Jessica Lehrman

From 2011 to 2017, I found myself capturing moments across countless nightclubs, bars, and venues in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn after 2:00am. As a twenty-something, I was constantly searching for meaning, and regardless of the assignment, I found myself drawn to moments of touch and connection. It felt like discovering a secret—a chaotic, intoxicated network of people seeking answers in each other.

As the project evolved into a more intentional body of work, it marked both my deep love for New York’s nightlife and the distance I felt growing between that world and my own path. Looking back now, these images evoke a raw nostalgia, not for the life itself, but for the connections I was seeking at the time. My world has since shifted, and I’ve found more meaning and connection in my own family, but these photos remain a powerful reflection of the energy and freedom of that time.

This work can be seen alongside Yolanda Wisher's Poem 'We Were Born To Be Kissed In The Dark', in the New York Times.