Alastair Finlay was a working photographer in New York for at least 30 years, tabletop and luxury items were his bread and butter, but he also had a wilder streak – multiple, in-camera exposures, taken on long walks through New York and other locations around the world. Pictures that may have been partially plotted in his mind beforehand, but that were rooted in the spontaneous interactions that arose around him. Keeping track of multiple layers of imagery and then reacting decisively when new elements were just right. The photos were hard won, but over the years he developed a comprehensive collection of imaginative gems.

There is a small show of these and the other creative pictures he made and exhibited, at Soho Photo this month. Most notable are the images he took on Sept. 11 2001, hours after the attack, when he found himself wondering almost alone among the wreckage. The pictures from this series eerily echoing his multiple exposure shots, with their dream-like overly of seemingly disparate parts.

His pictures were never widely shown or collected, but he, like many artists in New York, was an integral part of the city’s creative culture, and his continued contributions will be missed.