Miriam Miller // New York City, NY
Who is the man in the window, and why is he watching Miriam? Turns out this is Woody (not from Toy Story), a NYC real estate investor by day, inversion table salesman & pianist by night. Woody offices right by The Guggenheim, and noticed my shoot with Miriam… or rather my attempt to shoot on location at the iconic museum while security (kindly) escorted us off premise for a lack of social distancing.
Looking for a new location to shoot, I mentioned out of the corner of my mouth to Miriam to check out the man across the street in the 2nd floor window, working at his computer. I thought if we hurry up, we can get a frame with her near the fire hydrant… and if we’re really lucky, he’ll notice Miriam and look down at her. Turns out I didn’t have to be lucky. He noticed what we were doing, and without missing a beat, opens the window and asks if I would like him to look down.
Once I made the frame, I walked across the street to thank him and get his info to give him a print. “Wanna come up here and shoot towards the Guggenheim, I’ve got kind of a cool view.” Umm, what? Are you kidding me, who invites a random stranger in? Of course I do! He calls down to security and they let me up.
After quick introductions, he re-opens his window and starts offering image suggestions. Now he can add creative director and wardrobe stylist to his résumé. He encourages me to shoot multiple frames and angles, pointing out interesting lines: “wouldn’t it be cool to see her lines intersect with the crosswalk?” To the point where he finally asks if I wanna bring Miriam up for us to shoot in his window sill, with Central Park in the background.
In the end, with one frame in the roll left, he offers to try to get us into the Guggenheim for our last shot. I politely decline, wholly giddy with excitement from this experience, knowing I got some great images.
My knowledge of who Miriam is was serendipitous, accidentally finding her through the work of my all-time favorite photographer Rodney Smith. Like my relationship with her, Woody added to this wonderful experience. Stories like this seem to happen all the time throughout this project; but no two stories are the same, and this chance occurrence with Miriam was so magical, if not a bit… cheeky.
April 30, 2021
