Life Through a Photographer's Eyes
There is so much beauty in photography. Every photographer has their own way of capturing life through the lenses of their camera.
Understanding the deeper meaning behind an image is an important part of photography. I had the honor of connecting with three photographers who were willing to share their work and the meaning behind them.
Tom Caruso
“I don't try to capture a story, I just try to evoke an emotion,” says Tom Caruso, a sixty-five-year-old photographer from Brooklyn, New York.
Caruso has been active in photography for over fifty years and although he was drawn to photography as a young boy, he did not create his business until late February of 2022.
“I like to present people with images that are very common — a lot of the nature photographs are relaxing and soothing,” he says, “but the flip side of that is to capture images that disturb people.”
Life isn't always beautiful. We can see this through raw and candid photography. Caruso captures plenty of beautiful moments, but also captures real-life moments that aren't as beautiful.
Source: Tom Caruso
“This picture haunts me,” he says.
Caruso photographed a homeless man in a church pew at St Patrick's Cathedral during Christmas time in 2017. He pointed out the Meals on Wheels dinner sitting right next to him as he prayed in the church in “total agony.”
“This picture bothers me so much that sometimes I wish I never took it,” Caruso says.
Although this is one of Caruso’s darker images, he is glad that he took it because he feels as though it brings awareness to what homelessness is like.
“That's another thing about photography, you can reach a lot of people with an image,” he says.
These photos were taken at the Kings Psychiatric Center, an abandoned building that once was a mental hospital in Long Island. Prior to this hospital's closing, treatments such as lobotomies and shock therapy were used on patients. The lack of patients due to transfers, poor upkeep, and living conditions is what led to the hospital's official closing in 1996.
“It is such a spooky place,” Caruso says. “It is a nightmare to walk through there.”
Photography is something that means a lot to Caruso. He often finds himself wanting to capture what he sees so he could bring that same experience to others.
Caruso has touched me with his work. I was able to feel a rush of emotions while looking at each and every one of his images, which is exactly what he aims for as a photographer. These images in itself are extremely powerful and they show us how a picture can truly speak a thousand words.
Maggie Davis
Maggie Davis, a 19-year-old college student at Marymount Manhattan College majoring in Film and Media Production, found herself drawn to photography [as well as videography] at the end of her high school years.
Growing up in Arkansas, it was a different lifestyle for Davis. She explains how she felt isolated in her hometown due to all of the farmland. She relocated in August of 2022 and began to capture life on the streets of the biggest city—New York City.
“I wanted to take pictures of mundane life up here,” Davis says. “Like what you would see walking down the street.”
People living life is something that draws Davis’s attention. She likes to capture the things they do, even if it is normal activity for them. She explains how New York City can be misconstrued through social media platforms, but in reality, it is so much more than that.
“I kind of want people who are in such a bubble that is not New York City to feel like they are able to be a part of that even if they are not,” Davis explains.
Source: Maggie Davis
“This woman is the definition of mother nature,” she claims.
Davis captured this photo of a woman sitting on a bench in Washington Square Park in 2022. She explains that this is one of her favorite photos that she has taken thus far.
“I love the composition of her on the bench,” Davis says. “You can’t see her face, but the way that she is sitting with her hands crossed tells you a little bit about her character and demeanor.”
Davis found herself drawn to this woman because she felt that she embodied nature in a sense.
“The aged skin and veins on her remind me of the roots and branches on a tree,” Davis explains. “It seems rare to me to find someone of older age showing off their skin like that, and I think it is so beautiful.”
According to Davis, this image gave her a new perspective on growing old and feeling comfortable in her own skin.
Davis’s work made me feel at home. I have lived in New York my whole life, so seeing Davis who has only been here for such a short period of time capture New York City life so well was so amazing to see.
Danielle bullock
“I want people to feel that they are not the only human beings in the world,” says Danielle Bullock, a fifty-year-old photographer from Brooklyn, New York. Showing others that there are different ways of life is something that Bullock likes to showcase through her images.
Bullock has been into photography since she was about eighteen years old. She attended Parsons School of Design and received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Photography.
“I aim for the narrative of my pictures to tell a sequential story,” states Bullock.
Interested in the way people live, she finds herself documenting life through her images.
As a college student, Bullock was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to Moscow through a grant she received along with a few other students in her school. During the time of Bullock's travel, the Soviet Union had just fallen. Bullock mentioned that there were three to four families living in an apartment building that was meant for one. She explained that there was one room assigned to each family and this was the only room they had to themselves; the bathroom and the kitchen would be shared amongst the group.
“I was interested in seeing and documenting how people were living post-Soviet collapse, and I was able to connect with a family there,” Bullock says.
This family lived a hard life, but they never let their lifestyle change who they were on the outside. Bullock referred to this family as wonderful and loving human beings. She even made a point to share her appreciation for the family as they welcomed her into their home despite the lack of room.
Source: Danielle Bullock
In this photo we see the mother of the family Bullock was documenting holding her child. She had been waiting in line for hours but was only given about six eggs to feed her entire family. She was a stay-at-home mom and her husband had a job working for a state television company, so they were living off of one income, which was low, to begin with.
“Being an outsider coming from a lot of privilege it was hard for me to see how people were living in other places where there wasn’t enough food for sure,” Bullock explains. “It was something that we really did not know much about because people were not really reporting on this in America.”
Bullock captured these images in hopes that she would share the family's story with the world. She wanted people who did not know the family to understand that there are other people and other ways of living.
“What I like most about doing this work is connecting with people,” Bullock says.
Bullock’s work amazed me not only because of the way she photographs but the reason why she photographs. Choosing to document the lives of others shows us that there is more to life than just what we experience. Moving forward, try to be more open-minded to others because, in the end, everyone lives a life that we don’t know about.