I'm not much of a street photographer; I'm a better people photographer, and more interested in photographing the human struggle, but my friend Francesco convinced me to take a walk around Harlem and discover a part of New York that is often ignored because of a lot a preconceived notions. Well - to clear up any of those thoughts, forget what you see in the movies. And then, walk. You'll be mesmerized by the energy of the place and the vibrancy of the people.
Recently, Francesco and I had a conversation with Ilan about capturing the 'essence' of a city - he was struggling with the fact that on his trip to Barcelona, he felt he failed to capture the 'soul' of the city. I've lived in New York for over 12 years now, and even though I feel the place, I don't think I've captured the essence of the city, really in any of my pictures. To make a long story short, I think one needs to go a to place a LOT of times, in order to get a real feel for the place - and when I say 'go' I mean experience the city. Going to Harlem was a really good experience,and I will have keep going back if I want to capture the soul of this place...
The Cotton Club, Harlem, New York City