“When I moved to New York, I was completely overwhelmed, overstimulated, and anxious. I loved every second of it. I knew I wanted to be here, but I was having a hard time with all of it. I was already into photography and street at that point, and I used the camera to distill the chaos and over- whelming nature of New York into something that I could understand and process—maybe even on an esoteric level that’s hard to articulate.
Coincidences was the result. It took almost two years to realize that I had a series, but once I did—and once a lot of friends I trusted told me to pursue certain aspects of what I was making—I began to see it taking shape. And that’s when I consciously endeavored to make an ongoing project. The series came from this process of coming to terms with New York: becoming familiar with it and learning to love it even more. Lately, as I’ve traveled more for this work—especially to other large, dense cities like Berlin, Paris, and London—I’ve been inspired to make Coincidences work in these cities as well. But I don’t think this body of work could have happened anywhere besides New York. Something about the city’s nature—that mix of commercialism, capitalism, hustle, and the twenty-four-hour lifestyle—all combines to make a very New York story. “
Jonathan Higbee, excerpt from his new book ‘Coincidences’ published by Anthology Editions
