IN THE BALANCE...

"It's people just living, moving about with their lives. Trying to get through the day, the week, the month, the year. We're all going through the same thing on some level and being able to capture humankind at moments that some don't think are worth remembering or seem significant turn out to be moments that are worth taking a second look at. All our lives are worth that." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Everything is so superb and breathtaking. I am creeping forward on my belly like they do in war movies to capture images like this." - Diane Arbus (Photographer)

Argyle Lake - Babylon Village, Long Island NY 2021 - “When taking a series of shots you never know what you’ll get. I just saw this man and became captivated.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“Anyone can shoot chaos. But the most perceptive photographers can make compelling pictures out of uninteresting moments.” - Alex Tehrani (Photographer)

“I knew if I stayed with him he’d give the camera something. Faces, they never let me down.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Long Island, NY 2024 - "I'm youth, I'm joy, I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg." - James M. Barrie (British Playwright)

Long Island, NY 2024 - "There's no doubt everybody's youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness we hope never ends." - F. Scott Fitzgerald (Writer)

"Youth is the gift of nature, it's something I never wanna take for granted. I just want to smile and live life." - Tyler, The Creator (Musician)

“When all that mannered behavior is stripped away, I’ve found nothing but the fun absurdity of humanity.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Long Island, NY 2022 - "Only youth has the taste of immortality." - D.H. Lawrence (Novelist)

Long Island 2024 - "Just a little direction. They're the one's creating this work. It's giving over a certain control in moments that happen like this. It's a give and take and I'll take everything I'm given." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“Seeing them enjoying their lives, all of life, that’s the fountain of youth. That’s mankind’s eternal youth at our fingertips.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Tartan Day Parade, New York City 2022 - "I always find a reason to justify taking a photo. I see something special, beautiful, moving. It'll exist longer than any of us and hopefully the rest of the world will catch up." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow." - Leo Tolstoy

"It's never about taking pictures of poses. It's about taking pictures of people." - Anonymous

“Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson (Photographer)

DIGITALLY RESTORED 2024 - "El-Fuego" / Damon Foltz - "The masculine spirit it seems is under assault but hasn't come any where near him. He creates and enjoys working with others that create. This would be one moment of two people creating something together. This moment bearing witness to red-blooded, rugged extraordinary that is man." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Peter G. Blue Point, NY 2024 - "I just love how easy it all was for us both. It was a fantastic, giving moment between two strangers." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"You just have to live and life will give you pictures." - Henri Carter Breeson (Photographer)

David Rafferty Jr. December 2024 - "I absolutely just adore how open he is to all of this and letting me get as close as I have to him. The great thing about these images is there was nothing that had to be done. There is nothing more strangely beautiful than this truth of David as he is here." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Babylon Village Long Island, NY 2024 *Halloween* "I'm not here to tell anyone how to party. I'm just here to say, 'Please, party as hard as you can." - Andrew W.K. (Musician)

Long Island, NY 2024 - "It's like a well aimed hammer striking a blow. Nothing about it is accidental. Youth at it's finest." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"There are photos that sometimes I think look like they cost 50 cents. The more I look at them I feel like they're some of the best photos I've taken." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Babylon Village, Long Island 2024

Long Island, NY 2024 "The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy." - Alfred North Whitehead (Philosopher) - "I've taken tons and tons of photos. I've just had to dig those hidden jewels out. When they smile and are living life year after year, that's worth celebrating. Worth capturing." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I love to photograph people. No matter what life has thrown at all of us, we haven't been destroyed by it. That's worth being photographed." - Andre Steven Rutgersen Babylon Village, Long Island 2024

Long Island, NY 2024 - “These are characters in a fairy tale for grown-ups. Wouldn’t it be wonderful? Yes!” - Diane Arbus (Photographer)

"Pictures are an escape. They should be bigger than life." - David LaChapelle (Photographer)

"It's not when you press the shutter, but why you press the shutter." - Mary Ellen Mark (Photographer)

"Essentially what photography is life lit up." - Sam Abell ( Photography)

Babylon Village, Long Island NY 2022 - "I need the camera because it's the only reason anyone is talking to me." - Annie Leibovitz (Photographer)

Paul R. - "It's hard to not play favorites with him. He is exactly who you see in this series of shots and since the first time that we met he hasn't changed." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Upstate, NY 2019 - Paul R. with his Bagpipes and Bear.

"Taking this Image I thought him a gentleman. A gentleman though that also seemed like a patient wolf." - Andre Steven Rutgersen From the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021

"When the youth of America gets together, amazing things happen." – Tom Ford (Designer)

"Black and white photography is it's own language. It's a world where everything and everyone in it are ageless. It could be 40 years ago or yesterday. If it's compelling you just don't think about time." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I remember taking these. There was an envy, I wanted to be these little boys and start over. I then realized that I had when I picked up the camera again. I became a little kid again." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“It’s a delicate balance. I never wanna intrude but that’s what candid photography is. It’s kinda being a thief. I still struggle with that. I won’t stop though. This is why though. Right? I think.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Even more so now, no one should have to apologize being an American. A proud American." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Deep down we all want to be acknowledged in some way. He knew what was happening even with the distance between us there was a connection. The atmosphere, his friends, the energy, he gave me something fantastic. It really never happens that stamp of approval from a stranger to my camera. This makes me not give up on humanity." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I’ve often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us, unless it’s inside a frame." - Abbas Kiarostami (Filmmaker)

Joe Terner Long Island, NY - "Black and white photography is not sad. It's poetic." - Robert Frank (Photographer)

"Some days, you just get lucky...Other days you wait patiently for luck to happen." - Destin Sparks (Phoptographer)

Featured in the photography book "BAGPIPES and DRUMS" 2023 "I want my images to be a photograph first. Not as a consequence or result because of who the person is in it. It's hard for that to happen these days but that's what I love about photography especially when I don't know the person." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing cookies." - Diane Arbus (Photographer)

"It's capturing moments like this that make what I do worth doing. These two might have forgotten this moment of real laughter and joy but my camera won't. The lens looks for real touching humanity all the time and were both always over joyed to find it." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

American Made

""I've always wanted to be aware of what's going on around me, and I've wanted to use photography as an instrument of research into reporting on life of my own time." - Paul Strand (Photographer) Lindenhurst Long Island, NY

"The world is in color, black and white photography is a passion that has to be worked at. You have to love it. Everything about it." - Andre Steven Rutgersen New York, NY

“Unless it hurts, unless there’s some vulnerability there, I don’t think you’re going to get good photographs.” - Martin Parr

"When people see the camera you never know how they'll react. I'm always surprised. He broke out in a smile and everything changed in an instant. From one frame to the next a story unfolded. A risk was taken by us both that day and it paid off. That to me is the power of photography." - Andre Steven Rutgersen *One of the above Images featured in the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & Few More Observations" 2021 @Amazon.com

Kathleen and Robert, Long Island, NY 2022 - “It was a heavy day that day. I remember the bit of tension about doing a good job playing their bagpipes. They just talked and laughed and were a little silly. It helped. They sounded great. " - Andre Steven Rutgersen

DJ Fastforward / Pierre - "To this day he doesn't know how much he affected me, how he changed my life. It's something I can't thank him enough for, the good times and the bad times, some of the best times of my life." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"There was a time that nothing else existed except music, when he would play an album or spin at an event, even photography came second. He has a huge garden now, I bet even that has a rhythm." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

This Image featured in the Photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021 @amazon.com - DJ Fastforward...Quebec, Canada June 2005 - “I thought he was serious way back but he’s also a goofy, funny man with an accent that’ll make you do whatever he says. We fell really deeply. All these years later I’m still beholden to him.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

August 2006, Quebec, Canada

This Image featured in the Photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021 @amazon.com - "One of the things that's easy to like about him is that his sense of humor never seems to go away. It's always there along with the people around him encouraging it." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

2024 Digitally Restored 35mm Black and White Kodak Film - 2006 Quebec, Canada

Bandmates and Friends! Father and Son, Eric and Patrick

"This wasn't what I was after but some of the best moments I've captured were never intended. God not only brought the sun out but gave my camera this." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Everything that night, it was busy. Taking these became a maximum essential to have." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I hope truly that I never lose track of people that give moments like this. " - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Patrick Mulligan, 2019 Pipers Ball Long Island New York - "Still one of my favorites. In this he's the real artist, I just needed something quicker than a pen or a paint brush. Him mugging the camera devoured the moment. " - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Mr. Mulligan and Jr. - Long Island, NY 2022

“I always pray for that one image. Not a perfect one but a telling one.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Wherever there's light one can photograph. And that's when the ordinary becomes extraordinary." - Elliot Erwitt

Evan C. 2019 Nassau County, Long Island - "Sometimes I arrive just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter." - Ansel Adams (Photographer)

Dennis H. "I'm never really that thrown when contact with my camera is made. Knowing Dennis though when it happens I can't help but always smile." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Moments like this more than half the time trump what I'm usually after." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Robert Jones Long Island, NY - "Here Mr. Jones not only spotted me but decided to have some fun too. These candid shots epitomize this man that I've known for some years now." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Shawn Jones Long Island, NY (The son of Robert Jones above. See the resemblance?) “They say take pictures of what you love. I love faces. They never let me down.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Coreyanne and her Clan New Haven Connecticut 2021

Coreyanne A. 2021

Tartan Day Parade, New York City 2022 - “Film photography is a world all its own, when it’s monochrome you’ve fallen into a different dimension. Sometimes I get really lucky.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“Photographing strangers in candid moments like this, it’s like having apart of the world in my hands.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"One of the risk of appearing in public is the likelihood of being photographed. I think it does, a little, hurt to be photographed." - Diane Arbus (Photographer)

"I still to this day never get use to this. In all honesty though I do kinda like it when they catch me catching them." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“It’s the simplicity that made me stop. He saw me, he said nothing and just fell back into his solitude.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

(This black and white version taken with Pentax Ashai MV 35mm Film Camera. Color version can be seen in "BAGPIPES and DRUMS" 2023 taken with Nikon D80 Digital Camera.) "There's nothing simple about photography. This world isn't simple nor are the people that inhabit it. Some photos may seem simple and straight forward but believe me there's a story there." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I take a lot of photos. If I didn't I wouldn't have these. There's no such thing as too many photographs. I believe any photographer will tell you that." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Not every face I've photographed I know. There isn't always a relationship before or after. When the camera shutter clicks that's the extent of how close we'll be to one another.

My camera is my passport to them for just that brief instant. It's as close as some prefer to get. I'm grateful for every moment that I'm given." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"The best part of this all is I get to live with everyone after. I love that the image will survive us. I just wish I could know what'll be said about them all after I'm gone." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

New York City Tartan Day Parade 2022 - "I spy the camera guy..."

"There are outtakes that I find to be some of the best takes." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Alan N. - "This would be the first time I ever saw him and I knew Instantly I wanted to continue to photograph him. It is like being a sneak thief though, photos taken like this. It is a reward though. This is what the camera’s after. I'm hoping for the day that I don't have to sneak his image but photograph him properly." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Back Around To The Way Back! "I've know him since we were teenagers, over 30 years. I absolutely love and adore him." - w/ Lani P. 1990 NYC

Jason M.

"When that contact with the camera is made I just don't know what'll happen. The unpredictability of the human condition is what the camera loves. I've been pretty fortunate so far." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I have been trying to just capture something. People, as delicate as we are. It's okay to show that and I always felt it was something I was being lead to." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Whenever I can I love to photograph our country's flag in a photo. It's not an easy thing to capture in a candid moment but when it happens it's inspiring and makes me extremely proud. Not just to be American but proud of the men and women that have put their lives on the line day in and out for us all. For all of our freedoms. For everything we stand for. How on earth can anyone who lives here and loves this country and everything it stands for not feel that? How?!" - Andre Steven Rutgersen

2019 Goshen NY, Rachel Decareau - "The camera can be a cruel instrument at times. There are faces that no matter what can't and will never be hurt by it." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I couldn't have planned this better myself. I don't think anyone could have. Nature gave me something sublime." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Bagpipers are performers and some of them know where the camera is and aren't afraid but go with the moment. Go with it because right there they know it's their moment playing their pipes and being captured doing it." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"It's the simplest moment but I love it." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“There’s no such thing as ‘A Perfect Picture’. However when you capture something like this, a face with a story waiting to be told? This is as perfect as it gets.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“He broke out in a smile and everything changed in an instant.” - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“The still image must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told.” - Cindy Sherman (Photographer)

"Practice, Practice, Practice, Bob F.!"

"Shane S."

"Drum Solo, Big Paulie!"

"I truly want my candid photography to be as unpretentious as the people I capture. So far I believe I've succeeded in that." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

“God creates beauty. My camera and I are a witness.” - Mark Denman

"Pipes and Drums"...

"Professional's and amateur's always know that photographing anything in black and white, your stepping into a completely different world. It feels like time just doesn't exist there." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Taghkanic, NY route 82..."

"Two Worlds..."

"Captree, Long IIsland..."

"One doesn't stop seeing. One doesn't stop framing. It doesn't turn off and turn on. It's on all the time." - Annie Leibovitz (Photographer)

"Celebration!"American Legion Post 94 Chaplain Rev. Leonard Davis Lindenhust Long Island, NY 2022

"There are many times I take photos like it's the first time. Even at my age I still get that rush and I don't think that ever goes away for any of us who truly love photography. A moment like this, here? A great example of why that happens for me." - Andre Steven Rutgersen Babylon Village, Long Island NY American Legion Post 94 Chaplain Rev. Leonard Davis 2024

Photographer Photographed... Andre Rutgersen, photo taken, provided and courtesy of Maritess Gonzales - "It always seems impossible until it's done." - Dorothy Parker (Writer)

"A Harley Quinn In Babylon"

Nassau County, 2020

"Matt B"...

"There is a timelessness to black and white photography. There's also this cult of nostalgia with it too. Your facing the past and the present at the same time. That's what's so wonderful about it and why almost every photographer can't help but go back to it again and again." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Rebecca Y. Tartan Day, NYC

Babylon Village, Long Island NY 2020 - “Today, I am going to photograph someone…and they will love me for it!” - Unknown

"BBoy Brandon 🏳️‍🌈"...

"DJ Fastforward / Pierre"...

Smarty Marti!

from the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021

"I've always wanted a formal portrait session with him. I've always been afraid to ask." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"He deals with stress. He contemplates. He's human. I love these." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"I never asked him what was going on but there was something happening at these moments before his smile graced my camera." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"He saw my camera but we didn't realize what these would be. This is the thrill of what I do." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Captree" ...Robert B.

"Captree"...Robert B

"Don't Shoot The Messenger" On Set with Lauren F.

Babylon Village, NY "Caught catching a moment."

"George R." ...from the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021

from the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021 - "Photographing people life's pushed into a remarkable moment is what we're (photographers) all after. Not everyone can see it. I guess that's why some people have cameras." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Taking so many Images I never what I'm gonna get but here's a reason why I love what I do. There's just so much honesty here, two friends being goofy. It's wonderful." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

"Bob and Shawn" bandmates and friends. This Image from the portrait photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021

Shawn

from the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observatrions"

from the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observatrions" 2021

“Good black and white photography is not about the removal of colour." - Rob Sheppard (Photographer)

All three images, "Jonathan and daughter" from the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021

The above three photos: Gay Pride Babylon Village, Long Island NY, featured in the portrait photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observations" 2021

New York, NY "Dragon Clouds"

New York, NY "Day Dream Nation"

New York, NY "Imperfect Perfection"

"Not every photo is going to be a homerun and I've never said I'm great at this or even good. I'm just watching things unfold and wanna be there for every second of it." - Andre Steven Rutgersen

Fire Island, NY "Field of Dreams"

November 2019

the above image from the photography book "Faces, Outtakes & A Few More Observatrions" 2021

Babylong Docks, Babylon Village Suffolk County, Long Island, NY