BIKE & DESIGN // Bridget Fleming of downtownfrombehind

For Bike Month, we’re bringing you a series of conversations at the intersection of cycling, art and design. This is our last entry!

Our favorite downtownfrombehind shots

Downtownfrombehind has all the essentials of an addictive blog: authentic street shots, interesting people, unique and personal fashion...and lovely bikes! Think of your favorite fashion blog—filled with funny, sexy, and classy people—on two wheels, and you’ve got this. Every shot is an inspiration and now the founder, Bridget Fleming, tells us what inspires her.

3rd Ward: How did you get involved with cycling?

Bridget Fleming: I was four when I unwrapped my first bike; it was red with a white basket. Twenty plus years later, I collected the cheapest bike I could find on Craigslist from Staten Island in the middle of a New York winter. It’s red, it has a white basket, and I think I left it locked on Grand Street in Soho.

3W: What do you love about it?

BF: It’s a great alternative to walking or taking the subway. It’s green and a fun day out with friends. Below 14th street, the city is relatively bike-friendly.

3W: Are you finding anything out about the types of people who cycle through your project?

BF: Most of the people photographed for the project are creatives, most moved to New York for their career and most own a bike.

3W: Why “Downtown from Behind”?

BF: It’s every street below 14th, so essentially 'downtown', always photographed of a subject riding their bike from behind. The name, Downtownfrombehind, stuck.

3W: What have you learned through the project?

BF: Where the sun will be on almost any street at any given time of the day below 14th.

3W: Anything about the relationship between art and cycling?

BF: I think there is a close relationship between art and many day-to-day objects and tasks. I am definitely more aware of the art in bike design since working on this project.

3W: Why are the photos from behind?

BF: It provides more of a balanced portrait between street and subject and a less self-indulgent portraits for riders.