New York on Film

I’ve been lucky enough to visit New York three times and honestly feel I’ve captured some of my best photographs there. When its identity is already imprinted in your psyche from the countless Hollywood scenes you’ve absorbed since childhood, photographing a city as intense and relentless as New York is a challenging game to play!

With countless neighbourhoods to explore, from the chaotic and bustling streets of Times Square to the artistic vibes of Greenwich Village, each area has its own stories to tell and I find it endlessly inspiring. As an infrequent visitor it’s impossible to feel like you have a grasp of any city, but with camera in hand I’ll never tire of trying to get my head around this one.

In another life I studied architecture at University and my curiosity around buildings has always informed the way I craft a photograph. As a tourist I can’t deny myself the iconic picture of the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty, but as a photographer I love to try and capture the unique layers of an urban environment. These layers tell the story of the city’s past, present and future.

I’m always intrigued by the way inhabitants choose to claim their surroundings and put their own unique stamp on their neighbourhood once the Architects and Town Planners have lost interest. Whether that be with an enormous mural, a work of graffiti or even a row of flower pots on somebody’s window cill, these details together define the spirit of the people in that city. In capturing them in a series you can begin to put together a picture of New York city in that moment.

The challenge comes in combining those quieter images with dynamic street photography which somehow conveys the energy of the place. To become a hunter and record candid, documentary moments of people going about their daily lives is a different ball game altogether. How do you convey the energy of the busy streets with their traffic jams and pedestrian crowds in a single photograph? It’s almost impossible, but fun to try nonetheless!

So you keep your eyes open and you seek what Henri Cartier Bresson would define as “the decisive moment” to push the shutter. You do your best. You take your picture. Then time passes, the world turns and that moment you recorded moves from the present to the past. It can never be recreated, but you have your snapshot; your memory.

Life has changed dramatically since my last visit to New York, with a global pandemic, a house build and two babies thrown into the mix we’ve been very busy (literally!) getting our own house in order. I look back at these photographs and whilst the intention was to try and capture the essence of a foreign city, in a strange way they speak too of a different time in my own life. Exploring and attempting to capture the essence of a new place is play to me and as adults it’s so easy to lose sight of the importance of play. We often don’t feel able to make as much time for it as we would like. Particularly if you’re a Mum… I know you can relate!

For now New York seems very far away, but I know it’s there. And one day I’d love to take my girls out there and see their reactions to this heady whirlwind of a city. I might also take a picture or two, capturing a different moment in the life of this city and the also in life of the photographer.

Well done if you made it this far, I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to look at my work! If you’d like to see more of my travel photography and explore more of this BIG Wide WORLD, check out my Places portfolio.