Testimonials

“Being born in New York City, your images have a special resonance for me. They are full of humanity and a certain kind of beauty." Roger Ballen, photographer

“Thank you for sending me your wonderful photos. I felt as though I myself were walking on the streets of New York. I thought your photos of seemingly ordinary streets reveal something important, some sort of spirit.” Tamiko Nishimura, photographer

"I love your work! How wonderful to have these scenes of the city so beautifully documented. I’m grateful for people like you who were out and about and getting it all on film." Melissa Breyer, photographer

"Your work in amazing." Cheryl Dunn, filmmaker, Everybody Street

"What incredible work !!! It’s honestly captured my heart .You're a true story teller, each image tells a beautiful narrative. In this world of static where there is so much noise in photography I was lucky to find your stunning bodies of work !!!" Markus Andersen, photographer

"I have always admired your photos and your sensitivity in having the photographic ‘antennae’ needed that resulted in engraving a memorable and informative image. They include many places I've been over decades of living and being in the NYC stew. I would add that I admire your journalistic drive to get into the thick of things and still stay cool enough to ‘see’ the telling moments that you memorialize. It is a profound kind of art requiring the vision you have and the skills you have mastered." Larry Miller, Fluxus artist

"Love Today's Special!" Phil Penman, photographer

“"You capture the chaos of the street scene in NYC but also so many momentary flashes of delightful absurdity that we can see every day, but rarely can preserve."     John Carpenter,  Mary Griggs Burke curator of Japanese art, Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Jeff Rothstein has an unerring eye for moments on the streets of New York City that quickly disappear: moments of frustration, affection, desperation, and joy. Jeff will capture an ironic sign or an architectural detail you never noticed on a building you've passed a thousand times. Jeff's work in the early 1970s was the secret sauce of my book about the East Village and the rock mecca Fillmore East. It captured the essence of that unique era when anything seemed possible." Frank Mastropolo, author, Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever

" One of my biggest regrets as a photographer is that I didn’t photograph the 1970’s. Jeff did, and he captures what it felt like to live in New York during those days. Carrying a camera was like riding a nice ten speed bicycle, you were automatically a target! People have no idea how much safer the world is today! I suffer from nostalgia as much as anyone you might meet. I look at Jeff's pictures and instantly feel that despite the higher crime rate, NYC had a lot more character, because anyone could afford to live here, and that made for some very interesting subjects!" Matt Weber, photographer

"Very cool." Amy Arbus, photographer

"I love your stuff. You've got a great eye!" Mike Wallace, historian. co-author of Gotham: A History Of New York City. to 1898, and author of Greater Gotham: A History of New York City 1898-1919

"The vividness and spirit of the NY street scene comes alive. I think your street shots are brilliant -- appearing casual, but, in fact, filled with a paradoxical magnitude of intimacy combined with historical empathy. The book is a small masterpiece of street photography, the New York I knew when I arrived in 1975." Robert C. Morgan, art historian/critic

" It is my pleasure to come across your works. They have absolutely taken me in awe." Wing Shya, photographer, director

"I enjoyed viewing your portfolio. So many great photographs." Janet Delaney, photographer

"Love your street photos, they are very classic and full of humanity." Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao, photographer

"We have loved your work, pure art! You have an exceptional ability to grasp the essence of the moment. It has been a pleasure to enjoy your art and walk through the streets of New York through your eyes. A temporary, extraordinary walk." Maria Oliva, creative director, Dodho Magazine

"You have a fantastic body of work that is very real and very human. It is a wonderful look at life in New York!" Eric Mencher, photographer

"Jeff's photographs capture both the dynamism of New York, which in some ways will never change, and a feeling for the culture of the place, which has changed a lot." Leo Hsu, photographer, writer, educator

"Your photos are interesting and insightful; they say something ... actually say more than immediately meets the eye." Bruce Barnbaum, photographer

"I like the photographs very much. You are natural at taking celebrities as well as people on the street, capturing a precise gesture at a perfect moment." Lynn Saville, photographer

"Great to see that questing street photography that speaks to your love of the subject matter so eloquently." Max Pam, photographer

“Your ‘Blinded by light’ series feels like a profound exploration of the fundamental interplay between light and vision. This candid street photography series captures random individuals shielding their eyes from the harsh sunlight, a gesture that is both instinctive and revealing. In these moments, the subjects are caught in a raw and unfiltered reaction to the very element that makes photography possible—light. Simply brilliant!” Tuomas Koskialho, Docu Magazine