My New York

I fell in love with this little girl. The joy she received from the 60 seconds that the train went above ground was so pure and so contagious.



Greg and I hung out with this man for about 20 minutes this morning. He is a retired nurse. His son and daughter are now both nurses. He told us that he collects bottles because he likes to work, it keeps him busy. He also told us that he has a huge farm down south and he is going there soon. I hope this is true, seems like a good man who deserves a nice retirement. He also said he is trying to quite smoking but it is harder now than ever. I wish I had asked him his name.



Not only are there now white people in Harlem, we have white cowboys too!









I really am curious as to how this car is moved. It was stuffed to the brim.





One of the things I love about Harlem, is that when you capture it in a frame it becomes timeless in some ways. This shot seems so 70's to me.

My New York

Currently I am working on a personal project I call, "My New York". I am not sure if that is the final title but that is what I call it. It is nothing more than pictures that show how I see this city. I have been here for a long time and a few years ago I fell out of love with it. In recent months my crush has re- appeared, not sure why but I welcome it. And so with that crush I am back to photographing the city. Here are some of my shots from this weeks trip to the grocery stores, the gym and other errands. All these shots are done with a point and shoot camera shot from the hip to avoid disturbing life as if plays out for me here in New York.

Women Photographers

Today I had the incredible opportunity to attend a seminar at B and H photo. It was in celebration of Women's History month and the fine people at B and H created a panel of 5 female photographers to share their images. There are few things I enjoy more than a good old slide show presentation of some great images and the stories that accompany them. I was in photo heaven!

The women were varied in their styles and photo niches and that is what made the whole seminar so well rounded and motivational.

The following are a series of images that I took on the way home. I thank the women who inspired me and reminded me of what I already know but sometimes forget to look out for, that photographs are everywhere!



I took this picture in the store before I left. I was cracking up watching these kids! I shot from the hip so the mother or whomever was watching them would not be suspicious! I look at this shot and all I think is GERMS!!! I hope that little girl does not get sick!



One of my new recent photo fascinations is reflections. This came by accident when this summer I was trying to photograph a church. I could not fit the whole church in from where I was standing but when I looked down I saw the whole church reflected perfectly in a puddle. I was fascinated by that shot and since have been giving reflections some extra attention.

Reflections add so much depth and dimension and give the viewer layers to dive into. Then the layers themselves can create new images or shapes that are not even existing but are the result of the two overlapping images.

This woman reminds me of my trip across the US on Route 66, yet the sidewalk with its gum spots and the signage scream NYC.



I added this shot for personal reasons. I actually do not think it is a great photograph but it adds to what I am about to share with you.

As a subway rider of 18 years, you can come to really appreciate the train and hate it. Today was a love day! What I loved about tonight's ride was the contradictions of stereotypes. I feel that there are a lot of stereotypes in NYC. As a seasoned New York subway rider I can usually take a good guess as to who to stand in front of while waiting for a seat based on what they look like and what neighborhood I think they will get off at. This might sound awful, but trust me, I get stereotyped all the time- I think it is just a part of New York. I also do not think New Yorkers are being mean when we do stereotype. I believe it is derived from our distinct neighborhoods that most people tend to live in with others like themselves. Remember, we are a salad bowl, not a melting pot! I was once on a train when a black guy said to his black girlfriend, (they were both standing), "Dont worry- you will sit where she is after this next stop because this is where all the white people get off". And he was right, although I was so tempted to stay on just to prove him wrong!!

OK, back to my point. Knitting, as we see this young woman doing here on the uptown #3 train. My grandmother, Nanny B was an extremely talented knitter. She was amazing!!! She would knit us beautiful complicated sweaters, watch TV, and hold conversations and never miss a beat or a stitch! Plus she was fast! I remember the sound of her needles as she zoomed though one sweater for us after another.

Well,here was this young woman with her hip sneakers and her music blaring out of her ear phones swaying to the beat to her tunes and checking out everyone that boarded the train at each stop...while knitting so skillfully, all I could think of was my grandmother. For those that don't know me, my grandmother came from England every year and was very BRITISH and proper. To be on the uptown #3 train and be reminded of my grandmother's knitting from a young woman knitting to the beat of hip hop was so incredible for me! In my eyes, this young woman beat a stereotype- and I LOVE that!



After switching trains to the uptown #1 train, I came across another defeated stereotype!

As I said, I was loving this train ride! Here were two young boys, NOT playing video games! The boy on the right in the middle had a chess trophy. I could not resist talking to them after I took this picture. The boy started to learn chess when he was in second grade. Do you know that they teach young kids how to play chess because it has proven to improve a child's ability to read? It mostly has to do with prediction skills, which is an invaluable reading skill as it is a chess skill.

This kid was so proud! He and his buddy were actually playing chess on this mat without pieces. I heard them saying which pieces they were moving to each other, such as "this is my knight that I am moving here" and they were remembering each others positions. These were obviously two very smart and highly motivated chess players!

Great to see kids playing chess and also having a passion! Thank you kids for breaking yet another NYC stereotype!

Thank you to B and H for the great event and to all the women photographers who were so inspiring to me!