NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

Sunset view from the High Line. Chelsea, New York City.

In the evening when the sun slides along the buildings and shadows glide along the streets, the city lingers longingly in the last few moments of sunlit bliss as urban wanderers slow dance to the sun’s daily adagio.

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This photo was taken with my phone. I am @newyorklens on Instagram (view my feed here). Check out my other Instagram posts made to this blog here. You can check out all of my Instagram photos on Flickr here. Additionally, you can view my phone photography for sale here.

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Looking out over New York City rooftops. Chelsea and Midtown Manhattan.

The city is comprised of so many tiny urban worlds: planets and stars that inhabit a larger universe. Until I understood that fact about New York City, I couldn’t properly begin to understand how to explore it.

When you spend your days looking out of any number of windows in a city as large as New York City, the urban world seems to shrink to include only the views that you are accustomed to seeing on a regular basis.

Therefore, when you come across a view that takes you out of your small urban frame of reference and plants you outside of that view and outside of yourself for a few moments, it’s a bit like finally coming to an understanding that the world you inhabit daily is just part of a larger picture.

And as your universe expands when you stand on a rooftop gazing out onto the planets and stars that populate its view, pieces of you expand along with it and you are changed forever.

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Clouds over 6th Avenue. Chelsea, New York City.

The clouds billow like smoke descending from the flames of the sun over the city in the afternoon.

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This photo was taken with my phone. I am @newyorklens on Instagram (view my feed here). Check out my other Instagram posts made to this blog here. You can check out all of my Instagram photos on Flickr here. Additionally, you can view my phone photography for sale here.

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The New York City skyline and the Empire State Building viewed from Chelsea, New York City.

The Empire State Building always seems to stand out when viewing certain cross-sections of the New York City skyline. I have always imagined it to be an urban lighthouse helping all urban wanderers navigate through the dense sea of buildings that surround its distinctive shape.

This vantage point is from a rooftop located as far west as you can possibly go in Chelsea before landing in the Hudson River.

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Yellow wildflowers along the High Line overlooking Chelsea, New York City.

The wildflowers that grow along the High Line Park are some of my favorite flowers in New York City. Greenery has a way of thriving in this elevated park due to the nature of the buildings that line the old railroad tracks which cast shade on certain sections while other sections bask in direct sunlight daily.

In the 1930s, freight trains ran along these re-purposed tracks delivering supplies and service to the buildings lining the High Line. In some of the newer sections of the High Line, the closeness to the buildings that line the tracks is made all the more extreme by the wildflowers that have sprouted up along what remains of the train tracks. The shaded areas are brimming with colorful flowers and plant life that has claimed its home here breathing life into this space that was once dominated by industry.

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Storm clouds and the Chelsea skyline seen from the High Line. New York City.

The summer sun washes over the city one last time as storm clouds gather overhead in congress with themselves over when they should rain their praise down from the sky.

Wild flowers swayed by the whispers of the wind take one last look at the urban landscape as it glows in the sun’s deluge of light waiting for the sky to quench their thirst.

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I love the drama that plays out in the sky before a storm especially when viewed alongside the buildings that make up the Chelsea skyline as viewed from the High Line. Tiny tenements stand in the shadow of towering older buildings with ornate architecture which are framed by the more modern architecture and the water towers stand proudly against the sky like beacons.

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Echinacea coneflowers in bloom along the High Line elevated park. Chelsea, New York City.

Where does the city’s memory imprint itself?

Is it imprinted on the concrete of sidewalks weathered by world-weary feet? Is it imprinted in the foundations of the skyscrapers that scratch the surface of the sky connecting the sidewalks below to loftier aspirations? Is it imprinted in the people whose lives unfold frenetically over the vast urban landscapes that stretch across the city like veins and arteries? Is it imprinted in the transportation systems that contract and expand like ligaments and tendons, flexing their way through the corporeal terrain?

Or is the city’s memory imprinted on elements that only peripherally stake their claim on such a grandiose landscape?

In the petals of flowers, freshly opened and unfettered by permanence, the city effortlessly makes an impression like pressing a hand into soft flesh or falling slowly into a cloud.

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Spring tulips on the West Side Highway. Chelsea, New York City.

The world opens up in the spring drenching itself in new warmth: heady intoxicating warmth that bubbles up beneath the surface for months before rushing out and over the parched earth.

And as the sun washes away all of the fear that has been buried beneath winter layers, petals open up one by one yawning delicately into the light of a thousand sparks of promise and hope.

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Summer wild flowers along the High Line Park. Chelsea, New York City.

Dissolving and dispersing over the last of the season’s wild flowers, the warm golden hues of late summer sunlight reach straight for the heart. They wrap themselves around memories long forgotten conjuring up bittersweet feelings of nostalgia. They are the hues of early summers spent wishing that time moved faster under the warmth of sunlight making way for the cool chill of autumn.

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Chelsea Market Skybridge (traverse). Chelsea, New York City.

It’s no secret that I am slightly obsessed with skybridges. Known as skyways, traverses, footbridges, air spaces and a host of other terms, the few ornate ones that still exist in New York City inhabit a special place in my heart. There is something about them that seems to recall the early days of the 20th century when New York City was a bustling metropolis steeped in the machine age coping with rapid expansion. I imagine giddy titans of industry dreaming up ways to increase efficiency while sitting around large tables with up and coming architects. I know my thoughts of how these bridges came into being is largely a product of watching far too many movies from the early to mid 20th century though. The reality of the decisions to build these structures was probably far less dramatic.

Recently I posted about the Gimbels Traverse on 32nd Street and the Staple Street skybridge (my all time favorite). This particular photo is of the Chelsea Market skybridge.

The bridge currently connects the building that houses the cavernous Chelsea Market and a building that sits across the way. It originally connected the Nabisco factory and its neighboring office building. The Nabisco bakery, office building and, skybridge as well as the elevated railroad (the High Line) were built between 1890 and the mid 1930s. Some interesting trivia about the original Nabisco factory: in 1912, the Oreo Cookie was first baked here. While Nabisco left the buildings in the mid to late 1950s, all of the structures including the skybridge and the High Line were left intact. *

Source: National Register of Historic Places - Gansevoort Market Historic District

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The Chelsea skyline as seen from the High Line Park. Chelsea, New York City.

I met up with fellow New York City photographer, Leanne Staples, today at the High Line Park in Chelsea. It’s always nice to meet kindred spirits. We had some really great conversation while sitting and then walking along the High Line, took a stroll through Chelsea Market and then made our way through a tiny part of Chelsea before parting ways. It was a lovely way to spend an evening.

This particular photo was taken on the High Line this past weekend. I love the parts of the Chelsea skyline that are visible from the High Line. Tiny tenements stand in the shadow of towering older buildings with ornate architecture which are framed by the more modern architecture that sits directly adjacent to the High Line itself.

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Wild flowers and buildings. High Line Park. Chelsea, New York City.

The wild flowers that line the High Line Park are currently taller and a bit more dominant than they were at the beginning of summer. Earlier blooms that were once lush and brightly colored have given way to a more subdued palette. There are so many things I love about the High Line Park but the way that its natural landscape changes over the course of a year is one of the things I love the most. In many ways, the High Line’s flora and plant life seem to echo the restless spirit of New York City.

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Wild flowers along the High Line. Chelsea, New York City.

I have grown to love less than optimal natural lighting. There is a moodiness evident that doesn’t necessarily always occur when the sun is bright and the sky is clear.

When I took this particular photo, a thick storm cloud obstinately placed itself over the beautiful wild flowers and buildings in the foreground while the sky had just opened up over the buildings in the background revealing the bright late afternoon sun. It was a beautiful visual contrast to witness while standing in the midst of wild flowers staring out at the cityscape in the distance.

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