Subscribe here for an ad-free experience!

The Phoblographer may receive affiliate compensation for products purchased using links in this article. For more information, please visit our Disclaimers page.

Photography Culture

In Memory of One of New York’s Best Street Photographers (NSFW)

Chris Gampat
No Comments
Last updated on 03/14/2025
03/12/2025
3 Mins read
Person on a mobility scooter, wearing a coat and beret, with the Empire State Building in the background.
Spread the love
          

Last Updated on 03/14/2025 by Chris Gampat

You’re probably wondering why I’m titling this article this way. And that’s because in every single way, I believe it to be true. Flo Fox, who passed away on March 2nd, 2025, was one of New York’s Best Street Photographers. These days, if you wanted to see more of a photographer’s work, you’d follow the vernacular around linking up with them on social media. But Flo wasn’t very prolific on social media. That’s because after being introduced to her by photographer Meryl Meisler, I found out that like me, she was legally blind. I’m one of the few who braved the blurrier side of the photography world and came out on the arguably better part of it. After 15 years, two surgeries, some physical therapy, brand new custom-made contact lenses, and a lot of rewiring of my brain ahead of me, I get another chance. But this article isn’t about me.

All images provided to the Phoblographer by Flo Fox. Used with permission.

One of New York’s Best

Flo Fox was born in Woodside, Queens — a place very near and dear to me. Her work has been in the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian, Dashwood Books, Life Magazine, New York Magazine, and several other exhibitions all around the world.

Flo was a disability advocate and had taught photography class for the blind and visually impaired students at the Lighthouse for the Blind, according to her Wikipedia entry. “Despite blindness, multiple sclerosis, and lung cancer, she continued to photograph the streets of New York City,” it states. “Fox also appeared briefly as herself in the 2010 documentary.”

Back around the later part of last year, Flo had worked to get us some answers about her photography and the work she did. And it wasn’t until today, March 11th, that I had the time to sit down and actually put the piece together. When I went to look up more information about Flo online, I saw that she passed.

Flo’s work had a sense of closeness to her subjects. You could tell that she had to develop relationships with them before she let them take photos. And with that sense of comfort also comes these wonderful moments that otherwise people might not have allowed to be photographed. This comes from her personality. Some of the world’s best street photographers understand that it’s all about people work and less so sometimes about just getting the moment. Those are the street photographers who are people first and photographers second. They don’t tend to use their camera as armor for the world; instead they allow themselves to be vulnerable to it. This is what so many of us aspire to be.

So with that said, I’m providing to you her unedited words to us for the interview along with several images that she provided to us for use.

The Words of Flo Fox

When I was 13 I saw a picture of Robert Frank of people writing and cable cars and I was impressed that they mentioned his name. I thought one day perhaps I could do that. I always wanted to retain images that had a sense of humor or ironic. My mom promised to buy me a camera but died before the promise was fulfilled. I would have taken a picture to remember her smile by greater than the Mona Luisa. I didn’t get a camera until I was 26 years old. I went to willoughby’s and tried several cameras and chose him and Ulta 101 as my vision began to deteriorate, I used autofocus camera 35. Magazine wanted me to field test the first autofocus camera for the magazine. They showed me a Konica which I experimented with. They made a complete story about it using my photographs. These days I use Nikon point and shoot with a 28 to 130 mm lens so I can take wide angle to zoom

These days I find joy in writing about the history of my photography and make books and have shows honoring my work. I don’t like to interact with people because the images produced seem unreal these days. I have my attendance, take the pics and give them instruction of what I like and  ope for the best. I have never used AI or digital photo manipulation nor intend to do so. I suppose it could be used creatively in some fashion but I believe it doesn’t really represent photography as I see it but I do think it can be used creatively in its own genre.

Abstract depiction of intertwined human figures with soft, blurred edges on a white background.
Person in a raincoat leans over a cart on a sidewalk, under an overhang.
A person stands nude, facing a mirror, with their reflection visible, set against a patterned background.
Person posing by a railing on a city street at night, while another person in a hat walks away nearby.
A group of elderly people sit on a park bench under trees. Text reads ENDANGERED SPECIES at the bottom.
Man in hat sitting with a dog on a park bench, pointing upwards, with trees and buildings in the background.
A black and white painting parody of the Mona Lisa with a large smile and exaggerated mustache.
People sitting at a diner counter; one is wearing leather chaps, exposing their backside. The atmosphere is casual.
Person in a sleeveless shirt poses confidently in front of Gay Rights and Register & Vote signs at a city intersection.
People walking in front of a graffiti-covered subway car at night.
Two women posing playfully with landline phones outside a phone booth on a city street.
Person in a tutu poses on a street at night, with people and Christopher St. Book Shop canopy in the background.
Collage of humorous phallic imagery with various props, including buildings, cars, and food, in six frames.
Two people in recliners drinking from paper bags at night on the street.
People climbing a chain-link fence near an urban basketball court; buildings and a parked car in the background.
Person in a feathered headdress and minimal attire, smiling and walking indoors.
Two people balancing and holding hands while walking on a narrow path between brick buildings.
Young girl walking on a wet path as a pigeon takes flight nearby, with a foggy cityscape in the background.
Flo Fox New York City nsfw queens street photographers street photography
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
'
0