Heading to NY

This Thursday I'm heading back to NY for a few weeks to work my ass off, see family and friends and indulge in all of the things I can't get down here. Of course I'm talking about eating. Thai, burgers, real Italian, Mexican, pizza, Indian... I am going to eat my face off and it is going to be awesome.

Anyway, leaving Chile and heading back to NY is bringing up some mixed feelings. Of course I'm excited to see my family and friends and I'm excited to get back to NYC for a short while, but just as much I'm upset to be leaving Camila and Chile. It always seems that even when I try to settle down in one place I still manage to bounce around a little.

I'm also, strangely enough, very excited to work. Anybody between jobs or any freelancers know that if you have periods of little to no work, when you finally get some you are stoked to go back. I'm not saying I'm without work here. It's just the pay here is so low that it feels like I'm practically working for free, so making some decent money is oh so appealing. It also doesn't hurt that I'm going to be working on a TV show for National Geographic. Even though it's not my dream job, it is still for my dream company, so it's a step in the right direction. I'll also have some photography assignments on my spare days too. So basically I will be going nonstop for three weeks. 


Why exactly am I going to NY? Well the whole idea came from the fact that I really NEED my snowboard and equipment. I didn't bring it to Chile initially because Camila and I weren't positive where we would end up and I didn't want to have the burden of a huge, heavy bag to drag around. Of course, I almost immediately regretted not bringing it. So the idea to go back to NY, work my ass off to pay for my plane ticket and save up some money was born. It appears to be all working out quite well. Hopefully I didn't just jinx it...


Once I'm back in Chile I will be able to get up in the mountains and get you all some awesome new ski and snowboard photos! It has been way too long since I've been able to shoot any mountain sports and I'm craving it like no other. It is my ultimate photography passion, and snowboarding is my ultimate non-photography passion. And anybody who knows me personally knows I've basically had endless summers for the last two years. Heading to South America during our winters, just to head back to North America for more summer. And now I'm doing it again ironically. But it's all for a reason and I'll still have a solid two months of winter when I return.

Since I'm going to NY, here are some photos of NY:

Long Island City, Queens with the Manhattan skyline

 Midtown Manhattan

Midtown

The New Museum

My postings for the next few weeks may be a little less frequent than I would prefer, so I apologize in advance, but I will do my best!

Notes from La Paz

Thoughts on Bolivia taken from my notebook. Written while eating at an Indian restaurant in La Paz. It's unedited aside from standard grammar.

"La Paz fascinates me. It is the same concept I have experienced dozens of times all over the world: a city. Many, many people living in the same area. But here it feels so different. It feels crazy, exciting and dangerous. New York never felt so tame. These days, you can walk in plenty of areas of New York while being lost in your head. You can be absolutely clueless of your surroundings, as most New Yorkers seem to be. But here I feel like I need to be awake and aware. Not sure if it's because La Paz is excitingly different or simply new to me.

Either way, there is a level of chaos I find comforting. I tend to dislike police officers more than the average scofflaw on the street. It is liberating to know there is such a lack of order that you can get away with so much without law enforcement even batting an eye. They seem prepared to move for nothing less than a full scale riot, despite their constant presence.

This city has the most intimidating police force I have ever seen. Around nearly every corner is a machine gun or shotgun toting man in a dark, earthy green army suit with the entire hat, boots and sunglasses get-up. They also carry an expression that says "yes I'm corrupt and fire my gun at will." There are also a strangely high number of unmarked randoms walking around in full bullet proof gear. Yes, they are prepared. But for what?

Traffic and pollution in La Paz is insanely high. In the time before my body could adapt to the thick exhaust, smoke and smog filling all main streets I couldn't help but imagine how much this must effect your health after years of inhalation. Poorly maintained, old cars recklessly speeding around, combined with La Paz's position in a valley that doesn't allow car exhaust to properly escape, makes for some horrid air quality.

The pedestrians in La Paz are just as aggressive as the cars. And you have to be to get anywhere. When it's common for drivers to completely ignore red lights, driving lanes and the pedestrians have the right-of-way mentality, you have to be brave. You have to carry the confidence that the driver will eventually stop. Won't he?

It's not uncommon to see groups of old women slowly making their way, lane by lane, across eight lanes of zig-zagging cars. And darting past them is middle aged men in full sprint. On the narrow sidewalks stocky, bull-headed women in traditional garb, trek on with no intention of moving for anybody. They have days of dirt in their sun-pruned faces, silver teeth and a colorful sack on their back filled with salable items, food and maybe even a dead llama fetus (for good luck). Children play real-life games of Frogger with reckless abandon. While tourists simply stand there thinking back on how they thought crossing the street in New York was tough.

As fast and crazy as this city seems to be, there are an excessive number of people who walk obnoxiously slow. Most sidewalks are thin and have tons of people spilling into the streets with traffic whizzing by. And there is always, always somebody clogging up the flow. Walking a block here is work in itself. So much time is spent looking at the ground because it is rarely smooth or stable. There are holes, puddles and eight inch wide cracks between cobblestones. Maintenance, upkeep and order is practically nonexistent. One orange cone may warn of a 30 foot area of wet cement or sketchy, block long construction sites. There  will be little to no sidewalk, dead ends and absolutely no advise on the safest route."

All being said, I think this city is awesome.

View of the Andes off in the distance

Vendor at El Alto Mercado

Street Vendor

Mother and daugthers

More notes to come! And if you missed my first set of notes on Bolivia check them out here.

Underground Dining in NYC + LA

My friends over at Gusta.com have had some nice press lately. For a guide to underground dining in NY and LA check out these Business Insider articles: New York,  Los Angeles (and to see some of my photos :-))

Highlands Dinner Club at the Brooklyn Grange - A one acre farm on a rooftop in Queens - 7/11 -

through Gusta.com

New York is all about the People

I grew up 30 minutes from New York City, loving my fairly frequent trips in, but never understanding the depth, meaning and intrigue behind it all. When I was young, New York was a place where my family and I would eat, buy cool things, see shows and go to sporting events. So it was nothing but a place of pleasure and entertainment. It had an incredibly different environment than my suburban home of Suffern. Bigger, brighter, crazier, more people and more excitement. More everything.

Attending college at Fordham University is where my love affair with the most untamable city in the world really began. I began to explore the city on my own and with friends with common interests. It was no longer guided tours by my parents. I was going to the neighborhoods they wouldn't have taken me to. To places they didn't know existed. I began to see what the city could really offer to somebody willing to dig a little. And there is A LOT for those with the interest in going beyond the surface. And while my friends, my personal interests and my work have taken me to more places in New York than the average person, I have still only scratched the surface. I have my constantly forming impression of New York that still only encompasses 1% of what New York has to offer.

It is always crazy to think about how en route to one bar, you can pass 100 more. So many places I have walked past dozens, if not hundreds of times and I have no idea what they are like inside. There is just too much in New York that it would take insane amounts of motivation and even more time to experience it all.

It wasn't until I began traveling a lot that I realized what it was I had at home. How New York has an energy and life force all it's own. And where does it all come from? The people. Without them, New York would just be one impressive collection of concrete and steel.

New Yorkers are some of the most motivated, inspiring and creative people I have ever encountered. For the sake of this article I am referring to New Yorkers as somebody who lives in New York now. Not the standard, pretentious term of saying somebody is only a New Yorker after 10 full years of pouring blood, sweat and tears into the streets. The way that people make money and support themselves is astounding. There are entrepreneurs, self-employed creatives and unbelievable success stories around every corner.

I have photographed hundreds of apartments around New York working for Airbnb and have come across a wide variety of individuals. Seeing the homes and hearing the stories of New Yorkers from all different backgrounds has given me loads of perspective on the lives of those who keep the city running and progressing to new heights. The reasons people come to New York, the reasons people stay, the places they have come from and the things they do to make it all work. One thing I have learned is that New York truly is a place where people come to make something of themselves. To do things you can't always do everywhere else. And the number of people who actually do make something of themselves is truly inspiring. Sure, there are tons who don't make it, but at the very least they are made stronger through the process.

Behind every amazing store, innovative company and perfectly executed restaurant is a group of people that made it all happen. Somebody who had an idea and the motivation to try. And in a city with thousands and thousands of bars, restaurants, stores and entertainment venues there must be a lot of people pursuing their dreams. That in itself is inspiring. To stop and think of all the people that keep New York moving and evolving.

Living in Chile enables me to see New York in a way not possible without being so far away for longer periods of time. For myself, it is New York, but it could be any other city or town for somebody else living far from home. Living abroad offers the opportunity for invaluable life perspective and personal reflection. I am learning things about myself, people, and the world around me everyday. What does it all mean? I have no idea. But at least I'm able to think about things in a new way.

Oh, New York City...

Anybody who has spent at least several years in New York City and enjoyed it, can't help but compare it to every other city they go to. I am very guilty of this. While wandering around Santiago I can't help but draw constant comparisons, which I know isn't always fair.

I can't expect every city to have 38 Thai restaurants within 20 blocks of my apartment or hundreds of options for food at 4am. I know that not every city has entire neighborhoods dedicated to everything from Korean food to chandeliers, fabric and everything in between. Not every city has hundreds of free, top-notch entertainment options throughout the year. And it sadly isn't even a standard for all cities to have metros running 24 hours a day. Yet, after so much time living and working in NYC and growing up 30 minutes from it I have become a bit spoiled.

So, almost 4 months away and no return trip in sight, I am beginning to miss certain conveniences and luxuries more and more. Of course, in between adventures and daily life in Chile I have moments missing my family and friends, but I tend to think of NYC on a more frequent basis. Living in NYC is nothing but a love/hate relationship. It is the extreme, "THIS is life." highs, and rock bottom "I hate this fucking place with a passion" lows that make NYC so wild to live in. The city is always interesting and constantly keeps playing with your mind and emotions. I was so ready to get out of New York and live somewhere else and I still am very happy to be away, but NYC is still never far from my mind whether I want it to be or not.

That being said, here are a few images I took in my last month in New York:

Pushing through the crowds on Fifth Ave

Biking up Broadway

Occupy the heart

Highline Park overlooking the Hudson River

Classic NYC pretzel cart

The Time Warner Center

Reading the paper by Cooper Union

feeding the squirrel who would hangout outside and sometimes in, our apartment

He was harmless, funny and adorable... Oh, New York City...

Tilt-shift photos

Some more images with the the Nikon 24mm tilt-shift lens taken on the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle in NY:

Tilt-shift Lens

I just rented a Nikon 24mm tilt-shift lens and I have to say I have fallen in love. It offers an entirely new way to approach photography. It opens up so many creative doors. From incredibly selective focus to perspective control, it does things most other lenses don't. I have a few days with it to shoot some images for my architecture portfolio. It's fun to take advantage of the bizarre effects it can produce, aside from capturing immaculate architectural images. Here are a few images from just messing around.

14th street and 10th ave

Construction site below the Highline Park

The Highline leading uptown

The IAC Building - Frank Gehry

The Meatpacking District

Random Photos

Street performers in Union Square

Photos of the Day

Some random photos I've shot recently:

Chambers Street station

Financial District

Chambers Street J Train

Ortley Beach, lone fisherman

Under the pier

Anthony Vertullo - FS flip in Mahwah

Heelpflip

Boardslide