SoHo, NYC

Pastor Jorge Sandoval nació en Mexicali, B.C., México, en una familia disfuncional donde las drogas eran parte de la vida cotidiana. En 1993, cansado de esa vida, ingresó a un hogar de recuperación del Ministerio Alcance Victoria en Tijuana y luego en Ciudad Juárez, donde experimentó una transformación espiritual y sintió el llamado de Dios a servir.

Comenzó como director de una casa de recuperación, trabajando con adictos y alcohólicos durante 7 años. En 1996, se casó con Mónica Sandoval, y juntos se dedicaron al ministerio, liderando grupos de jóvenes, estudios bíblicos y actividades enfocadas en matrimonios.

En 2007, Pastor Jorge y su esposa fundaron la Iglesia Alcance Victoria East Phoenix junto a sus hijos, Valeria, Jorge, y Brisa. Con 32 años de ministerio, su misión sigue siendo llevar el mensaje de Jesucristo a familias desintegradas, confiando en que Dios puede transformar cualquier vida.

For one thing, the colors are much more distinct in SoHo. They’re brighter. Perhaps that’s a reflection on the people living here. But for many of the cast-iron buiildings that give SoHo it’s unmistakable character, the reason for their bright coloring is actually pretty obvious: whenever you construct anything from wrought iron, it’s going to look like, well, wrought iron.

So the colors of SoHo as they’re known, or at least as they ought to be known, the colors that are just a street photographers dream come true (where else can you find so many amazing backdrops?), are actually the result of many, many coats of bright paints. And they light up a photo in ways even a flash cannot.

For me, it’s all about New York streets. They’ve been immortalized in who knows how many songs and poems, movies and books, but even though I’ve spent years documenting them with my photography, I don’t think I’m any closer to understanding them than I was when I started. They are their own kind of art, and for a photographer, all you need to do is setup the shot and take it. I have lived in New York for only five years, but I have been a working, professional photographers for fifteen years now.

Street Scenes

Street Corner, NYC

You never know what you’ll find on the streets. And if you happen to be a photographer working in New York, that’s doubly true. I’ve had the good fortune to shoot all over the world, and when I come back to New York, I’m always reminded of why I started my career here.

The New York street scene is, for better or for worse, the street scene. It’s the one that is the most iconoclastic, and because of the backdrop of New York, it’s the one that I think people from just about anywhere imagine when they think of the idea of a street scene—whatever a “street scene” happens to be.

I created this album to showcase some of my favorite street scenes that I’ve captured in New York. This is nothing that I’ve done on contract or in my studio, just real life moments captured by me with my Mark III when I had some time to kick it around the city. I hope you like what you see. I did.