Check out images of my recent visit to New York City by clicking here.
Pedestrians walk along Brooklyn Bridge:
The coffee shop made famous by Seinfeld:
Catching some zzzzzzzzz's on the C-line:
Manhattan parking:
Peekaboo on the Highline:
Procession of Ghouls
On October 26, I made my way to Harlem to witness the 2012 Halloween Extravaganza and Procession of Ghouls at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (the 4th largest Christian church in the world). It began with a screening of Nosferatu set to a soundtrack from a live organist and proceeded into some of the creepiest costumes I have ever seen. It was awesome!
Hurricane Sandy, Part II
I've never experienced a hurricane before. I was stranded in Denver two years ago after a tornado formed at the airport. I was all shook up by a mild earthquake while in Japan in 2009. But a hurricane is its own entity; there is a weird, slow anticipation to its arrival. The days prior to Sandy hitting shore, the newscasts kept talking about how they expected it to be the "storm of the century" and that we were all doomed. I took this with a grain of salt, as Americans aren't known for their subletly. Of course they were going to hype everything up to be bigger, faster, more!!! This instance, they were correct though. I just personally see the destruction in my immediate area of Flushing, Queens (which wasn't that hard hit), but watching the news paints a very sad, dismal picture of the broader tri-state region.
The wind started to pick up at around 5:00pm local time on Monday. Within an hour - and sustained for several - it was beyond gale force at over 90 MILES per hour in some areas. I was sitting on my hotel room bed, watching live news reports of what was happening outside, and started to become scared that my window was going to burst open. Roughly every 30 seconds or so, a wind so strong would pound down on it and I could feel it come through the walls and actually shake my mattress as I was sitting on it. That was all I needed to spend the evening on the bathroom floor. I didn't get any sleep but it eased my mind somewhat. I kept the television on for company and they started reporting on a massive fire somewhere else in Queens...I could hear sirens faintly taking off in the night in the distance. It was a long night.
I ventured out the next morning to see the aftermath:
This wind-bent sign was directly outside my hotel:
Bottom level of a Target store a few blocks away was flooded:
Hurricane Sandy
I was slated to return to Canada on Sunday, October 28. Heading to the airport, I observed that the weather wasn't too bad and that flights were still soaring off into the skies. I was confident that I would be watching reports of Hurricane Sandy from home on my couch in my Snuggie the next day. However, at approximately 2:00pm, I was informed that my flight was cancelled. I asked to be put on stand-by (which never happened) and was handed a sheet by Air Canada with hotels in the area:
Love the giant "F*$# You" in Sharpie.
But more problematic after I received this, was that none of the phone numbers actually worked. The only message I received was that the numbers were not in service. The Air Canada reservations line redirected me to use their website; they must really hate human-to-human commuication, eh? I've never been to New York before, had no idea what was near LaGuardia airport (I barely knew north from south) and had an impending SuperStorm™ to worry about. After talking to a non-Air Canada airport employee, I started phoning other hotels in the general area and finally found one in Flushing, Queens that had a room available.
By the time I got to the hotel, all of the restaurants in the immediate area were closing. People who know me, know I LOVE Target and now I can say it is honestly my salvation as it was the only thing open where I could get food for the next few days. Shelves were nearly picked clean with people in a frenzy to stock up with last minute supplies. I stockpiled fruit, yogurt, water, chips and Hostess cakes. Didn't say it was all healthy food, it was what was available. And I actually like Hostess cakes.
I hunkered down for the evening, waiting for Sandy's full impact to hit the next evening.
...to be continued.
David LaChapelle at PDN Photoplus:
I was* in New York City to attend the 2012 PhotoPLUS Conference and Expo. It was a great event that provided me much needed insight on the technical aspects of photography, but also offered a score of inspiration from such world-renowned visual artists as Art Streiber and one of my favorites, David LaChapelle, deliverer of the keynote "Art or Artless":
If you don't know who David is, he's the one all the hipsters are taking a picture of.
We all have pre-conceived notions of people in the public eye. I always believed David to be somewhat of a punk auteur, relishing controversy and the subsequent public furore that results from it. But in listening to him speak, and he seems quite soft-spoken and humble, I now view him as someone with a different way of viewing things who simply wants to share his vision with the world. Make society question things, rather than blindly accept them.
Art is not speech, it is conversation.
To view David's work, click here.
*I was supposed to be home by now, but am stranded in New York because of Hurricane Sandy.
NYC Day 3: From Times Square to Ground Zero
Today I explored the city at ground level, walking over 10km from Times Square to the former World Trade Centre site. It's amazing to me how every neighborhood here has its own flavour...its own visual identity and vibe. So far, my favorite area has to be Soho as the architecture represented is what I most associate with New York City. Grimey and artsy - it's also home to the "world's largest graphic design store". Cool.
The Flatiron Building:
Hospitality in Greenwich Village:
Soho:
Brooklyn Bridge:
American Stock Exchange:
View of Lady Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry:
9/11 Memorial for Fallen Firefighters:
Art in downtown Manhattan:
NYC Day 2: Rockefeller Centre
Spent the day moving on up through the Upper East Side and then sidetracked through Central Park to see the spot every Beatles fan needs to pay respect to: the Dakota and Strawberry Fields. Walking through Manhattan reminds me of being in the Rockies, the shadows of concrete and steel giants leaving a dramatic, sometimes foreboding, cast on all of the action below.
The lighting was perfect at Rockefeller Centre though, where I got another tourist to snap my pic:
And then watched a scene for '30 Rock' being filmed:
I'll pretend Jane Krakowski is waving at me, but there were literally hundreds of people around me:
NYC Day 1: Times Square
I am in New York City this week to attend the 2012 PhotoPLUS Conference and Expo. And what better way to get in the spirit of the event than to take a ton of pictures of the city that never sleeps (not sure I'm going to either, as this place is AMAZING!). My hotel is quite near Times Square, so I spent the remains of a really, really long day immersed in the neon safari that is Times Square and enjoying a classic slice of NY pepperoni pie.
View of Manhattan upon landing at LaGaurdia:
Subway station near Times Square:
The non-stop hustle and bustle of Times Square:
BFFs Smurfette and Minnie Mouse hold hands in the neon safari of Times Square:
