Night Streets
So, on a rainy early Saturday morning while in NY for the review, around 4 a.m., I got out and walked around the city, in no particular direction, until 8 o’clock. In the dark, there is such mystery, and at the edge mystery is always magic.
NYC is a metaphor. It’s organic, a microcosm of humanity…it morphs in front of you.
When I told people about my excursion, they thought it quite abnormal to go out exploring at that early time. Should I sleep my life away? It scares people if you embrace change, if you are constantly seeking… But just look at some of the things I found:
You could only imagine the day’s industry at this sewing machine.
Soooooo homogenized—row by row, in a diner window.
She seemed flirtatious, dressed for another time.
Time is fluid. What a mystery this motorcycle is.
Clear navigation.
Wayfaring: One Way. Ah, but it was Broadway.
Subway entrances have always intrigued me. Here, no one was coming or going, a story yet to be written.
These pumpkins were in the middle of a park in NYC, looking ready for a festival, or wanting to be rained on. How curious their shapes.
I stopped in Starbucks for a bottle of water and saw this fellow… I wondered who he was, what he did… which led to my making up stories about him. We tell ourselves stories to live; they needn’t be totally true. I laid the camera on the table and aimed it at him without his knowing it.
Without index the world would be silent.
Two homeless fellows, seeking shelter at Starbucks. In the famous words of John Bradford, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
One thing you notice when you’re out walking in the quiet is patterns. Patterns are one of the most underused (or maybe it’s under-acknowledged) design elements. If a pattern works, chances are you just solved a problem.
Perhaps someone was in a big hurry. But the incongruity is a best humor.
This reminded me of how I would draw letters if I got bored in a speech or meeting. The drop shadows are very cool.
Cabs in New York make the point that there is really no order in the world around us. We have to constantly adapt and embrace the chaos.
5th Avenue, around 6 a.m., the world waking.
Easy to miss when you’re caught up in the day to day. What beautiful reminder to look around. Thanks.
These photos are so inspiring. Its amazing how alone you can feel at certain hours in a city like NYC. Lemmings sleep and wake together. At hours like that, you know something they don’t.
i need to wake up earlier, if only to have a healthy breakfast and read the news.
the most interesting of stories lie in the forgotten simplicity of the everyday…i love what you did here…There is always a story in NYC, even at the entrance to the subway…Beautiful…
just spent 10 days in that same neighborhood….took the L train everyday from 14th street. thanks for taking the time to look closer. opened my eyes.
smith
Isn’t it interesting that in silence and darkness we can hear and see so much? A different point-of-view can be eye-opening and move us to innovation. Hank, beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful stuff. Living in New York, it’s tough to just stop and look at it through fresh eyes. This has inspired me, though.
Thanks for sharing this journey with us. It’s my favorite post.
NYC is beautiful, but unfortunately I do not happen to be there regularly. However, more in general this is so true!
We look,but do not see.
We hear, but do not listen.
We eat, but do not taste.
We touch, but do not feel.
…
We tend to forget this most of the time and are absorbed in day-to-day life. Thanks for the wake-up.
Jan
Hank,
You should travel around the country taking pictures at 4am at the things we “look at but just don’t see.” That would be pretty neat!
hank, thank you once again for reminding me God truly is in the details… very inspiring. My alarm clock is set.
GREAT! I love them.
These wonderful visual poems about the city I love reminded me this song from “Guys & Dolls”. In part:
My time of day is the dark time
A couple of hours before dawn
When the street belongs to the cop
And the janitor with the mop
And the grocery clerks are all gone.
When the smell of the rainwashed pavement
Comes up clean, and fresh, and cold
And the streetlamp light
Fills the gutter with gold
THANK YOU HANK!
Life is in the details. No matter how small…..and beauty is all around us. You just have to stop and look. Hank you have always been great at seeing and opening our eyes :)
Wonderful. What a great reminder to stay present and in the moment. There’s so much to take in if we only allow ourselves to do so.
Nice work, Cowboy.
Also, when is the new album with the new hit single, Chair Making Blues gonna hit the stores?
Hank,
I think your spontaneous adventure to observe and record the ordinary in a city like New York is a great example of what John Stilgoe talks about in his book Outside Lies Magic. Have you ever read it?
Life is never boring.
hi hank….
i an pursuing my research on spontaneous place making attitudes emerging from gastronomy of streetside foodplaces and believe me learning to observe and recognise the ordinary was an awesome experience which has brought about such a transformation in me as designer…..i started understanding behavioural responses better….i haven’t read ‘outside lies magic’ but am planning to read on ……
your snaps feel quite ‘tactile’…….inspite of me sitting here thousands of miles away……awesome eye for details…..!