A Photographer's View of New York City

I love photography and taking pictures of the interesting sights around me. However, when my friends and I are rushing to get where we need to go in the city, sometimes I forget to slow down and photograph the beautiful city around me. This past weekend, my friend Maddie and I decided to take a long walk with no destination or plan and our cameras by our sides. We had no particular location in mind, just hopped on the D train and picked our stop at random.

The view from SoHo looking uptown...where we started our adventure! 

In transit, we decided to get off the subway at Canal Street, to explore the lower part of Manhattan, as we have become very familiar with the area around Fordham's Lincoln Center campus. We walked through the SoHo, just following any interesting streets we came across. Eventually, we wound up in Washington Square Park, and sat down to relax for a bit and enjoy the sunny day.

Washington Square Park on a beautiful fall day, complete with a rainbow. 

Then, we continued meandering through the streets, until we came across the Williamsburg Bridge. We thought, "Why not?" and journeyed across to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The bridge itself was a destination to see, as it has incredibly cool graffiti and gorgeous views of the Midtown skyline. Once we were in Williamsburg, we decided to find somewhere on the shore of the Hudson to take some classic and timeless pictures of the skyline, without anything in the way of the view.

En route to Brooklyn on the Williamsburg Bridge 

We stumbled across this tiny park, with some of the most incredible views of Manhattan I have ever seen. Our adventure came to a close soon after that, as it was time to head back to the Bronx. I loved street photography before our adventure, but after ending our 5-hour walk with 300 great shots, it's safe to say I'm an even bigger fan now. My goal for the next trip is to have the courage to take some Humans of New York-esque shots of the awesome people you encounter while exploring the city. On the train ride back to our home in the Bronx, I was reminded of an Ed Koch quote about New York that completely explains how I feel after living at Fordham for a year now: "You don't have to be born in New York City to be a New Yorker. You have to live here six months. And if at the end of those six months you walk faster, talk faster, and think faster, then you are a New Yorker." I am proud to say that by this definition, I have truly become a New Yorker. 

New York becomes my campus more and more every day. Can't get enough of this view!! 

The ever-present New York taxis.

Old apartment buildings are always so pretty!