A legendary New York Times photographer who spent nearly 40 years capturing New York City at it’s finest moments is focusing his famous lens on a new project. NY1’s Cheryl Wills filed the following report.
From his immaculate stoop in Fort Greene, Chester Higgins marvels at how his neighborhood has changed over the four decades that’s he’s lived there. But not to worry he’s captured every moment.
He was still in his pajamas when he snapped a snowy shot that graced the paper of record, above the fold. And one of the Brooklyn Bridge that the Times tinted red for Valentine’s Day in the 1980s.
“I found the one place where I could get a little sun coming through the fog,” recalls Higgins.
Higgins spent 38 years at The New York Times capturing New York at its finest moments. He retired from the paper in December but he’s not really retired. He’s still working on new projects like one he calls Apparitions – leaves from his trees in the backyard.
His images spoke volumes and one might say helped to elect an underdog mayor in 1989. When David Dinkins ran for mayor in New York City Higgins was the only photographer who volunteered to cover his campaign from start to finish.
“You tend to learn how to be sensitive to the long shots,” says Higgins.
He is also sensitive to African causes. He’s documented Africa in all of its splendor and also photographed Nelson Mandela numerous times. But his passion was not the larger than life figures. He relished ordinary folks, people he met on the street like one woman who stopped him dead in his tracks in Brooklyn.
“The calmness of her, and her beauty I thought just said it all,” says Higgins.
Chester Higgins says he will continue to do what he does best, whether it’s from his perch in Brooklyn or a remote hamlet in West Africa.