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Jean-Andre Antoine was among this year’s six Cast Iron Partner Award recipients for distinguished service to the community announced at SoHo Broadway Initiative’s 8th Annual Meeting. We caught up with Jean-Andre to learn about what brought him to SoHo and his involvement in the community.
Year of arrival on SoHo Broadway: 2010
What brought you to SoHo Broadway? What do you do here?
As a native of NYC, I went to high school in Chelsea which isn’t too far from SoHo and some days I would hang out down in SoHo. Since I was young, I’ve always felt a different energy in this part of the city, the epitome of the melting pot of cultures and creativity. For the last 10 years I’ve been taking and selling Polaroid portraits to passersby.
Tell us more about your work.
I’m in the art and photography industry and specialize in portraiture. A major part of being a portrait photographer has to do with having someone reveal themselves to the photographer, which most of the time allows for a moment of intimacy revealed on the surface of a Polaroid photograph.
What do you like about SoHo Broadway?
I’ve always appreciated SoHo for being a creative clash of culture, style, fashion, creativity and art and a home of the creatives.
What is your favorite SoHo Broadway memory or experience?
One of the more memorable moments was when one of the ideas I had been thinking about for some years finally came to life with the help of the SoHo Broadway Initiative, where I was able to project some of my Polaroid images on the building where I’ve been working from on Prince street.
If you had 20 minutes, where would you go?
If I had 20 minutes, I would go to Prince and Broadway and just soak up as much of this creative energy as possible.
