Welcome to the website for my street photography that I have been pursuing mostly in New York City since the fall of 1985. I have photographed in other cities across the U.S., along with France, Italy, Spain, the UK and other places. But for now, this site is devoted to the New York work.

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I was an English major at Vassar College and a poet. When I needed to study and get away from all distractions I would go downstairs to the basement, to what they called “the stacks.” In that way, conversations, running into friends, would not interfere with my studying. The problem was that this was the stacks and they were full of, well, books. The area I would go to was filled with art books and, particularly, photography monographs. So now I had a new distraction!

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I really didn’t know much about art photography. I mean I liked Ansel Adams like everyone else and a few other names. So while procrastinating, I came across a thick book of the work of renowned Hungarian photographer - Andre Kertesz. I didn’t know who he was. But boy his work was a total and complete eye-opener for me! The photos were taken in his native Hungary and Paris and, later, New York City. They were surreal and whimsical. I did not know that a photograph could tell a story or be poetry itself. I was in love.

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I graduated from Vassar in the spring of 1985 and in the fall I took up the camera. There was no digital back then. No iPhones. I discovered the work of many photographers: Robert Frank, Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Bill Dane, Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson, Tony Ray-Jones, Helen Levitt, Doreatha Lange, Berenice Abbott, Lisette Model, Saul Leiter, William Eggelston, William Klein, Richard Sandler, Josef Kouldelka, Ray Metzker, Alex Webb, Ernesto Bazan, Mike Levins, Joel Sternfeld, Henry Wessel, Stephen Shore, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, Daido Moriyama, Jerry Arcieri and many more.

 

But the most important find - for me - was Garry Winogrand. The streets of New York were his hunting ground: Union rallies, Central Park, dirty streets, the Bronx Zoo, etc. He juxtaposed wealthy Upper East Siders with the homeless. Zoo animals with people. He managed to find monkeys and chimpanzees on the streets of New York and turned their presence into social commentary. There was humor. Lots of humor. But these photos were not mere visual puns. They were keen observations of urban life.  

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Well, here I am over 40 years later. It took me a long time to finally get some “keepers.” When I first started out, my photos were terrible. I could see a Winogrand or a Kertesz in my head but I couldn’t make the poetry happen. I was too far away. There was no point of view. No message. No story. It took lots of practice. And some night classes at the School of Visual Arts with the late, great Mike Levins.

 

As my writer and visual artist friend Kris Saknussemm once said: “Street photography is like catching a soap bubble in your hand.”

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These photos were made in good times and bad. My wife Lenora Lapidus passed away in 2019. She had metastatic breast cancer for 14 years. It was a long battle. One of my reactions to losing her was to keep going on all cylinders, including photography. But when I looked at the work I did in the months after she passed, it wasn’t very strong. I was distracted but not by what was in front of me.

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And then there was Covid lockdown and the streets were empty. And everyone was wearing a mask - which wasn’t such a bad thing.  I just had to adjust.

 

I don’t name my photographs. I consider them an ongoing narrative and conversation.

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My incredibly talented daughter, Izzy Lapidus, helped me build this site. I could not do this without her. And without the support and encouragement of my amazing girlfriend, Mary Kathleen Flynn.

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I hope you take the time and enjoy the pictures.

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Matt Bialer
December, 2025