Last Transfer: The Soul of Syracuse

I have been neglecting this blog lately, in part because most of my photo energy has been devoted to one project, the Transfer Project.

The purpose of this project is to produce an extensive portfolio of collaborative candid portraits of the people who inhabit a unique urban setting that is soon to be lost forever.

The trolley cars and large department stores are long gone, but the bus stops and covered transfer stations at South Salina and Fayette Streets, in Syracuse, NY, continue to vibrate with intense human activity. The city recently approved plans to build a new transfer station four blocks further south, off the main streets, and to remove the buses from this intersection. Though this may benefit many bus patrons, it will hasten the gentrification of the city center and eliminate something vital and important. I have begun an extended project of photographing the people who meet at this central urban hub.

Most people come here to board a bus or to transfer from one bus to another, but others come because it is a place to hang out, meet friends, or watch the action. Suburbanites tend to avoid this intersection, thinking it “rundown” and full of “undesirables,” but the people who congregate here are actually quite varied in background and social class, and most of them are friendly and approachable.

Though I admire the work of classic street photographers who shoot without engaging their subjects, in this project I only include people who agree to be photographed. I have asked for their attention and their collaboration for these urban portraits, which are not only about my representation of them but about how they choose to be seen and represented in an unconventional candid photo setting. Many of my subjects shared not only their images but their stories, and I believe that some of what they felt and said is evident in these images. I also provide them with prints or digital images of their portraits whenever possible.

In order to achieve a consistent visual style, I use a fast wide lens: all work was shot with a Canon 5D MKII camera and Canon 35mm f/1.4 and 24mm f/1.4 lenses.

For some of my favorite images, see this gallery:

Last Transfer: Selections

For the full set of images, in the order taken:

Last Transfer: Full Set