Photographer Profiles

If there’s one thing to be learned from a 27-year career shooting for the New York Daily News, covering everything from breaking news to sports, food to fashion, it’s to keep your eyes open. David Handschuh calls this photo “the ultimate walking around with your eyes open picture.”

Handschuh was making his way through Times Square in New York City one morning, and, he says, “like most photographers, I’m always looking up, down, and all around, constantly watching for, and sometimes finding, moments to shoot.” What he spotted that morning was a bucket truck with two maintenance guys a hundred feet in the air. “And then this giant eye pops on the Jumbotron display, looking right at them, and I think, Well, I’m going to be late for my next shoot.”

Late because ads on the Jumbotron cycle every couple of minutes, and it took a few turns through the rotation until he had a vantage point from which the guys lined up perfectly, with the eye watching them just so.

What we like about the photo is not just its immediate graphic impact, but the fact that even in the maelstrom of mid-morning Times Square, a photographer can find a way to make a cool picture.

And we like starting off the year with a photograph that advises us to keep our eyes open.

David Handschuh’s photographs are featured at his websites, www.DavidHandschuh.com and www.FlyingManatee.com/photogalleries.