Highline and into the night (nyc in many posts 3)

Still the same day, still walking. I sort of wandered by the Stonewall, which, if you don’t know, go educate yourself. I’d already had my ration of beer, so I didn’t stop in, but it’s a capsule of what a lot of NYC was like: little pockets of history and deep meaning, layered with new growth.

Then I hit the whitney, which had a good exhibit of photos from a photographer who’s name I’m forgetting. I was pretty tired by this point in the day, but I soldiered on, to the Highline, which was pretty rad. Weird sculptures, buildings, a lemonade stand, somewhere in the middle. I was seriously flagging by the time I got down; luckily there was a coffee shop there, and cold brew saved me. I got in a Lyft and headed to the Design Museum to meet up with my friend Christa, her BF Gabe, and Sandra, who turned out to know a ton of inside info on the artist in the main exhibit from her day job. It was really nice to meet and see them.

I think I have ~2 more of these posts, and then it’s on to newer photos. I’m back to being at least a month behind on photos, but I haven’t been shooting a ton, so maybe I’ll catch up? We’ll see.

nyc in many posts 2

This was another walk, the one that separated ICP from the Whitney, which I got to with about an hour and a half before they closed. I didn’t take many pictures inside, pictures of museums all look the same to me. The street, though, the street is always moving, always changing. In New York, there wasn’t just a feeling of newness, but this feeling of many layers of history built up over time. That feeling of deeper history was one of the things I really liked. Another thing I liked: not everybody works in tech. Like, apart from the conference I was at, I didn’t meet a single engineer the whole time. Legit.

Yeah these are just street photos. Yeah a lot of them are shot from the hip. I’ve decided I’m OK with that. There’s just no time to stop and ask on the street. Sometimes I’m also shooting as I bring the camera up to my eye. Sometimes, it’s things that would be gone in the time it takes to bring the camera to your eye. There’s this great video, where Jay Maisel espouses the opposite approach, which I’ve been trying lately with some success. That is: walk slower. No, Stop. Wait. Something will happen. Take the picture that happens in front of the camera, not the one you’re looking for. We’ll see where it takes us.

nyc in many posts

You know how Ulysses, the doorstop/book by Joyce, not the poem, you know how it encompasses a single day, but several years worth of adventure were packed into it? I feel like that was my first day in New York City. So much happened, so many pictures.

I got to Manhattan a bit after midnight, a direct flight from SFO. Sidenote: jetblue has the best legroom. Got out of my terminal to see the old TWA terminal under construction/restoration. A little googling revealed it’s been under construction a while, and now the plan is to make it a hotel. At least it’s still there.

So, I get to my hotel, starving, and go down to the street to find some pizza. By some silly stroke of luck, there was a decent slice just around the corner from my hotel. I had quite a bit of pizza while I was there, but not every meal, Mom. This pizza though. All the good things people say about pizza in NYC: all true. I’ve seen the light, or, rather, the crust, the cheese, and to a lesser extent, the sauce and toppings. Pizza consumed, I passed the fuck out. It had already been a long day.

The next day, with nothing to do and free to roam, I decided the first place I should head was the International Center of Photography. Since I had the whole day, and google maps said it was a 45 minute walk, I figured why not walk and shoot. These photos are about half from the night before and half from the walk to ICP.

camping film pics

These are the other photos from camping; at the last moment, packing, I decided to take my small boulder of a film camera, the Mamiya RB67. It’s older than I am and weighs 20 lbs with the mirror prism. It’s just on the edge of too heavy to handhold. It’s also all those trite things people say about shooting with larger cameras: slow, contemplative. I found myself seeing pictures, and then grabbing the camera and shooting them.

I originally got this camera because I thought it would be a good platform to build a small scanning back. Then I thought I might as well shoot some film with it, to make sure it worked. As it turns out, you cock the shutter and wind the film with different levers, a thing that I still sometimes forget (which works out for me sometimes, see frame 1). I didn’t even realize I missed the moment of looking at the exposed film, the magic of seeing all those pictures that I took, the ones that worked and the ones that didn’t.