(Please click on these pictures so you can see them a little bigger!) For the first time in several years NYC had a snow day where schools were closed, so I got to shoot for a couple hours in the middle of the day. The woman with the box (actually a drawer from an old dresser) was using it to shake salt out onto the sidewalk. She and I talked about how she had extra work to do on a day when lots of us got to stay home. That run down house, which I've been into for a while, is now pretty overshadowed by that great street art. And the father and son were sledding in Coffey Park, which has no hills. (Is it still called sledding if your dad just pulls you around on the sled?)

Yaritza was a student at the school where I work-- I was her advocate counselor until January when she passed her last NY state regents exam and graduated! I took this in front of the school during the students' lunch break one day last year. Yaritza is a small person, but there's some serious power in how she carries herself and I think some of that is communicated in this portrait. Also, I love how the white "Brooklyn" on her jacket is echoed by the white grafiti on the fence behind her. Teens from Red Hook like to wear red. It's a touchy subject to mention because the Bloods gang (whose color is red) is the prevelent gang in the neighborhood. But my impression is that it's both deeper and simpler than any gang connection. They're from Red Hook, so they like red.