Rockaways Rewrite

Posted on March 28, 2014 by gwunterberger

Four dudes, Paul Simon, and a Fiat 500. That winning combination came together for a day trip to the Rockaways, a spur of the moment expedition in search of sun and swell. Once there, our group discovered a cohort of wetsuit wrapped soul surfers, devoted individuals willing to brave freezing temperatures and a bitch of a current. Fighting the urge to join them (a task made harder with Dean’s optimism and a $25 all-in rental offer), our crew sought shelter on the boardwalk and settled in to watch the waves churn.

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Contact | Julian

Posted on March 4, 2014 by gwunterberger

Julian was a perfect scenario. I was out on my lunch break, Contax slung around my shoulder for company and trying to stay warm in the shadows. I turned a corner and there was Julian standing in this singular sliver of sun. He looked so regal with his cowboy hat and hand rolled cigarette (which he regrettably put away for the photo) that I had no choice but to ask for permission.

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Kids With Guns

Posted on February 24, 2014 by gwunterberger

I’m not one for long-term photography projects. It’s not that I’m against them (in fact I envy them), it’s that I haven’t been able to stay committed enough to a single vision or theme. I think it’s amazing when photographers envision a concept, collect images over years, and put together edits that speak to an overarching story. Me on the other hand, I just go out with my camera and take photos of what I find appealing, there’s no rhyme, reason, or agenda. Sure, I have a bunch of folders in my library organized loosely into themes, but each are only a few images deep. I lose interest too quickly, think better of pursuing a certain angle, or lack the confidence to fully develop an idea. But on my weekend walk yesterday I had an encounter that just might change all that.

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Contact | Meris

Posted on February 10, 2014 by gwunterberger

The instant I saw Meris with her blue blockers and furs, I knew I had to photograph her. I was on my morning commute, and it looked as if she was too, but I took the chance and asked her for a portrait. She couldn’t have been nicer, and didn’t mind my direction when I asked her to move infront of the brick backdrop. This was my first “field” portrait with the Contax 645, and in my excitement I forgot to recognize that the shutter was set to flash sync mode. I realized the mistake only after I had walked away, hoped that the frames weren’t overblow, and smiled so BIG when I saw the final result.

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Contact | Judah

Posted on November 22, 2013 by gwunterberger

Judah was one of those people that I almost passed up, even though the minute I saw him I had to have his portrait. But like anything in life, you never know until you try…

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Coney

Posted on October 27, 2013 by gwunterberger

Somewhere in my infinite Tumblr browsing I stumbled (or tumbld) across a beautiful set of long exposure images. They were black and white shots of carnival rides, with exposures just long enough to blur the lights (but not too long where everything goes psychedelic.) Those images stuck with me, and I decided to see what I could pull off at New York’s finest amusement park…Coney Island. With Winter looming and my window shrinking, I set out late one Sunday night to see what I could find.

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Contact | William

Posted on October 23, 2013 by gwunterberger

Meet William, the very first subject I sent a copy of my photo too. He was walking around Washington Square Park with a beautiful Pentax 67 (complete with wooden grip!) and it was the first time that I had ever seen the camera in person. At this point I wasn’t as comfortable taking portraits of strangers, but I had it in my head that I would take photos of people with cool cameras (the theory being that they were photographers, so they would be less inclined to say no). So I circled the park a couple times, gathering up the nerve to ask. He couldn’t have been nicer, and later I realized HE also walked around the city taking portraits. In fact his Flickr account, especially his older stuff, turned out to be a big reason why I started taking the Hasselblad out onto the streets. I hadn’t seen that “look” before, and I fell in love. Anyway, he was also the first person to respond to my image, and the resulting conversation is worth the read.

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Contact | Ronne

Posted on October 5, 2013 by gwunterberger

When I take someone’s photograph, I make a point to stop and chat with them. This wasn’t always the case. I started very much in the “run and gun” mindset, steal the photo with as little interaction as possible. But I realized that if I took the time to ask permission and introduce myself , I could get the exact photo I wanted while learning a little about the person in it. Whenever possible, I take down the subjects’ contact information so that I can share the results with them. Though it may take days, weeks or even months, I love sending out images and waiting for a response. Most times it’s radio silence, I’m not sure if people don’t know how to respond or if they simply hate the photo, but every once and a while somebody writes back. CONTACT is a new segment on the blog dedicated to those rare responses…

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I Half Too

Posted on October 1, 2013 by gwunterberger

I have a list, and it’s naughty, not nice. It’s a list that gets me in trouble, and one that often keeps me up at night. Ok, ok, so it’s a wish list, a camera wish list, a living document that ebbs and flows with obsessions of the moment. Last week, however, I crossed something off that list. I couldn’t be happier.

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