^{"Under the seeming disorder of the old city, wherever the old city is working successfully, is a marvelous order for maintaining the safety of the streets and the freedom of the city. It is a complex order. Its essence is intricacy of sidewalk use, bringing with it a constant succession of eyes. This order is all composed of movement and change, and although it is life, not art, we may fancifully call it the art form of the city and liken it to the dance — not to a simple-minded precision dance with everyone kicking up at the same time, twirling in unison and bowing off en masse, but to an intricate ballet in which the individual dancers and ensembles all have distinctive parts which miraculously reinforce each other and compose an orderly whole. The ballet of the good city sidewalk never repeats itself from place to place, and in any once place is always replete with new improvisations."}

The City

The City is a magical place.  There is just nothing like looking up on a foggy night at the hazy illumination of the top of a skyscraper, steam rising from a manhole cover below, cab lights baring down on you on a damp dark street, while a streetlamp glows on a shadowy character as he passes you by.

^{Right: Old Abandoned City Hall Station, 2010.}

There are hidden treasures everywhere.  Old rusty but ornate buildings go almost unnoticed next to sleek glass high-rises.  In a city that was built upon the idea of the future, we are constantly reminded of the past.

Cabs jockey for position.  A collection of people from all over the world, from hipsters to hasidics, pass by on a daily basis.  Winter brings out a sea of black clothing, while summer brings out a colorful range of clothing so outrageous that you have to see to believe.  It is a city with millions of faces and ideas.

The pace is constant and unrelenting; native New Yorkers power-walk and weave to work, heads down, nearly knocking over every tourist that has suddenly stopped short in the middle of a busy avenue.  It is a city where the natives never look up while the tourists never look down.

^{Subways in Motion, 2010.}

Growing up

Growing up, I was always a wanderer, a daydreamer and a child of ADD.  I would walk, explore and observe the city quietly as a way to escape the reality and stresses of everyday life.  The city felt exciting and freeing with something new around every corner.

I eventually found photography as a way to document and share my explorations and thoughts with others and as a way to focus on them.

It was while studying at both the International Center for Photography and School of Visual Arts where I discovered the work of Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Walker Evans and Robert Frank.  Their tenacity about photographing the streets, the people, and everyday life really affected me.  In addition, as many were, I was heavily influenced by the quality and beauty of Ansel Adams' black and white prints.  It is at this point in my life where I began to spend more time photographing people, rather than only the architecture of the city.

The City is About the People

^{2011 Fall G-Star Fashion Show based on the Urban Explorer using an altered version of the image 'Couple in Snowstorm'.}

It all made sense when I came across the writings of Jane Jacobs, an activist that famously fought for the rights of small neighborhoods against the reckless bulldozing of Robert Moses.

The city to her wasn’t about the skyline, the architecture, the buildings; it was about the close interaction of the communities that lived within them and the "ballet" of ideas that quickly pass when people live together in such proximity.

The city was about the people.

^{Street Scenes, 2010.}

I still love the architecture and love to photograph it, but when I look up now that’s not all I see.  I think about the history of a place and about all the people that once passed through it, the people that built it, and the person that stood in the same spot as me 80 years before who also looked up on a foggy day with the same awe.

 
Fine Art

This is what I want to pass on through my prints.  I want my prints to last for generations, to be passed down, to be as archival as humanly possible, so that when I am gone more people can see the city in the way that I felt about it.

I want my work to be both historical and timeless, rooted in a specific year but filled with the ideals that will never change in New York.  The skyline will grow taller, clothing styles will constantly change, and cabs will continue to get uglier, but the idea of the city, of this ballet of human contact and its ability to spread ideas, will never change.

As Kurt Vonnegut said, New York is skyscraper national park, and just like trillions of tons of water carved the Grand Canyon, millions of people and ideas carved this city.

 ^{Central Park South from Sheep Meadow, 2006.}

Newsletter

I don’t just sell fine art.  I love to write about the city and its history and about photography.  If you are interested in these subjects and would like to keep up with my latest work and writing, you should consider joining my monthly mailing list.  You will receive updates with my newest prints as well as occasional print offers which will not be available elsewhere.

For instance, you can read a few of my favorite articles, about the Old City Hall Subway Station, the Chrysler Building, the Abandoned Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, or the History of the Brooklyn Bridge Construction.

I hope that you will come and visit the blog frequently.  It is life on the streets through my eyes on a daily basis and updating it is the highlight of my day.

I also hope that you share my love for the city, and that if you do not live here that you will be able to visit soon, hopefully on a rainy, foggy night.  Usually when you travel it is a bummer when it rains, but in New York it is the most magical thing that can happen.