Some thoughts coming back from NYC

I'm going to go ahead and say that NYC is a great street shooting city. You just have to keep going and trying. It didn't help that we brought you to some boring spots. :)
 
I have somewhat the opposite experience - moving from NYC to Montreal, I still have to find here in the north the street excitement and the variety of the former. With enough time, and a good map, NYC never ceases to surprise, even after years of roaming its streets.

Granted - I haven't nearly explored as much of Montreal yet, and there seem to be many things going on here as well. I guess the one thing one really needs is a lot of time to let the city grow on you and the curiosity to explore the less beaten areas.

However, even the ordinary stroll between Union Square, Tompkins Square and Whashington Square park would usually reveal unexpected opportunities.



I like to shoot street and living in a relatively small city, I sometimes find the lack of sartorial diversity slightly uninspiring.
So I was hoping that my latest quick trip to NYC would provide some change, however I was surprised to find that it was not entirely as I expected.

True, new yorkers dress differently than montrealers, but not so much among themselves.
I had the same observation when I was in Paris a year ago, and had to go out to the 20th arrondissement, a "colorful" neighborhood (whatever that means) looking for new things.

This isn't a rant about the homogenization of a globalized world but I wonder whether it was always like this, if density or habit has made me indifferent to something that really is there.
A friend of mine once remarked that those fascinating things I find in old photographs (cars, people, clothes) were just as "average" back then as the clones of same model cars, chain coffee shops or clothing brands I find unexceptional today.

I don't know, perhaps I look too hard for that interesting, uncommon thing sometimes, thoughts ?
 
I'm going to go ahead and say that NYC is a great street shooting city. You just have to keep going and trying. It didn't help that we brought you to some boring spots. :)

hehe I didn't say it wasn't, I just didn't see the diversity I was expecting. I still didn't go to Brooklyn this time, perhaps I need to get out of Manhattan ?
 
I have somewhat the opposite experience - moving from NYC to Montreal, I still have to find here in the north the street excitement and the variety of the former. With enough time, and a good map, NYC never ceases to surprise, even after years of roaming its streets.

Well Montreal isn't too varied, that much we already know. I just thought that in a city as big as NYC I'd be busy shooting my entire stay.
Shoot me a message if you ever want to go shooting in Mtl one day
 
Saigon and Shanghai are definitely on the map too, this was a quick weekend trip not too far. Have you been to Asia Peter ? What's it like to shoot there ?
 
I should have said outside of Manhattan, sorry. That's exactly what I meant when I said I still haven't been to Brooklyn, it's my second time in the city and it's like I know nothing about it
 
Harry,

Next time you leave Boston and come back to NYC send me a PM so we can go shoot.

Recently moved to Madhattan. Now I feel like I just use to be a hillbilly from Queens. Somehow my photography has changed. Now I'm editing all this medium format urban landscape I shot over the years that speaks of lonelyness and abandonement (industrial areas).

Cal

Will do, Cal.

I was born and raised in NYC. I lived on the (upper) Upper West Side until 1979 when I moved to Boston. Given the opportunity, I'd move back to Manhattan in a New York minute, and I'd burn through a lot of megabytes every day.

Harry
 
Oh man, this is going to get heated. I thought only New Jersey people (I lived there for 35 years) said "the City" ... when referring to Manhattan.
 
No consensus on calling Manhattan the "city" or not, in my experience. I've never called it the "city", but I do know other natives (like some of my cousins) that do mention it as that.

Fun bit: In elementary school, I mistakenly declared that I lived in the suburbs. I lived in South Brooklyn, actually.
 
Perhaps what he meant was that NYC is in the U.S., an established city in a developed country, whereas "Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Shanghai and Manilla[sic]" are all in Asian countries that are still growing & therefore changing much more rapidly. More like being in NYC in 1890. Since the world's economic center of gravity is shifting over (or rather returning when seen from a historical perspective) to Asia, it is indeed the "future."

Can you explain this please?
 
I haven't read through all the comments yet but wanted to chime in and say that, in my view, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there is a place out there somewhere where interestings things are everywhere and it's like shooting fish in a barrel. I'm not saying those places don't exist but the street photographers I most admire are those that make the ordinary seem special and transcedent. It's not luck and it's not going to that place where interesting photos are. It's about being aware, seeing things others might miss, waiting, and a very, very low number of keepers...

I like to shoot street and living in a relatively small city, I sometimes find the lack of sartorial diversity slightly uninspiring.
So I was hoping that my latest quick trip to NYC would provide some change, however I was surprised to find that it was not entirely as I expected.

True, new yorkers dress differently than montrealers, but not so much among themselves.
I had the same observation when I was in Paris a year ago, and had to go out to the 20th arrondissement, a "colorful" neighborhood (whatever that means) looking for new things.

This isn't a rant about the homogenization of a globalized world but I wonder whether it was always like this, if density or habit has made me indifferent to something that really is there.
A friend of mine once remarked that those fascinating things I find in old photographs (cars, people, clothes) were just as "average" back then as the clones of same model cars, chain coffee shops or clothing brands I find unexceptional today.

I don't know, perhaps I look too hard for that interesting, uncommon thing sometimes, thoughts ?
 
I haven't read through all the comments yet but wanted to chime in and say that, in my view, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there is a place out there somewhere where interestings things are everywhere and it's like shooting fish in a barrel. I'm not saying those places don't exist but the street photographers I most admire are those that make the ordinary seem special and transcedent. It's not luck and it's not going to that place where interesting photos are. It's about being aware, seeing things others might miss, waiting, and a very, very low number of keepers...

that's very nicely said. I guess I just wanted something different.

Although it's not completely fair of me to say that. Shooting in NYC is _completely_ different than shooting back home. People react differently, it's just the culture perhaps that I didn't find to be as different and varied as I expected
 
I completely understand. Certainly, in terms of people's reactions to and comfort level with photography, amount of pedestrian traffic, etc., NY has a lot to offer to street photographers compared to other cities.

that's very nicely said. I guess I just wanted something different.

Although it's not completely fair of me to say that. Shooting in NYC is _completely_ different than shooting back home. People react differently, it's just the culture perhaps that I didn't find to be as different and varied as I expected
 
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