NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

Autumn. New York City. Above Union Square.

On cloudy days in autumn, the trees stick out from the ground below like paintbrushes heavy with memories of the sun’s embrace.

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I love this view of Union Square Park looking towards the Empire State Building and the beautiful skyscrapers in midtown Manhattan. It’s particularly gorgeous in the autumn when the trees change color before descending gracefully to the ground.

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Buy “Autumn - New York City - Overlooking Union Square” Posters and Prints here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Autumn light through trees. Central Park, New York City.

It’s in the way the sunlight streams through the last vestiges of autumn: as golden as the leaves that hold onto their branches.

It’s in the way the earth bares itself under this fanfare: as vulnerable as new lover’s heartbeats buried under layers of clothing.

Winter’s prelude starts slowly: a distant refrain that works its way through the earth chilled in anticipation.

We slow-dance on this mortal coil to the adagio of life twisting and turning with the whims of the winds that scatter our spirit to the ends of the earth.

It’s all we can do.

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Buy “Adagio - Light Through Autumn Trees - Central Park” Posters and Prints here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Autumn landscape through willow trees. Central Park, New York City.

What a surprise yesterday! I got home in the evening after a grueling day to find that my last photo from my celebratory visit to Central Park over the weekend made it to Tumblr Radar. I could barely believe my eyes. Thank you so much Tumblr! (I am still reeling over last month’s post that also got featured on Tumblr’s Radar) My inbox has exploded with lovely messages which I am very grateful for and will respond to later in the week when I have a bit more time. In the meantime, thank you so much everyone.

When I was at Central Park a few days ago, the weather was deliciously ominous. It was the sort of day when grey clouds do their best to compete with the sunlight for the spotlight. I love the quality of this sort of contrasting light. During moments when the sun does manage to peek through the gray blanket of clouds, the foliage seems to reel in the bits of scattered sunlight.

This is a recent favorite spot of mine in Central Park. It’s a vista that seems to come alive in the autumn and winter due in part to Central Park’s beautiful willow trees. There is a quality to the placement of the branches that is reminiscent of theatrical stage curtains in a persistent state of dramatically opening to reveal the landscapes that are just beyond their grasp as if they are revealing a show that comes alive in the final two acts of a performance that spans a year.

In the autumn, these sorrow-soaked branches frame the sprawling autumn landscape that surrounds the lake and in the winter when the lake is covered in snow, the same branches hold multitudes of icy tears framing the towers of San Remo perfectly.

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Buy “Sorrow-soaked - Central Park Autumn Landscape” Posters and Prints here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Autumn sun through Central Park trees, New York City.

In Autumn sun drips down like melted gold on tree limbs decorated in the finest foliage. The earth, chilled by the memory of winter, holds onto the sun’s light with hands outstretched as each ray slips through its fingers like fine sand.

There is an entirely different quality to the air and sun in autumn and this is especially true in Central Park. The bitingly cool air pushes past flushed faces and every speck of sunlight provides only the smallest assurance of warmth. Dying embers of sun-specked leaves fall to the ground like ashes and creatures scurry in preparation for the long and arduous months ahead.

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Buy “Autumn Sunlight- Central Park - New York City” Prints and Posters here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Autumn elm trees with golden yellow foliage. Central Park, New York City.

That chill in the air wrapping itself around trees like an overflowing scarf , the crispness on the breeze chilling faces with its autumn kisses, trees displaying their decorated limbs in golden shades of serenity: Autumn.

Cinnamon sticks resting languidly in steaming mugs of hot apple cider, pumpkin-orange colored wishes carried on the scent of firewood, frosted sighs of contentment exhaled in long cool breaths, leaves sounding their crackled whispers of surrender, earth reeling from summer preparing for its long engagement with the snow-covered proclamations of winter: Autumn.

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Autumn in New York City. A view overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn Bridge Park. Dumbo, Brooklyn.

On overcast autumn days, clouds cover the city in a dreamlike haze, wrapping everything in shades of grey and melancholy. Colorful trees and structures awaken the slumbering city from its somnambulistic state.

These last attempts of awakening are the ones remembered vividly before the winter’s shades of solitude set in only interrupted by bare branches and cool steel until the city fully awakens in the spring again.

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Buy “Autumn Overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge - New York City” Posters and Prints here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Bow Bridge at the peak of autumn with a view of the San Remo and the Dakota. Central Park, New York City.

I am really bummed out today since I signed up for the Worldwide Photowalk to attend a photowalk in Queens (my home borough!) today but I had to cancel. I was riding my bike through Central Park two days ago and I wiped out on my bike trying to avoid a jogger who was running in the bike lane who stuck his hand out. In the process I sprained my knee pretty bad. I have been in a knee brace ever since and since I live in a Lower East Side walk up (it’s 77 stairs up to my apartment), I have been homebound and probably will be until Monday or Tuesday. It’s really hard for me to stay still for this long since I am usually all over the place. In fact, I haven’t spent so many consecutive days at home in ages. I am slightly stir-crazy!

I am going through beautiful autumn photos to cheer myself up. I absolutely love the quality of the light during the peak of autumn especially in Central Park. It seems to dance on the colorful foliage making everything look like it has been enchanted with magical dust.

This particular photo is of Bow Bridge, one of the most photographed and beloved of Central Park’s many bridges. It is shaped like an archer’s bow and is constructed entirely out of cast iron. Built between 1859 and 1862 it spans around 60 feet over Central Park’s Lake. The railing (shown here) incorporates architectural elements of Gothic, Neo-Classical and Renaissance design.

The view in this photo is overlooking the beautiful buildings that line Central Park on the west side of the park. The two towered complex is known as the San Remo and it has been the home to Tiger Woods, Steven Spielberg, Donna Karan, Steve Jobs, Demi Moore, Glenn Close,Dustin Hoffman, U2 frontman Bono, Steve Martin, Bruce Willis, and Rita Hayworth just to name a few. The San Remo sits fairly close to another building (in this photo as well) called The Dakota which is where John Lennon was murdered.

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Buy “Bow Bridge Central Park in Autumn” Prints and Posters here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Autumn in Central Park. New York City

I was thrilled to find out this photo was recently chosen and used for an article called The World’s Most Romantic Places. I happen to agree with the assessment but I am severely biased, of course :).

I wish the peak of autumn in New York City when scenes like this occur would last longer than two weeks. Autumn at its peak is such an all-encompassing experience. The sight of trees in colorful ecstasy, the smell of cinnamon and cloves, the sound of particularly crunchy leaves under foot, the feel of colorful leaves in hand prior to throwing them up in the air; all of it makes autumn my most favorite time of year.

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Buy “Autumn Romance - Central Park” Prints and Posters here, email me, or ask for help.

Sun rays pouring over Bow Bridge in autumn. Central Park, New York City

I was stuck without a working internet connection at home since early Monday. Thankfully, it just got fixed a few hours ago which means I am now catching up with the past week and my overflowing inbox.

This past weekend I went to the 2nd Google Plus NYC walk, the Maker Faire and was also fortunate enough to visit the new 9/11 memorial. I will be posting photos from all of these events/places in the coming week.

If you are curious to catch a preview glimpse of some of the photos (which I am in) taken by some other brilliant photographers from the Google Plus Photowalk, feel free to view my profile photos on Google Plus where I have uploaded them with info about the photographers in the captions/comments:

Profile photos from the 2nd Google Plus NYC Photowalk

I also just found out that I am one of the featured artists on the newly launched site Sociolog+ which you can view here: Vivienne Gucwa’s Photography on Sociolog+. Exciting!

Due to my feature on Sociolog+, I have had quite a few requests about one particular photo in my portfolio there so I am going to re-post a post from a few months ago with the photo and the writing that accompanied it for the benefit of newer people. Enjoy!

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It was one of those days where there was just a bit of briskness in the air accompanied by the last pangs of summer heat. I didn’t go to the park to take photos (even though I had my camera). I told myself I was there primarily to walk around and enjoy the last remnants of warm weather. I took a moment to rest on the grass. As I looked to my right, the most magnificent rays of sunlight started streaming over Bow Bridge illuminating the people in the row boats and the water on the lake.

The ability to capture these uniquely experienced moments is at the core of photography. Cameras become jars with which to capture moments that flicker like fireflies. In this way, photographers are moment collectors and dream catchers. Every collected moment and every captured dreamscape is the result of the tiny flicker that catches the photographer’s eye in such a profound way that it becomes an impossible feat to deny the urge to embrace the moment by capturing it in a photo.

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Buy “Sunlight and Boats - Bow Bridge Central Park” Prints and Posters here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Bow Bridge with San Remo in the background. Central Park, New York City.

I was featured in the Photographer’s Directory today! :)

It was sad when Tumblr opted for the Explore feature over the old Directory feature since the Directory was a great place to find Tumblrs with original content. The Photographer’s Directory is a great new addition to Tumblr created by other people on Tumblr in the effort of having one place to showcase Tumblrs with original photography content. I can’t recommend it enough!

Definitely visit and take a look around if you haven’t already: The Photographer’s Directory.

photographersdirectory:

Vivienne Gucwa is a native New Yorker who was born and raised in Queens and has lived in Manhattan for the last decade. Currently living on the Lower East Side, she considers herself to be a memory collector and urban documentarian.

She strives to not only capture the beauty of more well-known New York City landscapes but also parts of New York City that aren’t as well-visited or documented. She firmly believes that there is a tremendous amount of beauty and diversity to be found in the landscapes and cityscapes of New York City and her goal is to share that beauty and diversity with the rest of the world.

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