To celebrate the milestone of 1.000.000 views on my Flickr page, I wanted to reward viewers, and especially Laid Back followers who steadily come and visit my stream. For the occasion, I will be offering 3 signed 11×14 (inches) prints to the first three viewers to correctly answer the question below. The winners will have the opportunity to choose within Julius’ Top 10 selection of my work below.

Challenge: What was Carlito’s first image to be published on the Laid Back blog?

Please send your answer and the link to [email protected]. The winners will be revealed as soon as we have 3 correct answers. Good luck! Congratulations to Alia, Jan and Nick for sending the correct answer so fast! The correct answer is “Franklin Passage” published in September 2009 as a Pick of the Week, a picture that we later used to illustrate Nicholas Kopernicus’ “Audiocentric” CD cover.

I took this image in Brooklyn during the West Indian Carnival. There is something about this guy’s eyes, a mix of sadness, courage but also an incredible sense of pride and belonging. One can almost see his
soul.

I took this shot accidentally and this image made me realize that there were more “things” happening in the streets beside street art. A definite turning point in my approach to photography.

I took this shot in the Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn. The pride sign of the gas station is the perfect representation of this Ultra-Orthodox community. This shot is the part of my Hasidic Brooklyn series.

Deep in the heart of Chinatown, surrounded by graffiti and buildings. Only New York offers such imagery.

There are many reasons why I like this picture. It reminds me of a younger version of Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction. I like the expression and the self-confidence of these kids, the car’s awesome mustard color, the vintage feel to it etc…but above all, it reminds me of all the people I have met and who shared a slice of their lives with me when shooting the series 100 days of summer.

One of the many shots I took in the Freedom Tunnel. This place is absolutely fascinating. One of the most bizarre and uncommon journey I’ve ever taken.

Believe it or not, I took this image in front of my house during our annual block party. Trevor skanked all day long making sure to stay within spitting distance from the pile of speakers.

I am not a big fan of panoramic shots, but the 360 degrees view of New York from the top of the Grain Terminal is jaw-dropping.

I had the opportunity to follow a friend this summer during his favorite pastime: chasing pigeons and meeting pigeon keepers. This pictures encapsulates everything I love about street photography. Splendid urban sceneries enhanced by the golden hour, grittiness, motion, agitation and multitude contrasted by solitude and an intense feeling of serenity.

I took this shoot in Detroit last year and it is part of my series “The Ruins of an Empire“. This place is called Fisher Body 21 and used to house a body assembly line for Cadillacs and Buicks in the 1920’s and ceased operations in the 1974.

Check this set for a selection of my favourite images.

Big up to my friend Julius and the Laid Back family for the support, the advices and the kind words along the way.

Images by Charles le Brigand
All rights reserved. Une production de Brigand © 2011