The Blog

NYC in 27 days: Last post!

The reason why I started this photography project was because my family and I had 27 days left in the city. It was not meant to show every bit of NYC. For that, there are thousands of online guides that take you to the all the landmarks and wonderful restaurants and list all the things tourists can do. It was more of a personal project because I just needed closure with this huge city before moving to our new place. And I think I deal with closure through photography. It feels that I take something with me in every picture.

New YorK, New York, a place that I always wanted to live in, but just after accomplishing that dream, I was leaving already! So soon! When you move so often, like I have in my life lately, especially if you move to such different places with such diverse cultures, you end up connecting to all these places in a really special way. It is like they become part of you somehow. I lived in Venezuela, Palm Beach-Florida, Madrid, New York and now I plan to settle in San Diego, California. There is something in me from every one of these five places. Some of them don’t feel like home anymore and some will always be HOME.

These are some random pictures that I didn’t share in other posts of these series. I ended up leaving the city on June 24th instead of the 27th, three days earlier. Just like my “NYC in 27 days” project was incomplete, so it’s my life in NYC. I hope to move back one day. Who knows! Maybe I’ll never go back or maybe I’ll settle there when I retire. In the meantime, I’ll keep shooting wherever I go. It will never feel like shooting in the streets of New York though.

NYC in 27 days: Weegee Photography Walk

I still have so many pictures to share of NYC! My school, the International Center of Photography, organized a “Weegee Walk” in what is now the Bowery, Little Italy and Nolita area of Manhattan.

Weegee, who’s real name was Arthur Fellig, was a great NYC crime photographer in the 1930’s and 40’s. He managed to show up in many crime scenes even before the police and took many graphic and intriguing pictures of these crimes. It is said that he even made himself a darkroom in the back of his car. So fascinating to learn about this photographer! We visited his former studio, the places he used to hang out at and the locations of some of his most famous photographs. Just like walking his footsteps!

You can see in the pictures how the school brought people dressed up and a real 1930’s 4×5 Speed Graphic camera -like the one Weegee used – to replicate some of these pictures.

NYC in 27 days: Photographing strangers!

June 13-14. Photographing strangers. There are so many people out in the streets of Manhattan that everyone can blend in. You can easily photograph people walking by without disrupting them. Everyone is rushing and going somewhere. The opposite of the feeling in Europe where, in the streets, you see lots of people just chilling and talking while enjoying a cup of coffee, a beer or a glass of wine. Here is completely non-stop! The city that never sleeps. People from everywhere! Between shadows and reflections I tried to capture some of them!

NYC in 27 days: Spanish Harlem “El Barrio”

NYC in 27 days: Rooftop memories!

June 11. Rooftop views from the Upper East Side. It was a really hazy day. Visibility was down to 50% but regardless of any weather situation, a rooftop view in NYC is always worthy. There is something so timeless about them! I wish I could live in a 40th something floor with a view of Central Park and the Chrysler building. I would just sit there and stare while having coffee in the mornings or a glass of wine on any given day.
The more I know the City, the more it becomes a part of me!

NYC in 27 days: Union Square

June 10. Union Square. There is something so authentic and genuine about street markets. Everything so fresh, so colorful, all the local gems! Such a lovely setting right there in the middle of the hustle of Manhattan! This is exactly what I love about this city, that it can be one thousand things at the same time. 27 days will never be enough to get to know (and eat) all of it. This is the “Union Square Greenmarket” on a Wednesday! Enjoy the colors!