For three decades, photographer Ryan Weideman drove a yellow cab through the streets of New York City, transforming his vehicle into a mobile portrait studio that captured some of the most memorable faces of the era. Among his most treasured photographs is an intimate 1990 portrait of legendary Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, taken in the back seat of his taxi after a chance encounter at a literary event.
Weideman's journey as a cab driver-photographer began with a simple desire to document the inspiring people he encountered during his shifts. "Riding around, I would meet poets, drag queens and other people who were inspiring. It made me feel good," Weideman recalls. He equipped his cab with several cameras and often attached his strobe light to his visor with a rubber band, ready to capture spontaneous moments with passengers and street scenes.
The fateful evening that led to the Ginsberg portrait began at a crowded book event in 1990. Weideman had learned about the literary gathering from a friend and decided to attend, hoping to network and perhaps find subjects for his ongoing taxi portrait project. Inside the jam-packed venue, he spotted Ginsberg and approached the poet with a bold request – would he consider writing an introduction for Weideman's upcoming book "In My Taxi"? However, Ginsberg appeared stressed and intense that evening, declining the request due to his busy schedule.
Undeterred, Weideman left the event and began driving his cab, but intuition told him to circle back to the venue. As people streamed out of the building, he spotted Ginsberg again on the street. "I guess he recognized me. I was a pain in the ass to him, probably," Weideman admits with characteristic humor. To his surprise and delight, Ginsberg approached the cab and climbed into the back seat – creating what Weideman describes as "a great, real, joyful moment."
While Weideman photographed Ginsberg alone, his artistic vision called for something more personal and collaborative. "The idea was for me to be there as well. I wanted to really romance that picture," he explains. When they stopped at the Bowery for Ginsberg to exit, the poet noticed the receipt tape hanging from the taxi's meter. "Hand me that tape," Ginsberg requested. Weideman tore off the tape and handed it over, watching patiently as Ginsberg looked down at it. "I don't know what he's doing, but I'm not gonna rush him. A little more time with Allen," Weideman thought. It turned out that Ginsberg was writing a poem about the taxi driver, which Weideman still treasures today.
Weideman's path to becoming New York's most famous cabbie-photographer began in California, where he attended college in the southern part of the state before pursuing graduate work at Berkeley. There he studied lithographs and photography, developing the artistic foundation that would later inform his taxi portraits. In 1980, he made the bold decision to move to New York City, despite the city's notoriously high rent prices. "The rent was unaffordable but nothing was going to deter me from going to the city," he recalls.
His apartment hunt led him through some shocking living situations, including one place where "one guy was showering in the kitchen sink." Eventually, he found an advertisement in the New York Times for a space renting at $250 per month. The apartment turned out to be just 250 square feet with a dirt floor, but Weideman saw it as "manifest destiny." The space's eastern corner perfectly accommodated his darkroom, positioned right up to a window that provided fresh air when opened – essential for developing photographs.
Another stroke of destiny came through a neighbor who drove a taxi. Their friendly conversations in the hallway led to an invitation that would change Weideman's life: "Do you want to go out with me tonight in the cab?" Weideman eagerly accepted, and as he puts it, "the rest is history, man." He quickly applied for a hack license and began his three-decade career as a New York cabbie.
Weideman's first taxi portrait featured a Latino passenger wearing a distinctive black derby hat. "He had a nice presence about him," Weideman remembers of that nervous first attempt at combining his two professions. The passenger agreed to be photographed, marking "the beginning" of what would become an obsession. "It just went crazy, man. I was constantly bombarded with opportunities," he says. His subjects ranged from passengers he picked up to spontaneous street scenes he noticed while dropping people off.
The photographer developed innovative techniques for capturing images in the challenging lighting conditions of his mobile studio. When his equipment malfunctioned, he would recruit passengers as assistants, telling them: "Hey, when you hear the click of my camera, hit the strobe. So we'd have a dual thing going on." This collaborative approach often resulted in more natural, relaxed portraits.
Weideman modestly deflects questions about his artistic status, saying "I don't call myself an artist, I leave that up to the audience." However, his work has gained significant recognition in the art world. His influences include renowned photographers William Klein and Ansel Adams, and his career highlight was receiving his first review – "a really fantastic one" – in the New York Times. When asked about low points in his career, Weideman struggles to identify any, explaining: "I spent 10 to 12 hours a day out there. So I always seem to run into people that I wanted photographs of."
For aspiring photographers, Weideman emphasizes the importance of broad artistic education and exposure. "Expose yourself to galleries and museum shows big time. Take some classes. Get a degree in fine arts. Pursue different mediums, like painting. I did lithographs," he advises. His own diverse background in various artistic mediums contributed to the unique perspective he brought to taxi photography.
The Ginsberg portrait, which Weideman titled "Allen Ginsberg, offering me up a fortune cookie," represents the culmination of his artistic vision – capturing not just a famous subject, but the genuine human connection between photographer and subject. Ryan Weideman's work, including this iconic image, was featured at Paris Photo from November 13-16, exhibited by the Bruce Silverstein gallery, cementing his place in contemporary photography.
