Flickr a Day 23: ‘What I Wish For’

Searching Flickr for “what” churns up more shots of people’s bags, and what’s inside them, than you can imagine. It’s my strangest pic-peek voyeur experience yet. The look-see also reveals today’s selection—one of 11 related images spotted among the backpacks, messenger bags, and purses—chosen for what’s behind: The story and the photographer’s impressive portfolio.

Jorge Quinteros comes from Jamaica, Queens, New York, but lives in Brooklyn, where he shoots some of the best street photography portraits I have seen on Flickr. Today’s chosen pic isn’t representative of his style, which captures character in vivid photographs. Many street shooters are discreet. The self-titled “What I Wish For” series is what happens when a creative mind gets up close to his subjects,, engages them, rather than captures images from a distance. 

Jorge explains about the Feb. 18, 2012 shoot:

Armed with an erasable white board, my camera, and the inquisitiveness to find out what residents of Bushwick, Brooklyn often find themselves wishing for, I spent roughly 2 hours walking around prominent streets such as Knickerbocker and Myrtle Ave. to explore and see what tangible or non-materialistic things people routinely daydream about as residents of this neighborhood.

He shot the 11 pics (Why not a dozen?) with Nikon D90 and f/1.8 50mm lens. But Jorge uses Canon EOS 5D Mark II today. Photo vitals: f/3.5, ISO 200, and 1/200 sec.

The New York native joined Flickr in February 2005, but his photographs—and some of stories about them—is better appreciated from his personal website. Go there and you will better understand why Jorge is featured today, and why I say that the Day-22 selection isn’t representative of his photographic style.

Photo Credit: Jorge Quinteros