As I observe the pedestrian continuum passing by, I recall a line from Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha: “Nothing was, nothing will be; everything has reality and presence.”

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Subjects drift in and out of focus, a downward gaze, a hand carrying a cake, a lock of curly hair, fleeting yet intimate glimpses of everyday life. Rallentando explores visual recollections and peripheral perceptions of serendipitous street encounters. With my camera, I silence the noise of New York’s bustling streets, transforming pedestrians passing by into musical notes within the symphony of everyday life - rallentando, a gradual slowing of tempo. 

I sequence these images, captured in varying stages of clarity to reveal the city street as a systematic collection of impressions. The ordinary and incidental, often ignored, transformed into the extraordinary. Background colors inform the subject while intentional blur shifts meaning away from the central figure onto the colored space around it. 

Photography as my meditation and a reminder to be mindful through heightened awareness. Observing the world through the lens of my camera, grounds me in the present, shifting my focus away from the weight of the past or the pull of the future. My pictures allow viewers to recontextualize the chaos of the city into everyday moments of beauty. Through its focus on candid moments in public spaces, Rallentando suggests that the distinctiveness of individuals within a communal space can build a harmonious composition.