Saturday, December 14, 2013

LOOKING BACK: BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS FROM NYC

I love photography and have always have been a shutterbug.  Finding interesting compositions as you just move through your day can be very inspiring.  Just recently I came across a bunch of contact sheets and various prints from my college years in NYC.  I loved cutting our own rolls of film in total darkness, then developing the contacts sheets and working to create prints of your favorites in the various emulsions.  Of course digital photography has changed the course of photography in a major way.  You no longer have to wait to develop your film to see if you managed to capture the shots you thought you had, or worry that you'd screw up the developing process by leaving something soaking for too long.
I thought it would be fun, here at the end of 2013 to post a few of these photos along with a contact sheet.
One thing I enjoyed doing was to walk around the city with the camera just hanging around my neck, finger on the shutter and just randomly point and click, trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible while trying to capture random people in totally unguarded moments.
I only got caught one time by some crazy ass guy who grabbed my arm and told me I wasn't allowed to take his picture.  Ah, NYC in the early 90's.  Still, it was better than being caught sketching someone on the subway, who then said they wanted to see your sketch before they got off at their stop.  No pressure there!
Anyway here's some of my NYC b&w photos.


The contact sheet!  Did I manage to get anything interesting???

Oh, yeah! This guy's a winner!!!
Central Park Zoo
90's power brokers beneath the statue of Atlas at 30 Rock
Homeless camp beneath Manhattan Bridge
A very organic view of midtown from the park.