Watching New York: Street Style A to Z

by Johnny Cirillo

With nearly two million followers on social media, the go-to street style authority—known as "The People’s Paparazzi"—Watching New York’s first book highlights the best in NYC street fashion

Watching New York is an A-Z visual exploration capturing the best street style New York City has to offer. Dubbed the "The People’s Paparazzi," Johnny Cirillo has been making a name for himself with his candid shots of everyday people walking the streets of NYC—from Williamsburg to Soho—and capturing their creative, one-of-a-kind looks on his popular Instagram and TikTok accounts @watchingnewyork, where he has quickly amassed millions of followers. The book will be a continuation of Johnny’s mission of highlighting the best, quirkiest, and most authentic looks and the incredibly creative minds behind them. A combination of Humans of New York meets The Sartorialist , this book includes new and old photos and is organized by look or style from A to Z (from accessories to zebra stripes) with a heavy emphasis on interviews and quotes appearing throughout to showcase the people who make NYC the fashion capital of the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion, Picture Books, Coffee Table Books

224 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[Jillian B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun collection of New York City street style looks. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a dash of fashion inspiration.

[Kell Coll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had expected a bit more narrative around his own backstory (covered in first few pages) and the people he interviews (but should have realized his main thing is photography to be fair!!). It’s *awesome* as a coffee table book but don’t do like I did and purchase digitally. Would love to see a Pt. II with stories around how people draw inspiration for their clothes/the stories their clothes tell!!!!

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this from the library and the digital version pictures did not seem super crisp and I’ve seen a good amount of the photos within the book via instagram already so I didn’t take as much time on the pictures as I probably would have if the quality had been better in digital format or there weren’t a lot I had already seen before

[ツツ]

Too many normcore and businesscore for my taste. Some are amazing. The curation should have been tighter imo. The small photos r not doing anyone any good.

Now im thinking it s all about having your own aesthetic logic system. About less than half of the photos here are at (or above) that level?

I really enjoyed this book but perhaps i was mostly enjoying how much ive scaffolded and learned to funnel the data (and they no longer flood and overwhelm me so much irl).


Visual book 17 (photography) of 2025.

[Dani Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a photography book just released and an absolute delight!! if you like people watching, especially on the fashion streets of New York, you have to get this book. This guy has an Instagram but hearing the stories together and being able to see it on paper is just a whole different type of feel. All of the pieces are just so unique and well organized.

[Peta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually loved this book more than I thought. I borrowed it from the library as it caught my eye but I'd actually love a copy to keep in my wardrobe for when I need some style inspiration. I love how it's organised into themes.

[SassieMolassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was fantastic. I truly love seeing people's personal styles. and this was just such a great mix of different styles and people all pulling it off! I loved the photography and loved almost the runway style photos. I'm going to have to buy this book.

[Edna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book on street fashion in NYC....All photos and just could not be better...I loved it.

[Shallowreader VaVeros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as good as his social media feed but still fab! I love the people watching aspect too <3

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun.