All images by Luc Kordas. Used with permission.
I genuinely don’t say this about many photographers that email us, but I feel particularly blessed that Luc Kordas emailed us and pitched his work in a very true to life email. When I proceeded to interview him about the fashion industry, he simply spoke his mind. On top of all this, he actually creates damn good work that will inspire you.
When Luc isn’t pointing his lens at models, he does what many of us do–street photography. In fact, coming to New York is what inspired Luc to get into it. “I came here for the first time in 2008 and was immediately hooked. There was inspiration and photos waiting on every corner.”
So when going through his website, we were highly attracted to his documentary work done of Hasidic Jews. If you’re an acolyte of B&H Photo or Adorama, you’ll have a bit of familiarity with these folks.
Luc tells us that in 2012, he would go out and photograph the city almost methodically–borough by borough. “And so one day I arrived in Williamsburg and instead of turning left for the hipster part, I turned right to the Hasidic part because that seemed more interesting.”
“All of those shots are unposed street shots. I didn’t get to talk to many of them. There was one huge event at Mets Stadium in 2012 where Jews discussed the role of the internet in their lives and religion. They rented the whole stadium for that congress. And I – yet again – stumbled upon it by accident, followed the crowd and got plenty of material out of that one day.”
Luc always does his work candidly and chose black and white for the reason that all of his street photos are in black and white–citing that it has nothing to do with their traditional garb. His photos capture moments in the lives of many individuals.
“…All of those shots are candid street shots and there’s fewer women walking the streets. What I got, I think, reflects the general presence of women in that culture. Plus, women are often seen with kids, and photographing children is a sensitive matter – much trickier than taking pictures of adults.”
