© Xiomaro - Hare Krishna Festival
New York City's glittering landmarks—Times Square, Broadway, Fifth Avenue—have been photographed endlessly. Yet for artist Xiomaro, the true essence of the city lives in its unguarded moments. After surviving cancer and leaving behind a successful law career, he turned to photography to reconnect with life. His book, Street Photography of New York City: Street Haunting in the Big Apple (America Through Time, an imprint of Sutton Publishing), transforms the familiar streets of Manhattan into a vivid study of humanity's resilience, humor, and mystery.
Featuring 160 color and black-and-white images, the collection captures a side of New York that tourists and even residents seldom see. Candid and unstaged, Xiomaro’s photographs reveal fleeting gestures, unexpected juxtapositions, and the poetry within everyday encounters. “New York City’s Broadway, Rockefeller Center, and Times Square are among the icons drawing visitors from around the world,” says the artist. “But for me, the real attraction is the evocative mash-up of people who live, work, and play within its gritty streets.”
Known for his fine art photography commissioned by the National Park Service, Xiomaro has documented historical sites connected to George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and other American icons. His work has been exhibited at Harvard University, Fraunces Tavern Museum, and venues across the U.S., Europe, and China. The New York Times described his photographs as having “an unorthodox look” with a “focus on striking details,” while a PBS episode referred to him as “a historian through the lens.”
© Xiomaro - Gun Violence
© Xiomaro - Nasty Women Protesting
© Xiomaro - Jews Supporting Palestine
© Xiomaro - Arm Wrestlers
After overcoming prostate cancer in 2005, Xiomaro transitioned out of a career as an entertainment lawyer representing recording artists. During his recovery, he found peace in the solitude of wandering with a camera. Experimenting with photography eventually led to commissions from the National Park Service. In between commissions, he honed his skills by photographing his daily encounters in Manhattan, images that now comprise his new book. The reinvention from attorney to artist was commemorated by adopting his pseudonym—“Xiomaro” (pronounced “SEE-oh-MAH-ro”)—which literally means “ready for battle.”
Street Photography of New York City marks Xiomaro’s latest book following Weir Farm National Historic Site (Arcadia Publishing, 2019). His new volume is part of the publisher’s Photographer’s America series and is available on Amazon.
“Think of it as a photographic time capsule,” Xiomaro explains. “These images document our times as future history—capturing the humanity, energy, and hidden beauty that define New York today. And, like me, cancer survivors can tap into those same attributes within themselves to create their own future history.”
Xiomaro is an internationally exhibited artist and curator specializing in photographing National Parks and other iconic sites to raise public awareness of their history, culture, and natural beauty. His street photography and photojournalism chronicles the candid human landscape of urban life as “future history.”
His collections commissioned by the National Park Service have been exhibited at numerous venues including Harvard University, Fraunces Tavern Museum, Long Island Museum, Morris Museum, and Fruitlands Museum. Galleries in the United States, Europe, and China have also exhibited Xiomaro’s street photography and reportage. Publications such as The New York Times, the Boston Globe, Newsday, and Fine Art Connoisseur magazine have reported on his work and he has been interviewed on CBS Eyewitness News, ABC News, and News 12. Other appearances include documentary episodes by PBS, Fox Nation, and the National Park Service.
