New York { New York Street Photography by Anna Michalska }

~ Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today… ~

Visiting New York has been a dream of mine. Literally. For some reason, probably media influenced, I’ve always dreamed about visiting New York City and what the city blocks would look like. My dream conscious made some wild guesses, and while the concept and idea of New York City fascinated me, I don’t know why my subconscious was so obsessed with creating a likeness of it in my dreams. I decided it was because I was meant to go there and see it for myself one day. The opportunity came when I was commissioned to photograph a wedding in Ontario, so it only made sense to save a bit of money and book a trip from there to New York City for a couple of days. We stayed in Manhattan at a great spot found via Airbnb.

The streets are filled with people, and people walk everywhere. This is a city where it generally takes the same amount of time to walk to your destination as it would to drive or public transit to. Traffic is so congested that some intersections are constantly jammed with cars. Pedestrians pay attention to the roads, but not the road signs – walking on red lights whenever the road is seemingly clear. Billboards are larger than life, and pigeons have practically no fear of humans. High-waist pants and thick sole shoes. Nearly every city block has some kind of construction, and the large and old buildings tower over the sky, blocking the sun but creating a hot concrete jungle down below. The only way I could see the sunset was to watch the reflections of orange in the windows on the horizon of the tall buildings, stretching as far as the eye can see. Breath-taking architecture and blocks shorter than what I’m used to here in Calgary, walking for 30+ minutes to get somewhere was easily digestible and justifiable. And the grocery stores. I am so, so jealous.

We got really lucky! While we didn’t get to see any celebrities, we were fortune enough to win the lottery to see Book of Mormon, and also were nearly late for said musical because President Obama just so happened to be driving down the street we were having dinner at. I can confirm that Obama’s smile is just as charming as it is on TV.

I decided to use the opportunity to practice something I hardly get a chance to otherwise, and took to the streets to photograph the architecture and street vibe. I decided it would be my way of not only documenting my trip for posterity, but also as a way to burn the images into my subconscious. I wonder, now, what kind of dreams I will see when I dream of New York again…?

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TAGS: new york, street photography