NYC Cab Driver Spent 20 Years Photographing His Passengers

When Ryan Weideman moved to New York City in the 80’s he dreamed of becoming a street photographer. Driving a taxi to pay his bills, Weideman married his two pastimes in the most amazing way. Check it out.

If you were to ask Frank Sinatra, if you can make it in New York City, you can make it anywhere.

When a graduate of the California College of Arts & Crafts moved here in 1980, armed with a Masters of Fine Arts and a dream of becoming a street photographer, he soon found that “Making it” in New York City isn’t all that easy. It’s as true now as it was over 30 years ago.

Deeply influenced by photographers like Lee Friedlander and Mark Cohen, when Ryan Weideman arrived in 80’s New York he dreamed of a life as a street photographer. After a month in New York City, Weideman’s priorities quickly shifted to earning money to pay his rent.

After a chance meeting with a cab driving neighbor at his newly rented tenement on West 43rd Street, he started his life as a cabbie.

Rather than abandoning his dreams, he married his new life with his original passion. Weideman has spent almost 30 years photographing his passengers, and the results are a singular portrait of New York City through the lens of a cab driver.

Now, Ryan Weideman’s work has found it’s way to the collections of prestigious institutions like the Brooklyn Museum, the Oakland Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Weideman was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship Grant (1992-1993), a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (1986-1987), and a NEA Fellowship Grant.

Check out some of Weideman’s work below.

[H/T brucesilverstein]