The looks could be harsh and they could be frequent. And they were unexpected.

When I moved to New York City, all I wanted to make was street photography. In the Big Apple, you need only step out your front door — every moment, every teaming sidewalk, every intersection is a photo.

I arrived from Detroit. I had grand visions of following in the footsteps (on some streets, literally) of photographic heroes like Bruce Gilden and Gary Winogrand. The pedestrian bustle on every corner in NYC was not a feature of Detroit, a city of automobiles and of a declining population.