Times Square New York City | NYC Street Photography

A Rare Moment When Times Square Slowed Down

Times Square isn't supposed to look like this.

I made this photograph in the summer of 2009, when New York City had placed inexpensive lawn chairs directly on the street and opened part of Times Square to pedestrians. Instead of everyone rushing through one of the busiest places in Manhattan, people simply sat down.

That contradiction is what caught my attention.

The photograph is crowded, but it doesn't feel frantic. People lounge in folding chairs, talk, watch the street or simply sit by themselves. Behind them is unmistakable Times Square—yellow taxis, pedestrians, construction equipment, traffic lights, towering buildings and an almost absurd concentration of signs and advertising. Even the New York Police Department station is buried within the visual chaos.

I like photographs where there isn't necessarily one person who is the subject. Here, the people collectively become the subject. My eye can wander around the frame and discover dozens of small moments happening simultaneously.

This photograph also has a personal connection for me. Later, during a workshop with legendary New York photographer Jay Maisel, I showed him this image. He stopped on it and commented on the uniqueness of the moment. That stayed with me because uniqueness is exactly what had made me raise my camera in the first place.

Times Square has been photographed millions of times. Finding a different photograph there is considerably harder.

For a brief period that summer, one of the world's most recognizable symbols of urban movement became somewhere people could simply pull up a chair and do absolutely nothing. That's the New York moment I wanted to keep.

© Dan Kosmayer, 2009