Comprising more than one thousand portraits – including over one hundred 4-foot tall printed portrait banners – Masked NYC is part of the permanent collection of the New-York Historical Society.
On March 10, 2020, COVID-19 knocked me out. After weeks of labored breathing and a wide range of seemingly unrelated symptoms, I recovered, and created masked portraits of more than a thousand New Yorkers, with each subject’s or parent’s permission, in public places and using a telephoto lens to remain socially distanced.
Amidst the pandemic, and our country’s long overdue reckoning with racism, Masked NYC: Witness to Our Time is my effort to share the dignity, diversity, and resilience I have witnessed in my fellow New Yorkers during this momentous time. Below is a small selection from more than 1,000 portraits.
All profits realized from this project will be donated to the Know Your Rights Camp COVID-19 Relief Fund, founded by Colin Kaepernick to help address the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on our communities of color.