Taking pictures of strangers is hard no matter where you are photographing. On the streets of Harlem, Khalik Allah takes the utmost care to approach his subjects with confidence and purpose in order to capture his wonderfully evocative portraits of the New York neighborhood. This video from Time’s Lightbox show’s Allah at work.
Photographing the single street corner of 125th and Lexington since 2012, Allah is quick to establish a camaraderie with his subjects by showing them a physical book of 4×6 prints. He shoots on film with a simple setup of a Nikon SLR and a prime lens. Instead of using a flash when photographing at night, he lets the natural casts of store lights and passing traffic illuminate faces. The resulting glow is unique each time and seems to conjure the feeling of the surrounding environment, even though you can sometimes see little more than a face surrounded by darkness.
To see Khalik Allah’s work, head over to his
Tumblr where his photos are displayed nice and large.
http://khalikallah.tumblr.com/
