On June 30th, 2016, I packed my bags and took a one-way Greyhound to New York City.

With only $237 in my pockets, my mission was to couch-surf around the globe for 6 months and build my photography portfolio. But the way life happened, all those months were spent in NYC.

Before getting heavy into photography, weed my was of life. It was my hustle. And it was my focus. until one day in 2014, I was caught with weed and had to do 6 months in prison for marijuana charges.

That Night and day, I wondered when I’d get out of solitary confinement, but I never knew when that’d be. Until one morning I woke up from a lucid dream to a loud banging on my cell door.

“Zie, get your shit. You’re going back to population.”

With tears running down my eyes, I made a promise right then and there to drop the weed once I got out and purse my love of photography.

And that’s exactly what I did.

I got out, sold my car and bought everything I needed to freelance full-time. At first, it was lovely. I was getting booked to cover huge artists and paid to capture people’s emotions. From Club gigs, to weddings, I was there but my heart wasn’t. It was in the streets. So I decided to travel them.

I packed my bags and took a one way trip to NYC, on a mission to better my social skills and capture moments along the journey to build my portfolio. 4 months later, these images that you see, are some moments that experienced.

© 2022 Jeffrey Zie.