NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

New York City skyscrapers and streets from above. Midtown.

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When you find yourself above New York City (or perhaps any city), what really stands out are all of the layers of activity. It’s hard to completely grasp the layers when you are among them everyday. But when you change your perspective, it really shifts your understanding of the complexities of urban life.

This is a view of the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge (also known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, 59th Street Bridge, and Queens Bridge) and the skyscrapers of the New York City skyline in midtown Manhattan close to 59th Street on the east side. It was taken with the Sony A99 from the vantage point of the Roosevelt Island Tram, a tram that crosses over the East River from midtown Manhattan to Roosevelt Island a around 100 times a day.

Aside from the cross-section of a part of the midtown Manhattan skyline, you can also make out the pedestrian walkway of the bridge which runs alongside the busy traffic-laden vehicular section of the bridge. Above the traffic and pedestrians is the beginnings of the grand architecture that makes up the bridge itself and midtown streets and traffic snake their way through the city below the bridge.

The variety of architecture in this area of midtown is also striking when viewed from above. The lower-slung buildings sit alongside newer skyscrapers of varying heights and structure. It would be interesting to take this section and label each building according to its completion date to note the ever-evolving skyline throughout the years in relation to the bridge.

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New York City skyline and Chrysler Building - view from Roosevelt Island

My recent foray into experimenting with long exposures has been blossoming into a zen journey. I am a solitary shooter by preference. While I thrive on being around people, when I am shooting it’s an almost spiritual experience that I enjoy only when I am alone. The world tends to melt away and my thoughts evaporate into whatever it is I am shooting. I am not sure if it is because my mind runs at around 1000 miles per hour normally and resembles a rushing waterfall of activity that I seek out these types of experiences where I can calm the mental flow into a gentle stream of thoughts but I am finding long exposures to be an absolutely blissful experience.

This is the result of a 20 second exposure taken late last week from Roosevelt Island with the Sony A99. I have been shooting skylines for the past month for a secret project that I can’t talk about until later this month and it’s been interesting viewing the skyline from different vantage points throughout the boroughs. Roosevelt Island is a tiny island that sits in the East River overlooking the Upper East Side and midtown Manhattan. The Chrysler Building is a beacon of white, sparkling lights in a sea of skyscrapers lit by the yellow glow of the lights on the FDR Drive. It’s a rather calm place to visit at this time of year since it’s not quite warm enough for people to take full advantage of the promenade that runs parallel to this amazing view.

The night tends to fall quietly over the lights of Manhattan when viewing the skyline from this vantage point. The only sounds that are prominent are the sound of waves lapping up against the sides of the promenade as the rare boat speeds by. I find it endlessly fascinating how a long exposure can calm even those sounds down visually - smoothing out the water’s surface until the lights seem to melt into the water like liquid stars in a watery universe.

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New York City. The skyline at sunset. Financial District.

New York City is magical
during the pause between night and day
when the sun dips behind the skyline
shining its light out through the twinkling eyes of the buildings.
This time of day is when
dreams roll off the tongue,
with a slow-motion exhale
at the end of a word
in a phrase
that trails off
without end.

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Winter in New York City isn’t the friendliest especially near the water when the wind-chills dip into the single digits and the wind whips across the waves. This is the result of a 30 second long exposure taken last night with the Sony a99 after a long-walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. The view is of the skyscrapers of the Financial District in lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty can be seen fading into the sun-streaked horizon. I have always loved the way the skyscrapers in this view just sort of abruptly break up the more open view on the left.

I love the moments just after sunset. The sky sinks into a momentary pause before the night sky pulls itself over the city. When everything is devoid of color on cloudy days, the tiny bits of color during these moments that come from the lights in the skyscrapers and the color that streaks across the bone-chilled-grey sky reach right into the heart.

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Train station in black and white. York Street Station. Dumbo. Brooklyn, New York City.

We wait.

We wait for the city to move beneath our feet.

We wait for the universe to rise up from under the weight of our own gravitas; the movement of our world spinning on its axis.

And while we wait, the plaster crumbles, the paint peels, the train tracks rust; all suspended in their own decay like flies in amber.

We wait because it’s the only way to slow down as time pushes us forward further and further into the vast expanse of eternity.

We wait for the train to come.

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Photography found me a few years ago and I found, in turn, that photography and writing are two of my biggest passions in this world. Nothing makes me happier than the process of sharing that beauty and diversity with the rest of the world.

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