NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

New York City in the snow. Central Park winter landscape at Bow Bridge.

There is something undeniably magical that occurs as the snow falls

swirling and twirling in the air

until it hits the ground heavy with the weight of a thousand promises:

exultations and dreams held close to the earth

in the stillness between wintry pauses

as the city lays in wait

like a snow-globe resting between giddy shakes of joy.

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Bow Bridge is one of Central Park’s most iconic structures. It was built between 1859 and 1862 and is shaped like an archer’s bow. This particular image was taken during a snowstorm in Central Park, New York City. Bow Bridge sits covered by a beautiful layer of freshly fallen snow as the buildings that line Central Park West sit in the distance just past the snow-laden trees.

I am a bit giddy because it appears that New York City may actually get some snow tomorrow. I read this highly entertaining piece of writing by Andy Newman in the NY Times earlier: “Tomorrow, It Will Snow, Perfectly” which had me at hello with its opening paragraph:

“The ideal city snowstorm, meteorological Platonists say, blankets the landscape without burying it, beautifies but does not burden, transforms and cocoons without paralyzing or even particularly inconveniencing.”

Of course, I always feel a bit like Winona Ryder in one of the best scenes from Edward Scissorhands (the music from that scene = awesome) during the first real snow of the winter season here.

Here’s hoping! :)

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P.S. Edited to add that yes, this is the same bridge that Dr. Who ran over in the Angels take Manhattan episode.

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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Buy “New York Winter - Central Park Snow” Posters and Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Bow Bridge in the snow. Central Park winter. New York City.

In the silent stillness of winter the world stops rotating temporarily.

All sound, speech and thought is muffled as the earth slumbers briefly under a blanket of freshly fallen snow.

In each snowflake rest the hopes and dreams of all who have ever felt the warmth of an anticipatory heart-flutter: dream-sputters that wrap the earth in the weight of their desires.

Built between 1859 and 1862, Bow Bridge is one of Central Park’s most iconic structures. This image was taken during a snowstorm in Central Park, New York City.

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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Buy “Dream Sputters - Bow Bridge Central Park Winter” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Bow Bridge in the winter. Central Park. New York City.

I miss the snow.

I miss the silence: deafening silence punctuated by small breaths signifying flutters of life in a world swallowed by the sinking, seductive embrace of serenity.

That type of serenity isn’t easy to come by in a city that moves faster than the speed of hope: it’s frenetic core blinked into existence by anxious dreamers.

If I hold still, very still, for just a moment and close my eyes, I can paint my serenity memory on the backs of my eyelids.

In this moment the world stops rotating long enough and my breath reverberates alongside the earth’s heartbeat.

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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Buy “Serenity Memory - Bow Bridge in the Snow - Central Park” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Red umbrellas and row boats under Bow Bridge. Summer. Central Park, New York City

Sometimes there are moments that are so beautiful that they leave imprints on your heart forever.

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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Buy “Saturday Afternoon in Central Park - New York City” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

I need help with this contest!

All you have to do is Go here and click COLLECT ME

It’s for a photography contest which includes a chance of winning $10,000 and a showing in Times Square. You are all invited if (by a super long shot) I win! :)

Thank you in advance! ♥ View my photography for sale here.

Sun rays pouring over Bow Bridge in the late summer. Central Park, New York City.

There are moments that remain etched into time: moments that aren’t easily forgotten no matter how much time passes between the yawning gaps in between memory and dreaming.

The ability to capture uniquely experienced moments is at the core of photography. Cameras become jars with which to capture moments that flicker like fireflies.

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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After my awesome interview last week for Photo Talk Plus (here: http://goo.gl/nrLj7 ), a few people messaged me privately about this photo since I talked about it on the show. Since it is an earlier photo of mine and it is positively gorgeous outside today in NYC, it felt like a good time to re-share it. Enjoy! :)

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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Buy “Like Fireflies - Boats Under Bow Bridge - Central Park” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Bow Bridge and trees in the snow. Central Park winter. New York City.

I miss the snow.

I miss the silence: deafening silence punctuated by small breaths signifying flutters of life in a world swallowed by the sinking, seductive embrace of serenity.

That type of serenity isn’t easy to come by in a city that moves faster than the speed of hope: it’s frenetic core blinked into existence by anxious dreamers.

If I hold still, very still, for just a moment and close my eyes, I can paint my serenity memory on the backs of my eyelids.

In this moment the world stops rotating long enough and my breath reverberates alongside the earth’s heartbeat.

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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Buy “Serenity Memory - Bow Bridge in the Snow - Central Park” 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.

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.

Looking out over Bow Bridge at the height of autumn. Central Park, New York City

It started a week or so ago. Carried on the top of an evening breeze was an inviting whisper that lingered and then brushed past my ear. It held the promise of autumn wrapped in its transient caress.

Autumn is the start of something new. It’s the promise of briskness followed by warmth. We inhale the earth’s transition deeply into our lungs and exhale hopeful utterances on the condensation of our warm exhaled breaths.

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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

Sunlight streaming over Bow Bridge. Central Park, New York City.

For a while I consciously went out of my way to avoid places like Central Park. My reasoning for avoiding these places was peppered with the jadedness I referenced in a few recent posts. In my mind, there were already far too many photos of Central Park. I couldn’t imagine how I could add anything to the extensive existing catalog of visual representations of such a widely known spot.

Bow bridge in the winter covered in snow. Central Park, New York City

It’s another super hot day in New York City today. The temperature is currently something like 101 degrees (fahrenheit) with heat index values climbing up to around 115 in certain places. I have decided that the only way to cope is to look at photos of New York City in the dead of winter like this one.

This particular image was taken back in January during a blizzard. New York City got something like 19 inches of snow and this was only weeks after the first blizzard of the season which practically shut the city down.

Central Park in the midst of heavy snowfall is absolutely magical. Because of the heavy wind gusts and storm conditions, the only people in the park were either very adventurous tourists trying to make the best of their vacation and other crazy photographers reveling in the beauty of Central Park’s landscapes covered in ice and snow. I spent around 4 hours there in total and only came across less than 10 people in total. The people I did come across were very friendly and in awe of the environment.

This is one of Central Park’s most popular bridges, Bow Bridge. It’s one of my favorite spots in the park. It’s usually packed with people enjoying the views from on the bridge itself. Under Bow Bridge sits The Lake which spans 22 acres and is Central Park’s largest body of water.

“Bow Bridge, shaped like an archer’s bow, was built between 1859 and 1862. It connects the Ramble and Cherry Hill, and spans more than 60 feet of the Lake. Because the south bank was higher than the north, construction of the cast iron bridge included raising the height of its northern abutment. Janes, Kirkland, and Co., the firm responsible for the dome of The Capitol in Washington, D.C., did the ironwork for the span of Bow Bridge. Vaux and Mould created the ornamental iron railing that incorporates elements of Gothic, Neo-Classical, and Renaissance design.” Source

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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In other news, a photo of mine from the most recent Manahttanhenge was used as the first photo for this photo-spread on My Modern Met here: The Manhattanhenge Phenomenon

Additionally, I won some swag from Gansevoort Hotel due to being one of two winners of a contest they ran called Gansevoorthenge where they asked for Manhattanhenge photo submissions via Twitter. You can see an embarrassing photo of me taken a few days ago in the midst of this heatwave (I hate all photos of myself!) with the winning swag here: Our #Gansevoorthenge Photo Contest Winners!

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Buy “Bow Bridge in Winter” Posters and Prints here, Other versions of this print with writing and various borders can be viewed here (any of them can be customized to have whatever background you desire): “Central Park in the Snow” with Grey Border, “Central Park in the Snow” with White Border, “Central Park in the Snow” with Blue Border, View my store, email me, or ask for help.

Bow Bridge and boats illuminated by sunlight on a gorgeous day. Central Park, New York City.

“Sunlight is painting.” - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Sunlight and Boats, Bow Bridge Posters and Prints are available for purchase by clicking here

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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Bow Bridge in Autumn, Central Park poster is available for purchase by clicking here