Portrait by Matt Salacuse
There’s something about a portrait sitting that requires a kind of marriage: two become one, a synchronicity. The photographer courts the subject, invites them into an adventure, and they go on a ride together. I’ve often experienced this from behind the camera but it was fascinating to experience it from the other side.
I’ve known Matt Salacuse for over 20 years, and he’s a vocal fan of my work, but I primarily approached him because he prioritizes a dynamic moment and authenticity, while maintaining strong visuals.
We shot for an hour or so in his sun lit apartment and then headed out to the streets of Hell‘s Kitchen, Manhattan. Matt is known for his NYC street portraits. By “street photography," I’m not referring to mid-century street reportage a la Garry Winogrand, but to his semi-casual walk around shooting hundreds of directed, yet off-the-cuff feeling, portraits.
He squeezes our session into a fast moving 2-hour window, executing swiftly, and then moving on, as we popped into a laundromat, played at the edges of construction sites, and even the on-ramp to a freeway.
His personality—joyful, bold, spontaneous—bleeds into his images. You can feel it and want to be part of it.
At one point, he spotted a yellow DHL truck and urged me into a sliver of sun beside it. Instead of waiting for traffic to clear, I darted into place, adding a jolt of risk that seemed to unlock something for all of us. The session suddenly felt charged—unpredictable, alive.
As we neared the end, the mood shifted. The focus narrowed: we needed the headshot.
Matt found a patch of perfect light against a vivid red backdrop, and the energy from earlier carried through. That mix of playfulness and precision produced the strongest images of the day.
Top Image: The killer shot that lands just before the session is wrapped. Photo by Matthew Salacuse.
Second Image: A happy accident produces a magical canine moment.
Bottom Images: This year’s model, pictured on the living room couch. Right: BTS shot by Frankie Christie.