Photographer Daniel Arnold on his deep relationship with New York

Unlike a lot of his friends and predecessors, Arnold isn’t concerned with confrontation. He doesn’t try to actively affect the scenes he encounters, recognizing the complicated politics that encompass the style. “There is a rap, machismo energy and a lot of bravado in this crowded field,” he shares. “There is potentially something very creepy-seeming about street photography.” Much of this stress is born from the anonymity between picture maker and topic, and despite the fact that Arnold is a quiet observer, he doesn’t need folks to know that he’s taking their {photograph}. He spends numerous time pretending he’s not taking photos, wanting the opposite method, or taking pictures from the stomach, embracing the truth that some pictures fail or an attention-grabbing mistake may unexpectedly occur. And but, the stress of working with strangers isn’t one thing he takes calmly. 

As Arnold explains, “I do think there is a right way to do street photography. I think that the only way to do it right is also to do it wrong. It’s a constant learning curve. For me, the only way to do it is to be in constant conversation with my personal morality—my neurotic Midwestern self policing mission to do no harm—and hold myself accountable. At the end of every day, you have proof of what you did, and you’re going to remember how it felt to do it. It kills me to think that I would impose on anybody, and there are times when I have to work against that and times when it works against me.”