This is the claim made by Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times of 14 September 2001. He was reviewing the work “Heads” of photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia. His work makes a contribution to the Street Photography genre by capturing images in a new way.
“For the new photographs a strobe was affixed to scaffolding in Times Square; Mr. diCorcia stood farther away than before, using a longer lens. The result: crisp and stark portraits picked out of murky blackness — just heads, no longer cityscapes, the surroundings now blocked by the scaffolding. They are simpler images and more intimate, the paradox of standing farther away being enhanced intimacy.” Source: New York Times (2001)
The approach raises some ethical issues because of the intervention made by the light suddenly appearing at random. However, the results certainly provide some insight into the human condition as we walk (seemingly unobserved) down the street accompanied only by our own thoughts.
