New York city: pt 1
Here we are, over a year after returning from this trip, and I'm still working my way through processing the rolls I expended.
We visited in September, it was warm, very warm! sunny and 30 odd degrees everyday, quite the difference to the 12 degrees I left behind in the UK.
I took my MP with a few lenses, and other than the odd roll of hp5, I shot it all with Portra 400 I sourced at a nearby lab (who also did my developing) - Colour Resource Center on Ludlow Street, same day processing and no issues, so thank you.
We stayed in an apartment in China Town, the street below carried the heavy scent of a fish market in the mornings.
Lorries would pull up and unload their daily goods for the local restaurants - eggs, and fish. a lot of fish. This part of the city is old, the buildings are a turn of the previous century, clad in ornate designs and washed with illegal graffiti, the external fire escapes browned by time.
Its an interesting place, and I enjoy it, its the New York you see in 90’s cinema, and so in my mind rolls the opening scene from Die Hard with a Vengence..
Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck gettin' dirt' and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity?
A stark contrast on the Financial District which looms above the rooftops, a stones throw away.
This trip was largely organised, and put into motion by my friend Lance, without him I would never have gotten around to booking anything and I thank him for that. Our holiday styles differ slightly, so we did our thing, and met up when things fell into place.
Having survived the anxiety inducing Uber ride from the airport to our apartment, one of the first things we did was take a walk across the Manhattan Bridge, not far from where we were staying.
This bridge, a huge blue and white steel monster, rises in China Town and falls in Brooklyn. Its image is immortalised in that Washington Street scene from Once Upon a Time in America, but for whatever reason it seems to live in the shadow of the more popular nearby Brooklyn Bridge.
For myself though, this bridge is something special.
