Photographer Jeff Mermelstein, 63, from Brooklyn has spent almost 3 years secretly capturing New Yorkers' private text messages. Ranging from heartbreaking and alarming to downright bizarre and hilarious, these photos not only reveal the mundane details of their everyday life, but provide interesting insights into human nature as well.

Jeff has been using his iPhone photograph strangers' cellphone screens and sharing the images on his Instagram over the years, making sure the authors of the texts remain anonymous. Recently, the series have even made it into a book, #nyc (2020), published by MAC.