Styling Portrait in Time Square
It was challenging for me at first but I dare you to visit a prominent place in your town with intentions to photograph but avoid the urge to capture sights that anyone would already anticipate you bringing back.
I’ve walked around Time Square on more occasions that I can recall and the inherent excitement which once existed for visiting touristy places like this as a photographer was no longer appealing to me. There was now a lack of interest on my part to recreate and contribute to the growing postcard-like images we’ve all seen before. For that very reason, I sort of discontinued visiting Time Square and any distinguished landmark you can think of that we have here in New York.
On this particular visit, I really didn’t have much time to roam freely as I would normally do when doing street photography but I knew I didn’t want to leave this bustling place without a portrait of someone. Eventually it was Cheng’s unique sense of fashion that drew my attention all the way from his clothes to his camera of choice (Panasonic Lumix GF-1). He was visiting New York with his father from China. After a quick conversation about appreciating his style, he was more than willing to agree to allow me to take a portrait when I asked him. We exchanged emails so I could send him a copy of the final shot and the rest is history. I’m more likely to remember this visit to Time Square than the countless others I’ve made.
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Roosevelt Island Tram
Visiting Roosevelt Island in New York doesn’t require a special boat to get to it. In fact, you can arrive there either by train or by the most popular way which is the Roosevelt Island Tramway. I don’t think it’s a place many tourist visit and although there’s not much to look around other than expensive-to-live-in high-rise buildings, most people venture over just to ride the tram itself since the 8 minute journey over offers a rather unique view of Manhattan.
If the reports about the tram having experienced a couple technical difficulties in the past scares you, you can opt to take the lengthy walk over the Queensboro bridge to get into Manhattan instead.
I received an email from a reader requesting that I make this photograph available as a print. Photo was taken as I walked over the Queensboro Bridge and in the distance you can get a sense of the space between the 2 islands.
For the price of a MetroCard swipe you can go out to Roosevelt Island, walk around and read up on the history of the place. The reason the location ever interest me in the first place was because it was the focal area for the remake film of Dark Water which portrayed Roosevelt Island as a creepy place which it totally isn’t.
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Returning a Print
As a security guard, it’s fair to assume Ponce sees a large amount of people in one given day and so figured the only way he would recognize me when I walked into the store he works in was if I held the 8x10 print of him close to my chest that I had promised I would bring back.
His facial expression alone portrayed how surprised and incredulous he was of my promise. A lot of times when I take candid portraits of people on street and they’ve actually noticed me, I offer to email them a copy but Ponce was adamant and unashamed to admit he knew nothing about working a computer let alone sending emails. All he carried with him in his pocket was a pre-paid cell phone that he loaded twice a month to keep in contact with his wife and love ones. Despite his decline to fully embrace technology other than his cell phone, Ponce was really pleased with this portrait I had taken of him, so wanted to make sure I took the time to come back and hand him something that was rightfully his in the first place.
I don’t recall ever doing anything like this before mostly because I rarely took the time to interact with my subjects in the past. I’ve always adhered to the conventional act of “shooting and moving” as most street photographers do but just recently have I started to stop and engage more with the people that have been thoughtful enough to listen to me.
I doubt Ponce will ever come across this short post online because he doesn’t own a computer but even if he did, I made sure to personally thank him for his time and sharing the comical stories of what it’s like living and working in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
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Skater Boy
In the realm of photography, I’m well aware that the term “passionate” gets tossed around a lot very generously. I make use of it more than I would like to admit myself but when it comes to documenting people who for the lack of a better word are “passionately” involved in doing something they love, that’s one of the finest feelings.
Whether you have the opportunity to spend a long period of time with that person or simply a brief moment, the likelihood that in either occasion you’ll catch a vivid glimpse of that person’s personality is pretty high. I’m absolutely terrible with recalling names so I’m ashamed to say that I can’t properly attribute this photograph with who’s in it but I can tell you that I captured a side of him that will always remind me what he loves doing.
If I tried hard enough to obtain his name, I’m don’t think that’ll be a problem since I think stumbling across him at Maria Hernandez park in Bushwick is where I would mostly likely find him again.
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Average Saturday Morning
Aside from the image quality and megapixel incentive that comes with shooting with a full-frame camera, getting adjusted to not having the magnification bonus of 1.5 that I once had with the Nikon D90 has been unusual to say the least. I guess the ability to not having been able to see the full potential of a 50mm lens had been normal.
Using a crop-sensor camera has been the equivalent of cropping a photo before it’s even been taken and I had been told this before but I failed to fully experience it until now. Prior to upgrading to the 5DMII, I had never looked through the viewfinder of a full-frame camera and it was one of the those experiences that you’re best not going through because you’ll never want to got back.
As for the photograph of this perfect stranger, I managed to capture it as Vanessa and I took our usual early morning ride into Chinatown in Flushing on weekends to do all our grocery shopping mostly because it’s considerably cheaper than anywhere else around our neighborhood. As I had mentioned before to someone, I don’t feel any different photographing with a 5DMII because the challenge of capturing something worthwhile is still there.
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Craftsmanship at 5Pointz
Much has been written about this five-story and mostly vacant warehouse located in Long Island City, Queens. This outdoor graffiti exhibition is known as 5Pointz and it spans an entire city block where after having some of your best work reviewed and approved by the owner, it’s given artist from all around the world the opportunity to choose a spot around the facade of building and express themselves with spray cans as long as there’s no pornography, explicit language or inflammatory politics involved.
I had seen photographs of 5Pointz online but had never made the time drive out and appreciate up in person street art that unquestionably has more craftsmanship than any other illegal vandalism we’ve all seen anywhere else and I think it’s the case because in a setting like this, you’re actually granted the time to perfect your craft and artwork since nothing is being created unauthorized.
In addition to the stunning artwork, what compelled me even more to visit was having read an article which talked about a proposal that had been submitted who’s aim is to replace this graffiti mecca with two high-rise towers which sounded beyond insane. Jonathan Cohen, better known as Meres, the curator of 5Pointz used an analogy that I believe suits perfectly - “If it were to happen, it would be no different than tearing down the MOMA or the Guggenheim.”
I knew all of this before arriving and yet the moment I began chatting with some of the artist, I completely forgot to ask for their take on the matter. As far as photographing and filming, there’s clear signs around the building prohibiting it which was initially a huge disappointment but after inquiring about it, the owner commented on how the prohibition alludes more to full-blown elaborate setups rather than the casual visitors stoping by to take with them a piece of this landmark.
The most fascinating portion of my visit was seeing how sociable every single artist I approach was, especially Eli who took roughly 30 minutes away from working on his project in order to give me glimpse of much bigger ventures he has underway. He didn’t just describe himself as a street artist but more as brand and the amount of high-end clients he’s collaborated with in the span of 5 years was beyond impressive. He was gracious enough to show me his portfolio from the back of his van. Doesn’t get any more raw and real than that.
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