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portraits
May 27, 2015

See Striking Portraits of Cool, Artistic New York Women

By Erica Schwiegershausen

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Photo: Lee O’Connor

Since moving to New York in 2003, fashion photographer Lee O’Connor has assisted Bruce Weber, been mentored by Glen Luchford, and shot for magazines like Oyster, Harper’s Bazaar, and Paper. Her latest project is anthropological in nature: Since 2009, she’s been fascinated with young, eccentric women living in New York.

O’Connor says she was inspired to start photographing uniquely styled women she encountered on the New York City streets and subway after revisiting a copy of German documentary photographer August Sander’s Face of Our Time, a documentation of the Weimar Republic through a diverse collection of portraits of citizens. Inspired by that portrait of society, she began working on a similar series. “I set out to record a specific demographic of my era: young, artistic, entrepreneurial women living in New York City,” O’Connor writes in the introduction of her recently published book, Birds of Paradise.

Over the past five years, she’s made studio portraits of women she approached on the street, asking them to dress in the clothes they felt best expressed their personality. The resulting book provides a look at the women who caught O’Connor’s eye. Click through the slideshow to see the series.

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1 / 16 Photos
Adrea, stylist  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Erika, gypsy  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Doll, filmmaker  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Nyssa, artist/gallerist  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Allison, jeweler  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Aeon, model  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Adia, creative director  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Veronika, writer  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Cipriana, blogger  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Shayna, nonprofit director  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Miyako, stylist  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Dylan, photographer  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Effie, musician  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Elena, textile designer  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Jade, fashion designer  Photo: Lee O’Connor
Luiny, jewelry designer  Photo: Lee O’Connor
1 / 16

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  • birds of paradise
  • lee o'connor
  • slideshow
  • new york
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