NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

New York City alley. Lower East Side.

When I was younger, I thought that New York City was teeming with alleys and narrow streets fueled by an over-active imagination and a predilection for film noir cityscapes. I wanted to believe that New York City harbored the best and brightest of in-between places and worn out spaces. The truth is that while New York City does have alleys, they are a pretty rare sight. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to the ones that do exist.

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Lower East Side alley at night. New York City.

I was recently interviewed by the New York City independent press called “great weather for media”. They used the photo in this post for their upcoming anthology called: It’s Animal But Merciful.

The interview is now published on their site. It was the result of an interesting conversation that I had with editor, poet, performer and writer: George Wallace. Here it is:

Through the Lens. An Interview with NYC photographer Vivienne Gucwa

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Walking the dog towards Mill Lane. Financial District, New York City.

I have been thinking a lot about different visions of New York City a lot lately which I wrote about recently in this post about everyone’s different version of New York City in their minds. I had an interesting interview for a project I am being considered for a few weeks ago where I found myself talking about what I try to convey about New York City with my photography and writing.

It was interesting to talk about it face to face (over Skype) rather than write about it because in a sort of stream of consciousness way I had to explain to someone who had never been to New York City how I try to show how I experience New York City on a regular basis via my own views of it colored by falling in love with a combination of streetscapes in classic film noir cinema, futuristic sci-fi city environments in literature and film, and years of traversing New York City on foot.

A few nights ago, I watched a documentary about Woody Allen and there was a segment in it that resonated with me deeply which is no surprise since I am a huge fan of the Annie Hall and Manhattan era Woody Allen films. Martin Scorcese, the director of masterpieces such as: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Gangs of New York talks about Woody Allen’s extreme nostalgia for the present that is evident in Allen’s film Manhattan. He states that for Woody Allen it is as if New York City is constantly alive and continually evolving but Allen’s New York City is an entirely different planet from his own. The documentary switches over to Woody Allen who then states: “I wanted to show New York in a very beautiful way, the way I see it. I never had any interest in showing it except through my rose colored glasses; my romanticized view of it.”

There is definitely a romanticized element that is evident in my photography of New York City. When I walk from my apartment on the Lower East Side through Chinatown and Soho or up through the East Village towards midtown, I am bombarded with memories and desire to capture the fragments of life and architecture that, for me, tug at the visions of New York City I have in my own mind. I hope that one day if and when I have the means to travel I will be able to do the same which each place I explore and experience.

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Rain. Pell Street. Chinatown, New York City.

In-between light creates all its own stories. It’s the light after a long night when the city sleepily shakes off the blanket of darkness and stretches in the first few rays of the waking sun and it’s also the light after a long day when the city unwinds basking in the low light of dusk.

In-between light caught in the steady drizzle of rain is even more enchanting. Tears of laughter, heartache, sorrow and joy fall on the city streets silencing their hungry rumble. Buildings darken one by one as the city blurs softly preparing for its nightly refractory period.

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Doyers Street on a rainy summer afternoon. Chinatown, New York City.

When the sky seduces the city with its tears of happiness, the streets swoon illuminated by the glow of nearby lights.

Broken-hearted alleys fill up: lovers with empty recesses in their hearts soak in the warm afterglow of what the sky has wrought.

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Lower East Side alley. New York City.

In the darkest canals of the city where light seeps through slowly, wanderers emerge bleary-eyed into the sun: birthed explorers carrying darkness into the light.

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There is a solitary aspect to living in such a highly populated city such as New York City.

It’s easier to sink into the shadows.

People pass in stairways and on sidewalks with vigorous abandon : ghosts brushing shoulders in a daily anonymous tango.

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Chinatown on a rainy evening. New York City.

I used to imagine that I could stop time in tiny increments by blinking my eyes. Each blink had the potential to open up an entirely new narrative and universe. It wasn’t until I fell in love with photography that I realized that every photo also opens up an entirely new narrative and universe of possibility.

On evenings when rain washes over the city each moment becomes a solitary frame broken ever so slightly by the movement of umbrellas, the blink of an eye and the click of a camera.

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If you didn’t see my initial contest entry post for the current Artists Wanted photography contest, you can still help me out by going to my contest entry page and clicking collect me

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Buy “The Gleam in the Eye of the Clouds - Chinatown - New York City” Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Doyers Street. Chinatown, New York City.

Out of the way streets tell a wealth of tales. The bright afternoon sun beats down on old decaying walls and fire escapes creating elongated shadows that seem to stretch indefinitely. If the well-worn awnings could talk, just think of the secrets they would reveal.

This particular photo is of Doyers Street, one of my favorite out of the way streets. It is a winding street that curves around and is tucked away from its hectic surroundings. The street is only about 200 feet long and runs from Pell Street to Chatham Square. It’s home to very old tenements and long-standing businesses like The Nom Wah Tea Parlor which opened in 1927.

In the early 20th century the curve in the street was known as “the Bloody Angle” because of a plethora of violent acts carried out by Chinatown gangs. The expression ‘hatchet man’ is said to have come from this era and these violent acts which often included hatchets. While the street is not bloody or violent today, it’s worth a visit to soak in the history, vibe and incredible scenery.

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I wanted to thank those who helped me out this past weekend with the Artists Wanted contest. The response warmed my heart. I used to be phobic and against contests for various reasons but I am realizing that I need to put my photography out there in different ways and I can’t let failure or fear of failure prevent me from doing that.

For those who didn’t see my post, you can still help me out by going to my contest entry page and clicking COLLECT ME

Thanks, once again. I have so many dreams that I hope can take flight with my photography and it really makes me emotional when I think of the supportive friends I have made along the way in various online communities who inspire me in so many ways.

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Buy “Wealth of Tales - Doyers Street - Chinatown - New York City” Posters and Prints here, email me, or ask for help.

Staple Street alley skybridge at twilight. Tribeca, New York City

I have favorite streets. They haunt me in all the best ways. They represent the New York City in my mind. Everyone seems to have a different version of New York City in their mind. My version was formed early on, a result of falling in love with a combination of streetscapes in classic cinema, futuristic sci-fi city environments in literature and film, and years of traversing New York City on foot.

These streets tug at memories I haven’t made yet while yanking memories I treasure from the deep recesses of my mind. This is one of those streets. It’s Staple Street in Tribeca. A tiny alley-like street, it contains one of the most fascinating pedestrian bridges (also known as a skyway, traverse, skywalk and a host of other terms) I have ever seen in New York City.

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Some history about this street: “In 1894, New York Hospital built the House of Relief, a downtown clinic, on Jay from Hudson to Staple, with an ambulance entrance facing Staple. In that year The New York Herald noted that the hospital was sending its ambulance out as often as seven times a day, sometimes on emergencies involving sunstroke, ”which so often occurs in the lower part of the city,” perhaps because of the large number of men working outdoors on the docks.

In 1907 the hospital built an annex across Staple Street (replacing the saloon/row house at Jay and Staple) as a stable and laundry, connecting it at the third-floor level using a pedestrian bridge. Although Staple Street was then just an industrial alley, the hospital had the architects Robertson & Potter design a handsome little building with a terra cotta plaque bearing the ”NYH” monogram on the Staple Street side. The monogram is still there.” - from “Streetscapes: Staple Street in TriBeCa” New York Times By Christopher Gray, February 2001

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Pell Street, Chinatown in the rain. New York City.

Under the weight of the sky’s tears streets glisten reflecting the gleam in the eye of the clouds overhead. The day washes away slowly: its sorrows and joys melt into puddles under-foot.

It’s on these sorts of evenings that all of the cares in the world pale in comparison to the momentary haze that engulfs the city: a sultry, sorrowful, sedate embrace.

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Freeman Alley on a bitterly cold night. Lower East Side, New York City.

The winter gives New York City a more clearly defined edge. It’s an edge that can be found off the beaten path during nights when the windchill dips into the negative. The lights flicker like icy cold stars leading the way down alleys and streets not well traversed late at night.

Monotonous rushes of wind rhythmically pulse through these stark pathways lined by the frozen tears of winter that cling desperately to the ground and in the distance the warm glow of a distant sun penetrates winter’s frigid grasp.

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Financial District, Manhattan.