Some thoughts coming back from NYC

[Lauffray]

I should have said outside of Manhattan, sorry. That's exactly what I meant when I said I still haven't been to Brooklyn, it's my second time in the city and it's like I know nothing about it

[hlockwood]

Originally Posted by Calzone

Harry,

Next time you leave Boston and come back to NYC send me a PM so we can go shoot.

Recently moved to Madhattan. Now I feel like I just use to be a hillbilly from Queens. Somehow my photography has changed. Now I'm editing all this medium format urban landscape I shot over the years that speaks of lonelyness and abandonement (industrial areas).

Cal

Will do, Cal.

I was born and raised in NYC. I lived on the (upper) Upper West Side until 1979 when I moved to Boston. Given the opportunity, I'd move back to Manhattan in a New York minute, and I'd burn through a lot of megabytes every day.

Harry

[I Love Film]

If you're not in Manhattan, you're in Cleveland.

[jsrockit]

Oh man, this is going to get heated. I thought only New Jersey people (I lived there for 35 years) said "the City" ... when referring to Manhattan.

[davidtan]

No consensus on calling Manhattan the "city" or not, in my experience. I've never called it the "city", but I do know other natives (like some of my cousins) that do mention it as that.

Fun bit: In elementary school, I mistakenly declared that I lived in the suburbs. I lived in South Brooklyn, actually.

[Lauffray]

Originally Posted by I Love Film

If you're not in Manhattan, you're in Cleveland.

uh what ?

[furcafe]

Perhaps what he meant was that NYC is in the U.S., an established city in a developed country, whereas "Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Shanghai and Manilla[sic]" are all in Asian countries that are still growing & therefore changing much more rapidly. More like being in NYC in 1890. Since the world's economic center of gravity is shifting over (or rather returning when seen from a historical perspective) to Asia, it is indeed the "future."

Originally Posted by jsrockit

Can you explain this please?

[v_roma]

I haven't read through all the comments yet but wanted to chime in and say that, in my view, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there is a place out there somewhere where interestings things are everywhere and it's like shooting fish in a barrel. I'm not saying those places don't exist but the street photographers I most admire are those that make the ordinary seem special and transcedent. It's not luck and it's not going to that place where interesting photos are. It's about being aware, seeing things others might miss, waiting, and a very, very low number of keepers...

Originally Posted by Lauffray

I like to shoot street and living in a relatively small city, I sometimes find the lack of sartorial diversity slightly uninspiring.
So I was hoping that my latest quick trip to NYC would provide some change, however I was surprised to find that it was not entirely as I expected.

True, new yorkers dress differently than montrealers, but not so much among themselves.
I had the same observation when I was in Paris a year ago, and had to go out to the 20th arrondissement, a "colorful" neighborhood (whatever that means) looking for new things.

This isn't a rant about the homogenization of a globalized world but I wonder whether it was always like this, if density or habit has made me indifferent to something that really is there.
A friend of mine once remarked that those fascinating things I find in old photographs (cars, people, clothes) were just as "average" back then as the clones of same model cars, chain coffee shops or clothing brands I find unexceptional today.

I don't know, perhaps I look too hard for that interesting, uncommon thing sometimes, thoughts ?

[Lauffray]

Originally Posted by v_roma

I haven't read through all the comments yet but wanted to chime in and say that, in my view, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there is a place out there somewhere where interestings things are everywhere and it's like shooting fish in a barrel. I'm not saying those places don't exist but the street photographers I most admire are those that make the ordinary seem special and transcedent. It's not luck and it's not going to that place where interesting photos are. It's about being aware, seeing things others might miss, waiting, and a very, very low number of keepers...

that's very nicely said. I guess I just wanted something different.

Although it's not completely fair of me to say that. Shooting in NYC is _completely_ different than shooting back home. People react differently, it's just the culture perhaps that I didn't find to be as different and varied as I expected

[Lauffray]

Originally Posted by photomoof

You are not familiar with the concept of "Cleveland?"

Is this an unknown bit of American culture ? enlighten me !

(I'm not from the US)

[v_roma]

I completely understand. Certainly, in terms of people's reactions to and comfort level with photography, amount of pedestrian traffic, etc., NY has a lot to offer to street photographers compared to other cities.

Originally Posted by Lauffray

that's very nicely said. I guess I just wanted something different.

Although it's not completely fair of me to say that. Shooting in NYC is _completely_ different than shooting back home. People react differently, it's just the culture perhaps that I didn't find to be as different and varied as I expected

[furcafe]

It's a city in Ohio. So maybe the Canadian equivalent would be "If you're not in Toronto, you're in Winnipeg"?

Originally Posted by Lauffray

Is this an unknown bit of American culture ? enlighten me !

(I'm not from the US)

[daveleo]

Originally Posted by photomoof

. . . . Brooklyn is considered by most scientists to be the center of the known universe.

Back in Brooklyn Tech, we had the equations for this, but I have since misplaced them.
It is true though, putting the math aside.

[davidtan]

Originally Posted by daveleo

Back in Brooklyn Tech, we had the equations for this, but I have since misplaced them.
It is true though, putting the math aside.

Class of 2007, represent!

Originally Posted by photomoof

There seems to be some disagreement about the exact center among geocentrics, but I continue to believe it is somewhere near Juniors although it may have shifted toward Shake Shack.

Nay, it's Coney Island.

[FrankS]

I thought it was Toronto!

[daveleo]

You guys are killing me . . . . I "grew up" (10yrs-15 yrs old) in Coney Island.

Someone must start a words/no-words thread titled "Brooklyn".

Please


@davidtan . . . yikes you graduated just a year or so after I did

[davidtan]

Are we allowed to make location-specific W/NW threads? If so, I'll do it. In the meantime, my blog (in my sig) is mostly packed with Brooklyn shots, particularly from Bath Beach (my home), Bay Ridge, Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Brighton and Sheepshead Bay.

[rockman525]

M and I just spent a week in Manhatten visiting our son. We walked over 40 miles over six days through all parts of the city including two days in Brooklyn (love the Gowanus Yacht Club!). I would say I heard more French and Italian than English. I judge the authenticity of a visit to NYC by the ubiquiotous FUGETABOUTIT! Did not hear it once.

[Traut]

Come to South Beach

[jsrockit]

Lauffray, I can't believe I forgot we saw this, but do you often see people getting busy underneath a bridge in Montreal (like we saw in Harlem)?

[I Love Film]

EVERYWHERE in Canada is "Winnipeg".

Originally Posted by furcafe

It's a city in Ohio. So maybe the Canadian equivalent would be "If you're not in Toronto, you're in Winnipeg"?

[back alley]

Originally Posted by I Love Film

EVERYWHERE in Canada is "Winnipeg".

clearly you have never set foot on canadian soil...

[I Love Film]

Just got back from Vancouver.

[back alley]

Originally Posted by I Love Film

Just got back from Vancouver.

ever been to winterpeg?

[Calzone]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Well in a way you are right. The traditional way of referring to Manhattan (pronounced Man-at-an in Brooklyn) is "the city," as "I am going into the city."

But things have changed in the last 15 years, Manhattan has faded and Brooklyn has bloomed.

Although I proudly live in El Barrio in Madhatan, Fred is correct here. Not sure of the current standings, but Brooklyn if on its own would have been the fifth largest city in the U.S.

Also for the past few years more NYFA Fellowships were granted to Brooklyn residents than Manhattan residents making Brooklyn possibly the true art capitol in the U.S. for up and coming art. So far art hasn't been commodified like in Madhattan, although Williamsburg has more than its share of posers and wannabes.

Anyways in Queens more than 80 languages are spoken and it is likely the most ethnically diverse location on the planet, but next time in New York perhaps you should go to these lonely places that are remote, industrial, abandoned where it is empty and uninhabited where John, Andre and I frequent.

PLUG: Saturday June 23rd is the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. The difficulty with shooting this event is not to waste film and ending up with a bunch of tourist snapshots even though its a huge shooting gallery. This is just the opposite problem that you state in your thread.

Cal