A visit with Moxie, a nearly 8-year-old East Village photographer with an eye for nature

Text and photos by Stacie Joy 

I recently walked around the neighborhood with East Village artist and fellow photographer Moxie.

She carefully loads her pink Instax mini instant camera and cheerfully informs me she’s in second grade and is 7-and-a-half years old. She said that she likes to photograph nature. So our walk included a visit to La Plaza Cultural community garden on Ninth Street and Avenue C, where Moxie was inspired by some koi fish, birds and squirrels.

We then walked over to Tompkins Square Park for some candid dog photos and posed (people) portraits.

When we run out of time (and are getting low on film), Moxie shows me the images she’s shot.

We wrapped up by talking about her history with the craft and her photo plans for the future.

“Well, I’ve been doing photography for about 2 years. I really wanted to try photography because I’ve been doing art my whole life. I love painting, making jewelry and crafting, so I thought it would be great to try photography. I like taking pictures of people and animals around the East Village. 

Sometimes I take pictures of flowers too. Taking pictures of people is interesting because people are interesting. I like to capture a moment of me and my friends together. I keep every photo that I take in my albums, even if they’re weird or silly. And I plan to keep taking photos. I want to try changing the colors on the lens, and someday I want to try other kinds of cameras.”