New York Faces

People pictures. Why do we take them? To capture the moment of course. A 60th of a second pinpoints a memory. Last week I posted images of New York cityscapes. This week NY figures and faces. New memories.

Face of NY

I know they’re just snappy snaps, moments when the family indulges me and my camera, or doesn’t notice that I’m pointing it in their direction, again.

the wannabe actress

all round dude, who’s stolen my hat, again…

happy grandparents

for once, I’m in this one – feels strange….!

tourists in NYC

I did try to do some abstracty shots of the real locals – but to do this sort of photography justice takes time and patience, and works better when the rest of the family isn’t groaning in impatience when I pull out the camera…

Bubble man

shoppers in the apple store

New York Face

New York Figures

NY hot lips, I just couldn’t resist…

I was here as a kid, 35 years ago with my parents. We did the same things, we climbed the towers to look at the views. Powerful memories that mean much to me. There are some photos, but not many. Film photography didn’t lend itself to the ubiquitous click click of the modern age. In effect there are more memories being created now than ever before. The kids aren’t bothered about these shots now, but maybe they will be in 35 years from now….

What a view!

Lucky kids, admiring the view

Rockefeller Centre – while they do this, we drink cocktails!

New York dudette

So here’s to the modern photographic process and its ability to make memories. On the whole, it’s gotta be a good thing!

New York Mama

If you liked this post, check out: New York, no bruised Apple here… or the other US posts – click on the archive on the right hand side. Enjoy!

New York – no bruised Apple here…

November ’12: Mrs P was all set to run the New York marathon. So it felt only right that we should all get on a plane and go and support her. After all, that’s what families do…. – that’s our excuse anyway, so off we went to the Big Apple. Hurray!

Manhattan skyline

However, Hurricane Sandy had other ideas about 15,000 x 26 milers, and got in the week before the race to smack the city black and blue.

Limp crane

don’t look up…

New Jersey devastation

but blimey, it’s still a good looking cityscape!

The mayor couldn’t make up his mind: first the race was still on, then finally it was off. The right decision too – far too many people still without power to divert all that manpower into directing a race. But Mrs P wasn’t too concerned. That left more time on 5th Av and Madison…

Spent far too much time (money) here

What was really impressive was how welcoming the locals were! No matter that they had to walk or bike in to their jobs in the city – the Subway was still flooded – they weren’t complaining, not to the tourists anyway. “We need you, welcome! Wall Street ain’t functioning, you’re our only income. Don’t stay away, don’t feel you shouldn’t enjoy yourselves. Spend those dollars, you are our lifeblood!!!” That’s pretty much a direct quotation from our Circle Line guide, who kept up the patter all way round Manhattan peninsula.

peekaboo!

Steichen homage

Modernism at its best

Rockefeller Doorway

The Chrysler building is my favourite. Iconic in a city full of icons. (Someone tell me – how do I get permission to go up to take a picture of the griffin/gargoyles from close up? A photographic dream of mine! Seriously – how do I achieve this…?)

A beauty!

Unmistakeable

Compare and contrast…

Central Park should have been the climax of the marathon, and a glorious setting it would have been too. As soon as the sun shone, so did the park, resplendent in its autumn (fall!) colours (colors!!)

Classic view of the park

Another classic view of the park

And another classic view of the park…!

So, a big thank you to the Big Apple for the marvellous welcome you gave us. We forgive the over-abundance of flags and the misspelling of the English language. Can’t wait to come back, although I think I shall confiscate Mrs P’s credit card before she hits the shops again….

Central Station

Another classic – every which way you look!

Larger than life.

(Next week – NY portraits, because as you can see from these pix here, the city was deserted…)

2011 – a personal review

This blog is one year old, so I thought I would do a quick review of the last 12 months, in 12 pictures. If you want to read the blog page that lies behind the picture, just click on the caption and it will take you there. Magic!

Dec/Jan, Venice in the cold:

Feb: Blackberry photos of BMW dream machines

Mar: Sailing off Mersea Island

Apr: Spring has sprung

May: Bluebell woods

Jun: The Royal Wedding

Jul: Cars!

 Aug: memories of York

Sep: kids gossiping on holiday in Italy

 

 

Oct: Italy’s sexy statues

 

 

Nov: New York, New York!

Dec: London night scenes

New York Rebellion

We know the West is going crazy, something is wrong, it feels bittersweet, slightly rotten, fin de siecle. Old ladies demonstrating on the street… this is different from the cyclical rebellion of youth. When this sort of thing happens, then surely we have to take notice….

this is not disaffected youth...

Now I’m not overtly political. But even I feel a little bit nervous when democracies start handing over governing rights to non-elected bureaucrats. Is democracy incapable of governing high finance? Ex-financiers deciding macro economic policy… That, I guess, is my biggest fear. This is exactly what we elect leaders for. And if not our elected leaders, then who…?

The raw emotion of all this was very visible down at Bryant Park in NY a few weeks ago. It was a weird place, or at least the atmosphere was very weird. There was a lot of legitimate, coherent political discussion. And also a lot of slightly freaky people, who sort of detracted from the overall point.

Worse for wear

suddenly all getting a bit frenetic...

We’re hurtling towards 2012; everything is in flux, and emotions are running high. I’m not sure I care for the inherent violence of the drums. This girl seemed to sum it up well for me.

Good luck for 2012.

Shooting icons in New York

Two icons in one shot! Fifth Av, surely my wife’s favourite street in the world, and the Flatiron – one of my favourite buildings.

Classic Flatiron

So of course the only way I could find a free hour to shoot my icon was to send my wife (and kids) off to their icon. I trade retail therapy for photo therapy any day.

But how to shoot an icon differently?

The close up...

But I guess without pic 1, pic 2 would be hard to understand… What about this one?

Disguised Flatiron...

Or maybe fit a different lens and go for the unsettling shot:

Distorted Flatiron

Beware falling streetlights. Mmm…, ok, when all else fails then stick the camera out of the taxi window and go for the shaky, blurred, wonky, night shot. Aha, that’s different! And I like it!

My favourite!

Now, how do I extract my wife from whichever shop she’s currently hunting in…?

New York, a blur…

Flatiron, NYC

New York City is a blur! Five days of charging about, cramming everything in, noise, hustle bustle & snow storms in October. Yes, a blur. But what excitement!

I managed to go wrong 3 times on that Subway journey… First wrong line, then wrong way, then missed my stop because I got engrossed in a newspaper. What a tourist…

On the other hand, cabs are cheap. So we used them, lots. And they turned out to be very photogenic:

No tripod, for once...

Of course, as a photographer, I wanted to be out taking pictures every second of the day. But the family does object (killjoys), so we ended up shopping. Century 21, Bloomingdales, that massive toy shop…, Build a bear, the Apple store. Done them all. (Bloomingdales took hours – HOURS! The wife!)

Daughter on a mission

Isn't he meant to be saving people from crooks, outside...?

Eventually, some respite from the incessant shopping at last. Kids on the ice, cocktails for me and Mrs P.    Rockefeller, we love you.

Daughter on the ice

Son on the ice

So here’s to New York City, so exciting it’s a blur.

Oi! Cab! over here…!!!

Cheers!

(Another one ignoring me, must be the accent...)