NEW YORK RAMBLES (page 23)
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February 2009
A 7 mile loop between Soho and the Battery
Early modernist depictions of New York often displayed the city as a jumble of mismatched geometries. Reality it seems can sometimes rival the wildest imagination.
February 2009
A ramble between the Village and City Hall
The warm air has placed a haze more typical of a summer day over the city. It is just enough to soften the glare. The light is actually extraordinary making it easy to find good shots, even on streets I have walked a hundred times before without success.
February 2009
A ramble in Flushing
A sudden snowfall quiets the streets.
February 2009
A 6 mile walk from the Lower East Side to Soho on Chinese New Year
I misjudged the time and arrived at the parade route too early or in other words not as late as usual. Though I managed to get some clear close up shots I felt a lack of intimacy from working from more conventional places.
February 2009
A loop between Soho and Tribeca
Nothing is ever really out of place in this city.
January 2009
A loop between Flushing and Corona
I remember when they began putting up the decorative lights resembling ball players in action on the sides of Shea Stadium soon after the Mets won the World Series. Now no one seems to think they are even worth saving. In their place they have given us a giant corporate logo to stare at, of a mismanaged failing corporation no less. Forget about honoring accomplishments or good work, we will now honor any mediocrity that can spread money around.
January 2009
A ramble in Flushing
When a garden is made of colored plastic its blooms are impervious to the cold and the snow. I know a superior product when I see one.
January 2009
A loop between Soho and Tribeca
New York can be a very Romantic city if you don’t look down.
January 2009
A ramble in Kissena Hollow
The cry of migrating geese have brightened every day of this winter. But not all waterfowl here are transient. There used to be three Pekin ducks that made the lake here their home for years. I liked to think they were refugees from a Long Island duck farm who escaped not for a better life but for life itself. I miss them but a perennial and somewhat noisy goose still remains.
January 2009
A 9 mile loop between Flushing and Bayside
Another snowfall draws me out across the landscape. It is awhile before I realize how far I’ve wandered.
January 2009
A ramble in Kissena Hollow
Snow, rain, slush, then ice. The indecisive storm has left a bad mixture on the ground for walking but it is magic for photographs. As the sun forces its way through the clouds the morning’s spectacle slowly disintegrates.
January 2009
A walk on the Lower East Side
New York has more than its share of self indulgent scribblers, but in neighborhoods where artists abound every vacant building is a canvas of opportunity.
December 2008
A ramble in Kissena Hollow
The freezing rain that topped off the storm sealed the remaining snow into place. A small clump of leaves high up in the branches seemed mysteriously devoid of snow until I realized it was a hawk eying me with the closest of care. The city can be an amazing place.
December 2008
A Midtown ramble
I am restless and wander the streets of night. After awhile I can’t tell if I’ve been up half the night or if the day has just ended to early.
December 2008
A ramble in Washington Heights
For a relatively new city New York can exhibit disconcerting layers of its history. This is most evident where modern highways of laid concrete and steel are fitted around the stonework of earlier times. Utilitarian architecture was once designed for beauty but in many cases these areas have been covered up and turned into wastelands by a City with new agendas.
December 2008
A walk from Union Square to Times Square
I pass through Rockefeller Center and other hot spots where decorations were out in full but little of it appealed to me. It all seemed a bit lack luster this year but this may have been from the low energy in the people on the streets. Those places where only little hints of the holidays lay about drew my attention most. Without context they become odd and mysterious.
November 2008
A Midtown ramble
Recomposing images with computer software is now as easy as can be, but what’s the point when reality provides images beyond your dreams.
November 2008
A walk from Central Park South to Union Square on Thanksgiving Day
I thought I found a spot to shoot with my back to the sun only to find my subjects hidden in the shadows of towers while the sun reflected back into my face. Light in this city is as unpredictable as any other resident.
November 2008
A walk across Flushing
Flushing was once revered for the many beautiful and exotic trees that lined its streets. Now people treat them like they are nothing more than a pain in the ass.
November 2008
A ramble through Inwood
Even for a seasoned traveler such as myself there are still corners of Manhattan to be found where at least for a moment I can easily forget that I am still within city limits.
November 2008
A 6 mile walk from Central Park to Morningside Heights
The days continue to be dark and dreary and much of the fall color has departed. I have missed too much of autumn this year, but I am out today and even a few scattered leaves can create a world of magnificent colors. Each step leeds me further into a new world. This park was built as a compromise between the ambitions of man an nature. It stands as a truce.
November 2008
A Midtown ramble
Even on the greyest of days tinted glass can add unimaginable color to a landscape.
November 2008
A ramble in Central Park
As many times as I have passed Bethesda Fountain I have rarely ever taken a shot of it. It isn’t as if I have not tried, it is just that the throngs of visitors and other distractions that normally might interest me have generally been an annoyance here. But today the morning rain kept both the crowds and sun glare at bay. The water lilies had not fared well from the nights sharp frost and had already begun to discolor. In the moment I misjudged their beauty and did not take enough photos of them.
November 2008
A walk across Flushing
Even in neighborhoods where people make a great effort in keeping up their yards they often do so as if unconscious. There are many sleepwalkers in this city.
November 2008
A walk from Gramercy Park to Times Square
Large sheets of clear glass can be a hazard and yet we take great care to keep them polished. Is this a fixation on cleanliness and a fear of unseen germs, or is it more about life in this town where people present more illusion than substance.
November 2008
A ramble on the Lower East Side
Amidst all the self indulgent scribbling that covers the City the true art of the street can still be found.
October 2008
A loop between Union Square and Soho
The methods used by the police to control people on the streets seems to get more oppressive every year despite the peaceful nature of the crowds. I found it impossible to position myself as intended and my movements were severely hampered. I guess fear needs no rational even on Halloween.
October 2008
A ramble in Kissena Hollow
In the morning a long swaying column of blackbirds flew overhead, maybe thirty abreast but stretching as far back to the horizon as I could see. There would be sun showers on and off today. I became fixated on a small grouping of trees glistening in the late afternoon light against the backdrop of a cool shaded hill. The rain awoke once more and sparkled in the sun.
October 2008
A short ramble in Soho
Are they selling tile? Are they selling art? Are they using art to sell tile? Perhaps they are selling New York.
October 2008
A ramble in Soho
I am thankful that not every inch of the City has been polished.
Copyright 2009 Alan Petrulis All Rights Reserved