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Hardhats of New York City: Leland Bobbé photographs the remarkable people who build the Big Apple

When you visit New York for the first time, it's impossible not to marvel at the tall buildings everywhere you look. Friends who live there say you can always spot someone from out of town as they'll constantly be looking skyward.

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All images courtesy of Leland Bobbé. Via Creative Boom submission.

All images courtesy of Leland Bobbé. Via Creative Boom submission.

For local photographer Leland Bobbé, he loves to spot the little details we might miss as a tourist. Whether it's the women of Fifth Avenue or the Big Apple when it was wild and dangerous in the 1970s.

In his latest series, Hardhats NYC, he takes a closer look at the people who are responsible for New York's fine buildings – the very characters who have made it all possible... construction workers.

"As a lifetime New Yorker, I increasingly found myself noticing the men and women on the streets working construction. To me, they really stood out, dressing differently than the throngs of pedestrians around them, usually wearing brightly coloured orange and chartreuse, and of course, hardhats," Leland told Creative Boom.

"Over the course of a year, I went out during their lunch break to different construction sites and approached construction workers on the street offering them $10 cash and an emailed photo to stand for a portrait. The majority said yes but some turned me down."

What's interesting about the portraits is that some decorate their hardhats with stickers, others add decoations, dependent on the season. Some offer a broad smile, others present themselves more professionally. What's universally clear is what you can see in each person's eyes – a sense of pride and job satisfaction to be employed and contributing to something that will most definitely leave a legacy.

These images were all shot with a 35mm lens very close to the subject and lit with an off-camera fill flash fitted with a compact beauty dish to add punch and separate them from the background. Post work was done using Photoshop and Topaz Adjust software. Discover more: lelandbobbe.com.

Construction worker wearing a white hardhat and lime green safety vest on a New York City construction site
Construction worker wearing a white hardhat with "BA" insignia, dark sunglasses and a yellow safety vest, smiling at the camera on a New York City construction site
Construction worker wearing an orange shirt, black hardhat and sunglasses stands in front of an urban construction site in New York City
Construction worker wearing red hardhat, dark sunglasses and orange "Safety First!" t-shirt, with green construction vehicles and urban buildings behind him
Construction worker wearing a copper-coloured hardhat and high-visibility vest stands in front of a chain-link fence with a no smoking sign and red arrow behind him
Construction worker wearing a blue hardhat, sunglasses and orange shirt poses at a New York City construction site
Construction worker wearing a black hardhat, orange and yellow safety vest and grey t-shirt, posing on a New York City street lined with tall buildings and construction barriers
Construction worker wearing a white hardhat, white sunglasses and orange shirt stands in front of a multi-storey building under construction in New York City
Man in orange shirt and decorative hardhat stands in front of historic New York City buildings with American flag visible behind him
Construction worker in bright orange shirt and white hardhat with arms crossed, standing in front of busy New York City street lined with tall buildings
Smiling construction worker wearing a gold hard hat and orange Bonhom Construction Injury Lawyers t-shirt at a New York City building site
Construction worker wearing a blue hardhat with cartoon character design, dark sunglasses and high-visibility orange and yellow safety vest on a New York City street
Construction worker wearing a brown hardhat, red sunglasses and orange safety vest stands in front of a tall Manhattan building with classical architecture
Construction worker wearing a bright pink hardhat with coloured lights and an orange safety jacket smiles at the camera on a New York City building site
Construction worker wearing white hardhat with number 46, orange and black jacket and high-visibility yellow vest, smiling at camera on New York City street
Construction worker in orange safety vest and patterned hardhat standing in front of a cement mixer on a New York City building site
Construction worker wearing a silver hardhat, glasses and dark hoodie beneath a chartreuse safety vest, smiling at camera on a New York City street
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