The Best Route Through Town

Living, first, in Chicago and then moving to New York, commuting through the city is very similar but at the same time so very different.

Chicago has the 'L' which allows you to quite literally fly through the city (roughly 3-4 levels above the street while the New York City subway (for the most part) keeps you beneath the street level unless you reside and spend most of your time in the Bronx or parts of Queens.

The beauty of connectivity and convenience is a major factor that draws people to city living. However, here in New York, it's easy to lose spatial recognition spending so much time beneath the surface. Many people pass through numerous neighborhoods everyday that they've never before seen. Life doesn't stop in transit...

For me, biking bridges the gap.  It allows the city to feel a bit more tangible to me.   These are shots taken while and between riding through some of the neighborhoods that I wouldn't normally see otherwise.

Doughnut Run through Crown Heights/Bed-Stuy

Seeing the town with one of my favorite Chicagoans

Traversing the Williamsburg Bridge

Various Vantage Points

The more parking restrictions for cars (signage) the better for cyclists

Next stop, Manhattan

In all of it's majesty, Brooklyn Bridge

Follow the line

Departure preparations

Swiss Breakfast

While discovering a new breakfast dining spot in SoHo, that will definitely be revisited numerous times in the future, I took the time to capture the essence of the beauty of the ambience.

La Femme de la Ville

Café Select is a great way to begin the day before taking to the bustling shopping district streets of SoHo.

- Keilon

The Perfect Block

New York City can be a constant visual overload; which in my opinion is why it works so well for film making and videography. The viewer is constantly engaged by not only the subject but also the environment of said subject.  However, when it comes to my idea of photography, I prefer a less is more approach.

While strolling between villages in Manhattan (West Village into Greenwich Village), bar hopping, I chose to take a quieter, less scenic route between busy avenues and arrived at this gem of an intersection:

Minetta Triangle, Manhattan, NYC

I was taken with the simplistic beauty (reoccurring theme of mine) of this environment.  Although it's in the midst of a very popular party and entertainment district, it manages to retain it's quiet charm.  Additionally, the melodramatic artificial glow on the block personified the after midnight diminishing ambience of the moment.  I was reminded of the heavy footsteps upon concrete echoing back in the night that I experienced in an equally as charming southern setting in the city of Charleston, South Carolina some years back.

This environment has inspired me to finally decide upon a setting for a short film drama that I've already written which is in need of a location. I look forward to re-imagining inspiration on this side street.

Trains to Stations

3.20.2014

It was a beautiful day in the city...but being underground and beneath ceilings have their perks as well.

This is just a couple views caught beneath Lafayette and Spring streets in SoHo and a pit stop to pick up a friend at Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan.

~ Esoteric

Across 110th Street...

*cues Bobby Womack's iconic theme music*

This is simply an excerpt in a day in the life.  All shots taken and lightly edited by me using a wonderful instrument called an iPhone 5 and a fun easy to use app called VSCOcam courtesy of Visual Supply Co.

110th Street - Duke Ellington Circle, Manhattan, NYC

Viaduct at 103rd and Park Avenue, Manhattan, NYC

Thank you to my partner and muse for letting me be her paparazzi per usual.

Also check out my slowly evolving grid at esotericislike.vsco.co for more images that I've shot and edited. And do check out more information and products on Visual Supply Co's official website.