ThoughtGallery.org > Photographer John Raymond Mireles Brings New Work to Manhattan

Photographer John Raymond Mireles Brings New Work to Manhattan

New Works by John Raymond Mireles Come to LES
Portraits of New Yorkers captured stealthily on the streets of the five Burroughs to be installed at The Storefront Project
Opening reception: September 19, 6-9 p.m.

New York, NY (September 5, 2018) – There’s an old maxim among documentary photographers: “If your photos aren’t good enough, it’s because you’re not close enough.” The challenge for street photographers who wish to capture unscripted moments of life in the city is that the closer they get, the more the scene changes.  People often smile and pose if asked for permission or frown and turn away if it is not —or even become angry and combative.

In his newest body of work, New York photographer John Raymond Mireles restricted himself to only photographs taken without permission and the subject unaware—hence the name “Surreptitious.” Though sometimes a photo might be improved through some form of manipulation or directing, in this case Mireles allowed himself neither option. Limited to only one wide angle lens, he was forced me to move in close and often intrude into a subject’s space.

Using this approach, Mireles documented life on the streets of the five NY Burroughs: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx in May and June of 2018. He created a snapshot of life in New York City. A Polaroid: fuzzy and informal but immediately processed and available for immediate viewing.

Street photography is created out on the streets, but rarely does it return there. As with most art, it’s displayed on gallery walls and in books separate and apart from the gritty places that birthed it. To change this one-way dynamic, Mireles created portfolios of work that will be installed on fences and walls in the Lower East Side neighborhood surrounding the Storefront Project gallery concurrent with the gallery show.

Those wishing to fully experience the work from this project are invited to pick up a map and head out onto the streets and find these publicly displayed portfolios.

An opening reception for Surreptitious will take place on September 19 at The Storefront Project, 70 Orchard Street, New York, NY. 

Samples of other work may be viewed online at www.jraymondmireles.com. A short documentary entitled Good Fences Make For Good Neighbors about his Neighbors Project, installed this May at First Street Green Art Park on 2nd Avenue and Houston, is viewable here.

Mireles has been feature by The Guardian, The NY Times, and The Huffington Post among others.

Follow the conversation on Instagram @johnmireles
For interview requests and high-resolution images, please contact Tiffany Street at [email protected] or (260) 224-7826. 

All photos courtesy of John Raymond Mireles.
Not to be published without permission. High-resolution images available upon request.

About John Raymond Mireles

John Raymond Mireles has been documenting the American experience for over 25 years. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara he started a  career as a professional rock climber and began shooting his fellow climbing partners for renowned sports magazines. This led him to work with advertising agencies across the country earning recognition and awards from the Creative Show and Communication Arts.

After years of commercial work, Mireles turned his lens to narrative-driven projects exploring social justice. One of his earliest series in this vein, Invisible River, uses environmental portraiture to highlight the economic disparity of individuals living in a string of towns that line a highway in the Southern California desert. Subsequent projects include photographic explorations of the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and the tracing his Hispanic roots in the Tularosa Valley of New Mexico. He divides his time between New York City and San Diego











When: Wed., Sep. 19, 2018 - Sun., Sep. 30, 2018 at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

New Works by John Raymond Mireles Come to LES
Portraits of New Yorkers captured stealthily on the streets of the five Burroughs to be installed at The Storefront Project
Opening reception: September 19, 6-9 p.m.

New York, NY (September 5, 2018) – There’s an old maxim among documentary photographers: “If your photos aren’t good enough, it’s because you’re not close enough.” The challenge for street photographers who wish to capture unscripted moments of life in the city is that the closer they get, the more the scene changes.  People often smile and pose if asked for permission or frown and turn away if it is not —or even become angry and combative.

In his newest body of work, New York photographer John Raymond Mireles restricted himself to only photographs taken without permission and the subject unaware—hence the name “Surreptitious.” Though sometimes a photo might be improved through some form of manipulation or directing, in this case Mireles allowed himself neither option. Limited to only one wide angle lens, he was forced me to move in close and often intrude into a subject’s space.

Using this approach, Mireles documented life on the streets of the five NY Burroughs: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx in May and June of 2018. He created a snapshot of life in New York City. A Polaroid: fuzzy and informal but immediately processed and available for immediate viewing.

Street photography is created out on the streets, but rarely does it return there. As with most art, it’s displayed on gallery walls and in books separate and apart from the gritty places that birthed it. To change this one-way dynamic, Mireles created portfolios of work that will be installed on fences and walls in the Lower East Side neighborhood surrounding the Storefront Project gallery concurrent with the gallery show.

Those wishing to fully experience the work from this project are invited to pick up a map and head out onto the streets and find these publicly displayed portfolios.

An opening reception for Surreptitious will take place on September 19 at The Storefront Project, 70 Orchard Street, New York, NY. 

Samples of other work may be viewed online at www.jraymondmireles.com. A short documentary entitled Good Fences Make For Good Neighbors about his Neighbors Project, installed this May at First Street Green Art Park on 2nd Avenue and Houston, is viewable here.

Mireles has been feature by The Guardian, The NY Times, and The Huffington Post among others.

Follow the conversation on Instagram @johnmireles
For interview requests and high-resolution images, please contact Tiffany Street at [email protected] or (260) 224-7826. 

All photos courtesy of John Raymond Mireles.
Not to be published without permission. High-resolution images available upon request.

About John Raymond Mireles

John Raymond Mireles has been documenting the American experience for over 25 years. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara he started a  career as a professional rock climber and began shooting his fellow climbing partners for renowned sports magazines. This led him to work with advertising agencies across the country earning recognition and awards from the Creative Show and Communication Arts.

After years of commercial work, Mireles turned his lens to narrative-driven projects exploring social justice. One of his earliest series in this vein, Invisible River, uses environmental portraiture to highlight the economic disparity of individuals living in a string of towns that line a highway in the Southern California desert. Subsequent projects include photographic explorations of the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and the tracing his Hispanic roots in the Tularosa Valley of New Mexico. He divides his time between New York City and San Diego

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