Did a meteor strike downtown New York? Jeff Mermelstein’s best photograph

<p>‘This image gave me a jolt: his poker face, his grip on the bottle of window cleaner – and the boulder that might be a meteor that struck the flowerbed’</p><p>I made this image, Man with Windex, in New York City, in 1996. I was, and remain, obsessed with making photographs on the streets of New York. At that time, I was using a Leica Rangefinder with colour negative film because of its malleability and ease. One of the beautiful things about the Leica is its stealth qualities – it is quiet and small, though for me right now the iPhone is my camera.</p><p>I am the son of Holocaust survivors and grew up in suburban central New Jersey, moving to New York in 1979 when I was in my early 20s – which was like landing on Mars. This picture is part of my series and book Sidewalk, made between 1987 and 1999. I would walk the streets of Manhattan daily, ready for surprises. Out on the street you need calm alertness. Pictures that remain strongest for me have a sense of ambiguity, maybe that extra-rare quality of mystery, and that would give me a feeling of euphoria.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/nov/12/meteor-new-york-jeff-mermelstein-best-photograph">Continue reading...</a>