and small, though for me right now the iPhone is my camera."
"My wanderings that day took me near 50th Street and Sixth Avenue, a part of midtown that is chock-full of possibilities. There was this man in a suit and tie, with a cigarette in one hand and the other clenching a spray bottle of Windex. It was only when I saw the actual negative on a light box with a loupe magnifier that I felt an immediate jolt, a buzz of wonder. There were the ingredients I hope for: the ambiguity and the mystery."
"There were the ingredients I hope for: the ambiguity and the mystery. The tension of his grip on the Windex bottle, a poker face expression, the assumption he may be a janitor despite being dressed in a suit. Also, he seems unaware of me. There are wilted daffodil flowers, a boulder that might be a meteor that struck the flowerbed. Now, after 30 years, looking at it I see the sewer cover for the first time; maybe everything will go down it in the end."
An image titled Man with Windex was made in New York City in 1996 using a Leica rangefinder and colour negative film for its malleability. The photographer walked Manhattan daily, seeking ambiguous, mysterious moments that produced euphoria. The photograph shows a man in a suit holding a cigarette and a spray bottle of Windex, the tension in his grip suggesting contradictory identities. Wilted daffodils and a boulder-like object add surreal elements, and a sewer cover later noticed introduces finality. The photograph retains memorability and continues to provoke wonder decades after it was made.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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