Heading Way Uptown In NYC – Washington Heights

Posted on April 7, 2011

BY Jeff Cable
http://twitter.com/#!/jcable12/status/55283922896035840

On Thursday, I was lucky enough to join an amazing nonprofit group called NYSalt, led by Alicia Hansen, on their photo shoot in Washington Heights. Alicia started NYSalt to take a group of underprivileged kids and teach them photography, and she has done some really amazing work. Many of the kids are heading to college, and even getting scholarships for their photographic work.

Washington Heights is way up on 175th Street and a totally different area than the New York City that I am used to. It is a rougher area within the city, where many of the kids live. Each of the kids was given a photo assignment (shoot low, motion blur, shoot from a high position, framing images…) and we went out with them to teach them their techniques. I think I had more fun than they did, stopping by some cool places to capture the essence of the area. In this image, I saw this guy getting his haircut and stepped into the barber shop, asking them if it was OK to snap some images. I was showing the kids that you need to be social and not be afraid to ask people to take their pictures.