“I think over time you get better at spotting emotions, as well as gestures, compositions, and more because these are the things that you’re constantly looking for; The ingredients of a photo,” says Willie Velazquez, arguably one of NY’s best street photographers, to the Phoblographer in an interview. “I think you may even begin to take in the world in a different way compared to the people around you who don’t shoot.” He continues to state that sometimes, even he doesn’t know what he sees — but it’s a gut reflex to just shoot. Overall, he attributed some of his work to just pure luck.

All images by Willie Velazquez. Used with permission. Please visit his website and his Instagram for more.

How Willie Velazquez Started Out

Willie first started out in sales, and that kept things running for him into the end of his 20s when he was finally making good money. But for him, life became really monotonous and rigorous. “Days melted into each other, and sleep was minimal due to the 5+ coffees I had daily,” he describes to us. “When the coffee lost its effects, I began supplementing. That led to barely sleeping at all during the work week, which I made up for by sleeping in all day on weekends, waking only to eat, and sometimes socialize.” That’s when he realized he was burning out and it was time to try something else.

Growing up, Willie had a lot of cameras but wanted something more professional. So in 2019, he bought a Canon Rebel. “Afterwards I sat outside on a nearby bench, unboxed the camera, turned it on and almost immediately realized I had no idea what or who to shoot,” he tells us.

Willie was a rapper in a past life, and grew up with Hip Hop cover albums as a prime example of photography. He didn’t live that life anymore though, so he went to parks to photography. From there, he shot streets, buildings, and eventually started photographing people. “After a short while, I just started walking around with the camera everywhere I went,” Willie shares. “It could’ve been a 5-minute trip to the store and back; I’d have the camera on me, finger on the shutter at all times. I was in the beginning stages and didn’t even realize street photography was an actual thing yet.” Needless to say, he was hooked.

For a while, Willie shot film: specifically a Leica M6 and an Olympus Mju II. And these days, he’s been using a Leica M10p and a Ricoh GR III. “So far, it’s the longest I’ve gone without feeling the urge to buy another camera, so I’m feeling great about that,” he shares with us. “Depending on the day I’m either shooting 28, 35 or both. I’m really at home with those two focal lengths.” Besides this, he carries a flash.

The Creative Vision of One of NY’s Best Street Photographers

Somebody once told me they didn’t shoot the homeless, the disabled, children nor senior citizens. His work was unremarkable to me, as I’d expect. No life in it. Mostly hip shots and side profiles of people just walking in the street, and a considerable amount of shots from behind a person; portraits of the back of heads. But seldom did he shoot head on. He was dabbling, beginning. We all go through it.

Willie Velazquez

Willie’s thought process and creative vision are fascinating. While many street photographers shy away from photographing the homeless and disabled, Willie tends to embrace it in a way that tells a much larger story than what we tend to see from more green photographers. Part of this perhaps comes from his upbringing.

Instead, Willie tells us that he shoots without restrictions. And in many ways, his images tell a story of NY that isn’t being told. It’s one with economic disparity at the root. “…if there’s any consideration to be made, it’s in the curation of my work and what it is I choose to share,” Willie explains. “But when I’m outside and shooting, it’s mostly a reflex to what I see and the feeling it evokes, whatever that feeling may be. To put a restriction on that is not being true to the soul of the work.” In the long run, Willie thinks that it more or less just became a reflex.

Can’t speak on the professional implications since photography is yet to be my main source of income. But as far as AI itself I’d be more curious to know once it’s got a uniform, hive-minded opinion on the human race. But when it gets to that, photos will probably be the last thing to worry about.

“And morally speaking; is it really any better to treat any demographic like they don’t exist and make the effort to not include them in an art form I put my heart and sweat into?”

Of course, Willie’s work is also quite raw, and not the type of stuff that you’d ever see an AI duplicate. To that end, Willie thinks that AI is fun and that people are making some remarkable visuals with it. “There’s a series of Steve Harvey running from monsters in the woods that looks like they shot it on a Polaroid I think,” he says. “I can’t get enough of it.”

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– The Historic New Orleans Collection