Life in Frames
A Filipino doctor in New York captures everyday life through his phone and discarded photo frames he finds on the street
Walking on the busy streets of Manila, something suddenly catches your attention. The sunlight from the setting sun bounces off the windows of two all-glass buildings creating a light and shadow show. You pull out your phone from your pocket. You then carefully frame the scene on the screen of the camera app. Click. That perfect scene immortalized with just a press of a button. You go to Instagram, choose an appropriate filter, and then write a caption. That’s how people capture fleeting moments today.
Cities are perfect venues for capturing life’s moments. Each corner, each block has its own story. And that’s how US-based Filipino pathologist Randy Zamuco captures scenes in New York. But instead of just capturing them with his smart phone, he uses the aid of discarded frames he finds on the street.
“I started the series of frame photographs a month ago when the weather was finally warming up after a brutal winter. I’d noticed during my long runs that frames were being left on the sidewalks and stoops of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Maybe it’s a New York spring cleaning ritual I never paid attention to,” says the 46-year-old doctor. “I decided to photograph the frames where I found them, allowing me to capture the immediate areas where these frames were left.”
This “art by accident,” which he posts on his blog Donut Strong, has captured his imagination.
“Since I take the photos in situ, often the scenes are not the usual places that people photograph in NYC or in my neighborhood. In a sense the frame scenes become #artbyaccident. Not only does the frame make the nondescript scenery more eyecatching, but what’s outside the frame becomes equally important,” Randy says, who is currently practicing Pathology at New York University School of Medicine-Bellevue Hospital Center.
Zamuco, who has lived in the US for most of his professional career, comes from a family of doctors and artists. His family and friends find it interesting that he is doing something creative, as if he is now putting to use the side of his genes that must have lain dormant as he was pursuing his medical school and his career in medicine. But some suspicious friends think he is dumpster diving! “I am not,” he stresses.
Randy has no formal training whatsoever but has always documented his travels through photographs. He uses his iPhone in capturing the moments, usually during his runs. Aside from photography, he has done a few sketches and “odd paintings.”
“I’ve always thought that running is my ‘me time’ and it helps me relax and clear my mind. More than anything, the combination of running and photography has helped me rediscover and appreciate the city where I live. There is so much more to New York City than the usual touristy spots,” he says.
The doctor names his photos based on where he took—street names specifically. He doesn’t crop the scenes outside the frame, which he thinks make each photo more interesting. He has produced a dozen photographs. “I think it is one of the best ways to explore and experience a city. I suspect however, that leaving frames on the street is not a widespread phenomenon,” he says.
‘Since I take the photos in situ, often the scenes are not the usual places that people photograph in NYC or in my neighborhood. In a sense the frame scenes become #artbyaccident.’