NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

The Flatiron Building and Fifth Avenue Building Clock. Midtown.

I have always loved the ornate clocks that line 5th Avenue, especially the Fifth Avenue Building Block that has a prime destination near the Flatiron Building. At 19 feet high, the cast-iron clock was installed in 1909 and was crafted by a Brooklyn Iron Works company. It’s a type of clock that was introduced in the 1860s. They were popular with business owners who wanted to attract extra attention and also served a functional purpose as time-telling pieces in a busy area of Manhattan.

The juxtaposition between the Flatiron Building, one of New York City’s iconic skyscrapers and this cast-iron clock has always put a smile on my face. The Flatiron Building, which was completed in 1902 is also a landmark in Manhattan. Its name is in reference to its resemblance to a cast-iron clothes iron.

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The Chrysler Building. New York City.

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And out of the earth rose the monoliths: giant world pillars rising up to greet the sun and sky.

As the sun kissed their spires with its luminous glow, the shadows embraced the streets below.

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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 Empire State Building and the buildings of historic Little Italy. New York City.

One of my favorite views of the Empire State Building is from a vantage point in lower Manhattan. My breath is momentarily taken away every time I come across the Empire State Building’s spire jutting out in the distance framed by the Little Italy’s architecture.

Little Italy is a small area in downtown Manhattan. Currently inhabiting a tiny section of Mulberry Street between Broome and Canal Streets the area recalls a rich history of immigration. Many late 19th century and early 20th century tenements still line the streets and what is left of the area emanates a tremendous amount of history.

Immigrants from Italy first settled in the neighborhood called Five Points in the 1850s, finally spreading north into what is now referred to as Little Italy in the 1880s. The Five Points neighborhood was New York’s original and most notorious slum. Located a few blocks below Canal at Baxter Street the neighborhood teemed with gangs, prostitutes, and criminals. A target for reformers of all stripes and an embarrassment to civic planners, the dark and airless tenements of the Five Points were finally demolished in an early urban renewal effort and in their place rose newer buildings which still stand today (and can be seen in this photo). Little Italy has lately been colonized by Chinatown in its southern parts and its northern reaches now host upscale boutiques, bars and restaurants. The remnants of the original Little Italy can be found around Mulberry Street and Mott Street.

Some interesting film trivia: key scenes from The Godfather were filmed in Little Italy. These include the christening scene, in which Coppola’s family members acted as extras, and the set representing the interior of the Genco Olive Oil company, which was built on the fourth floor of an old loft building at 128 Mott Street, at the corner of Hester Street.

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The Chrysler Building. Midtown, New York City.

If you are fortunate enough to look up at exactly the right time, you can catch the sun dancing along the top of the Chrysler Building.

As the sun glides across the iconic spire, it leaves glimmering trails: shimmering footsteps connecting the sky to the city.

The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture. Designed by architect William Van Alen for a project of Walter P. Chrysler, it was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid 1950’s. Even though the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it.

Upon its completion on May 20, 1930, the added height of the spire allowed the Chrysler Building to surpass 40 Wall Street as the tallest building in the world and the Eiffel Tower as the tallest structure. It was the first man-made structure to stand taller than 1,000 feet.

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Cobble Hill brownstones on a cloudy day. Brooklyn, New York City.

I had severe brownstone envy when I was younger. Growing up in Queens (another borough of New York City), I visited Brooklyn frequently and the brownstones found in Brooklyn tugged at my heart. Their ornate doorways were flanked by enormous and extravagant stairways and every window seemed to be a frame encapsulating an enticing painting.

There wasn’t anything that came close to these beautiful works of architecture where I grew up in Queens. Watching the Cosby Show fueled my envy of course. I had no idea at the time that the exterior shots of the Cosby’s brownstone were shot in Greenwich Village and not in Brooklyn Heights where the Cosby’s fictional residence was located (why they did this is beyond me since Brooklyn Heights has some of the most beautiful brownstones).

All I knew was that these masterpieces of architecture just seemed more ‘New York City’ than any of the buildings I grew up surrounded by.

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Spring tulips and blossoms on Park Avenue. Upper East Side, New York City.

There is nothing quite like spring on Park Avenue in upper Manhattan. The gorgeous, ornate architecture is adorned by beautiful spring blossoms.

Park Avenue is one of the wider avenues on the Upper East Side and has a center divider that showcase trees and flowers. In the spring, rows and rows of yellow tulips bloom at once catching the sunlight with their effervescent petals while the trees on either side of the avenue and in the center area feature pink, yellow, white and light green blossoms.

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The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Upper East Side. New York City.

Sometimes the simplicity of a scene is enough to render one speechless before realizing that the perceived simplicity is complex in its own right.

The curves of architecture suggesting a softness usually relegated to flesh against a bone white sky, for example.

The architectural design in this photo is the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and is the top of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Wright was commissioned to design a space for the museum in 1943 and the project took well over a decade to complete. He apparently was disappointed in the choice of New York City as the home of the building as he thought that New York City was overbuilt and overpopulated. However, he complied with the wishes of the client and the Guggenheim was set to be built next to Central Park as possible to keep it as close to nature as possible. It is located on the Upper East Side on 5th Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets across from Central Park.

According to the Guggenheim’s site: “Nature not only provided the museum with a respite from New York’s distractions but also leant it inspiration. The Guggenheim Museum is an embodiment of Wright’s attempts to render the inherent plasticity of organic forms in architecture.

His inverted ziggurat (a stepped or winding pyramidal temple of Babylonian origin) dispensed with the conventional approach to museum design, which led visitors through a series of interconnected rooms and forced them to retrace their steps when exiting. Instead, Wright whisked people to the top of the building via elevator, and led them downward at a leisurely pace on the gentle slope of a continuous ramp. The galleries were divided like the membranes in citrus fruit, with self-contained yet interdependent sections. The open rotunda afforded viewers the unique possibility of seeing several bays of work on different levels simultaneously. The spiral design recalled a nautilus shell, with continuous spaces flowing freely one into another.”

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Glass skyscraper reflecting a beautiful blue sky and clouds. Tribeca,New York City.

For all my complaints about glass buildings rising in the place of other more ornate and classic works of architecture, I will say that if you find yourself looking up at the newer glass buildings on a beautiful day, the views are beautiful. Blue skies and clouds pour onto the glass like a liquid dream emulsion.

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The New York City skyline featuring the skyscrapers of midtown. New York City.

I went to my first photowalk yesterday evening. A large group of around 20 (25?) photographers from Google + got together to walk around Greenwich Village with their cameras. It was a really interesting experience and I ended up meeting a few people I only ever interacted with online prior to the walk. The majority of the photographers were street photographers. Street photography (for those who don’t know) is a type of documentary photography that tends to feature subjects in candid situations within public settings. It’s not the type of photography I generally gravitate towards (although I have posted a few shots that could fall into that realm).

However, what was interesting was that in talking to several of the other photographers, I found that I had a lot of trouble categorizing my own photography. I initially started out by saying that I ‘do urban landscapes and some natural landscapes around New York City’ but that seemed so vague when I actually said it in conversation! In other conversations, I started to try to explain that I take ‘emotive urban’ photography which just ended up sounding incredibly pretentious. I also mentioned that I tend to link writing with photography which ended up being more confusing than anything. In actuality, it was quite amusing that I had so much trouble explaining just what it is I ‘do’. It’s a strange predicament to be in, for sure.

I was initially going to write quite a bit of prose to accompany this photo about how the city encompasses the individual leading the individual to seek to rise above the city and some other meandering thoughts about the greater concept of the city in relation to the lone individual. However, the photo discussions from last night have been foremost in my mind.

It’s sometimes difficult to explain how we focus our passions into tangible form. It could be the reason why humans developed music and art and other creative forms. These forms that exist alongside and sometimes outside of written and spoken language seek to make sense of what often can’t be explained with mere words.

When I was younger, I used to imagine what a world without written or spoken language would be like. If there were no words to express the complexities and beauty that surrounds us, what would we use to reel in the (often beautiful) chaos?

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I still need to go through the very few photos that I did take on the walk (and maybe share the photos I ended up in as well). I find that when I go out to shoot with people, I am more focused on observing without capturing. I look forward to more walks and more chances to figure out how to put into words that which I can’t quite find the words for.

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The Chrysler Building and the Socony Mobil Building. Midtown, New York City

Touching the sky and brushing against clouds, the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan rise up like enormous man-made stalagmites. Shadows cast themselves on these giant structures while sunlight streams over the tops connecting the sky with the earth.

The Socony Mobil Building (in the foreground) is composed of approximately 750,000 pounds of stainless steel which is pleated to enable the wind and rain to keep it clean. It was built in the mid 1950s and the developers of the building had deep connections with the United States Steel Corporation who were keen on promoting steel as an alternative to aluminum. However, steel proved to be a very expensive alternative and stainless steel never quite caught on as a popular wall material for large structures.

The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture. It was designed by architect William Van Alen for a project of Walter P. Chrysler and was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid 1950’s. Even though the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it. Upon completion, May 20, 1930, the added height of the spire allowed the Chrysler Building to surpass 40 Wall Street as the tallest building in the world and the Eiffel Tower as the tallest structure. It was the first man-made structure to stand taller than 1,000 feet. Source

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Broadway buildings in the sun. Soho, New York City.

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It’s an absolutely gorgeous sunny day here in New York City today. It’s not humid, it’s not oppressively hot and the sun is out in full force! New York City can get extremely hot and humid in the summer, particularly during August, so when the weather is this beautiful, it’s the best to take full advantage of it.

Looking out onto the Two Bridges neighborhood from the Manhattan Bridge. Chinatown, New York City.

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This is one of my favorite views of Chinatown. A girl sits on one of the rooftops eating a bowl of food in the upper right hand corner of this photo (you can view the photo in larger detail here: On 500px). The Municipal Building sits in the distance.

This particular spot is a Chinatown neighborhood known as ‘Two Bridges’. Two Bridges sits along the East River and has long been a dwelling spot for many different immigrant communities over the years. It sits alongside the infamous and historic Five Points area where Irish, Jewish and Italian gangs battled to the death in the mid-19th century. It is currently home to a large community of Chinese immigrants and many of the buildings are tenements dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

240 Centre Street. Police Building Apartments. Soho/Nolita, New York City.

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I love this building so much. It was built in 1909 and the dome is made entirely out of copper. The building is known as ‘Police Building Apartments’ which pays homage to its history:

“240 Centre Street, formerly the New York City Police Headquarters building, between Broome and Grand Streets in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1905-1909, and was designed by the firm of Hoppin & Koen. It housed the headquarters of the New York City Police Department from 1909 to 1973, and was converted into luxury condominiums in 1988 by the firm of Ehrenkranz Group & Eckstut. It is now known as the Police Building Apartments.”Source

‘New York by Gehry’ at 8 Spruce Street and the new Financial District New York City skyline. View from Chinatown, New York City.

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The skyscraper formerly known as the Beekman Tower by Frank Gehry which graces this skyline shot taken from Chinatown overlooking the Financial District is one of my favorite newer skyscrapers. It is the tallest residential skyscraper in the Western hemisphere and it recently went through a name change.

It is now known as New York by Gehry incorporating the name of the architect. I have seen it referred to as New York by Gehry at 8 Spruce Street as well. Either way, it’s an intriguing addition to the skyline and a nice new companion for it’s neighboring buildings :).

A view looking down at the streets below as seen from the top of Rockefeller Center. Midtown, New York City.

From 70 stories above the taxi cabs look like toy cars.

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