BY Led Black (@Led_Black)
Q. What are some of the things you love about living Uptown?
A. The People, culture and, of course, the energy that flows through these streets. It’s a beautiful neighborhood with so much history. Uptown is part of my culture, it’s where I was raised. Every Street corner has it’s own memory to me. Whether it was my first kiss or the last time I saw a good friend. I hold my neighborhood close because my neighborhood helped shape me into the person I am today.
Q. What do you like about shooting Uptown?
A. The history and beauty. You never know what you’re going to capture through the lens. It could be anything and everything, from the smallest sycamore seeds to the historic High Bridge Tower. Some of these structures have been around since the beginning of New york City and you can feel that Uptown.
Q. Your photographs have this amazing vitality to them. How do you go about capturing that?
A. It’s all very spontaneous like serendipity. Most often the vital image finds me. I feel like I have always been a photographer, even before I picked up a camera. I would see things and literally take the photo in my mind. That’s what first attracted me to photography. I could capture these instant memories. I try to do that with every shot I take
Q. How would you describe yourself as an artist?
A. I don’t necessarily consider myself an artist as much as I do a vessel for my camera. Sometimes I feel like my camera is telling me what to do, I’m just the person pushing the shutter.
Q. Is there anything else you would like our audience to know about you or your work?
That there is a piece of me in everything that I shoot, it’s what makes me tick.
Check out more on M. Lachterman’s Flickr photostream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mlachterman/with/5087118712/
Check out previous Uptown Artist columns:
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