Photo 2 of 3

The second photo from my untitled series.

Photo 1 of 3 from new photo series

This is the first image in an untitled series of three that I shot for a new Chilean magazine based out of Antofagasta. It is a mini story of a woman who sees herself on the street. The other two will be posted in upcoming days.

Layover in Bogotá

Colombia is one of those countries that as an American growing up in the 80's and 90's, I was force fed a mostly negative image of. It is unfortunate that the media, popular culture and society tainted my image of a country before I really knew anything of what it was about. As I found out the other day, Colombia is way more than a country filled with cocaine dens where Americans are kidnapped the second they step from the airport. Yet, because of information forced in front of me at an earlier age I didn't know what to expect when finally getting to visit Colombia.

Traveling around South America I met a lot of people who have spent significant amounts of time in Colombia or planned to in the future. The image you get now, from people who actually know it personally, and not just from stories you hear on the news, is extremely positive. The saying I keep hearing is that the people of Colombia really want to shed the image of being a hostile country and go out of there way to do so.

This is exactly what I found. Unfortunately, I only had one day in Bogota, so I don't have the experience of somebody with a well developed personal opinion of the country. I got the smallest taste of what life in Bogota is like and it left me wanting a whole lot more. I had more random encounters with genuinely nice people in my 16 hours in Bogota, than I did in weeks of time in other countries. The positive image I have of this city is based upon the helpful and caring people that stepped right into my life for a moment while I wandered the streets.

Nestled amongst the Andes, with thick forests all around, the city itself is beautiful and oozing with colorful character that kept me enthralled for every minute I had there. The buildings were bright and well aged, with all the cracks, holes and peeling paint adding to the aesthetic appeal. Cobblestoned streets with vibrant grass popping out between the cracks, lead through tiny alleys and up steep hills. There is ever-present street art which really brings a unique energy to the city.

All I did, all day, was walk around, sit in plazas, eat and take pictures. I headed out of the airport at 9am and ignoring the advice of the information guy at the airport, I took a bus instead of the easier, faster taxi ride ($.75 vs $10). I really had minimal idea of where I was going. I looked at a half-loaded Google map for a few minutes and figured if I just found a bus going straight on the road out of the airport I would be able to figure it out. And it all worked out quite easily. Within 30 minutes I got to La Candeleria in the Centro which is a small neighborhood in the hills of Bogota.

My first encounter was with a nice Colombian man who happened to be homeless. I was eating a massive chocolate croissant-like pastry {photo} in a park and this thin, 20-something-year-old, absolutely filthy but completely unthreatening man approached me and asked me for a piece of my bread. I had just been thinking about how it's literally too big to eat alone, especially after a breakfast of coffee, some strange, mild white cheese, eggs with ham and bread. And he popped up to alleviate the situation. There was something about this man that I immediately saw he wished he didn't have to be asking for food, but was just so desperate he had no other choice. He cupped his hands, stood about 5 feet away and asked in the least threatening way possible for a piece of bread. I couldn't say no, so I ripped a tiny bite off for myself and handed him a piece the size of my hand. He said "que bueno, gracias," about four times before devouring it. He couldn't hide his sincere gratitude if he tried.

This looked even more appetizing before it was stuffed into a plastic bag, smearing all the chocolate drizzle on top.

Being from New York you get trained to ignore most, if not all, beggars. There are simply too many of them and more often than not they are ungrateful or overly annoying. But this guy was alright.

Twenty blocks later I had worked my way through a number of tiny side streets and I was crouched on the sidewalk shooting some biker making his way around a bend. An old man in his 70's with a thick white moustache stopped walking beside me to avoid getting in my way. He then proceeded to ask me how I was liking Bogota and told me about streets nearby I should check out. I got the feeling he was just walking home and saw some young foreigner half lying on the ground in his neighborhood. So why the hell not stop and talk to him? It was genuinely friendly moment between two strangers.

A few hours later I had made my way higher up into the hills. I had heard it's best not to go high up because it can get more dangerous. But everything about the day so far had been so enjoyable and I didn't feel the least bit threatened or anything less than pleasantly surprised by the people here. As I was taking photos of a window cleaner rappelling between two windows, a cop came up to me out of nowhere.

Generally when this happens I have no interest in talking to them and I assume he wants to complain about something I'm doing wrong. But this young cop came up to me just to recommend that I don't walk farther up the hill,  and even around here it is better to keep the camera out of sight, just in case. We then talked about why I was in Colombia for the day and what I do in Chile. He also let me know that he would keep any eye out while I was shooting around there. He was just really damn nice. What is it with these people?

While sitting down in a restaurant for lunch I asked the waiter what he recommended because I didn't know anything about Colombian food. He recommended trout with some sort of mushroom sauce. He came back to ask how my food was, and when I told him it was very good, he immediately flashed a smile. He was no doubt feeling proud that he made a good selection. Again, genuinely nice.

Getting a bus back to the airport proved to be a little bit of a hassle. Traffic here in the Centro at rush hour was chaotic. There was an endless stream of buses coughing out black exhaust, sitting in gridlock traffic across massive roads with no real lanes. The buses don't really have designated stops and just hit the brakes for whoever waves at them, where ever they are. That, or  it passes them by for no apparent reason.

After 25 minutes of confusion and realizing this location wasn't going to work. I headed to another mass of people on the side of a busy street and finally crammed my way onto a bus that was well over capacity. What I found fascinating is that people would hop on through the backdoor and to my surprise, every single person would pass money through a packed bus of strangers to the driver up front. The driver would then send their change back and it would pass through a dozen hands before returning. Somehow it would all make it back, every time.

I had several other encounters with nice Colombians throughout the day and it just left me feeling really good inside. It was refreshing to have so many strangers treating an outsider like family and experiencing an environment unlike a majority of cities I've been to. I don't know if all of Colombia is like this or if I just happened to stumble upon an uncharacteristically nice chain of events. But either way my first impressions are overwhelmingly positive and I can't wait to go back.

Random Photo - Santiago Centro

This is a photo taken from Cerro Santa Lucia looking west towards Santiago Centro.

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!

Random Photo - Hoboken

I shot this photo about four years ago. It was late one night after I had worked a 16 hour day on a commercial shoot down the street. This is the far end of Hoboken that most people don't go to. There are a few blocks of random industrial buildings on the end of Hoboken closest to Weehawken.  I have had this sitting on my computer in an obscure folder and just stumbled upon it and figured I'd post it.  

Random Photo - Santiago Centro

Another image from Cerro Santa Lucia:

Cerro Santa Lucia at Dusk

Cerro Santa Lucia is just two blocks from my apartment and I haven't gotten to explore it much until today. I also haven't seen any of the Santiago skyline since I've moved down here, so it was well overdue. It's not as nice as the view from Cerro San Cristobal, but for being just steps from the apartment it's not too bad. This very cool public park is basically a Spanish Colonial style fortress covering a steep hill in the center of Santiago. These aren't views from the top, maybe about half way up, so it does get even better higher up.

Urban Planning vs. People's Homes

While exploring the neighborhoods surrounding my apartment I have encountered some notable buildings, streets and corners of life. Being in Santiago Centro I'm within a 15 minute walk of Barrio Brasil and Yungay, Bella Vista, Bella Artes, Patronato and Providencia. Each with distinct environments and groups of people. 

One area I have found generally bland is south of Alameda around the Santa Lucia Metro station. It is largely high rise apartments that all look exactly the same with minimal nightlife and culture beyond the graffiti covered walls (which themselves are really impressive, but graffiti alone can't make up for an otherwise boring neighborhood). 

Walking down Carmen I did happen to stumble upon these few buildings that must have been half knocked down when the road was put in.

                                    

Not sure what year it was, but it has definitely been for a while. But the strange thing was that beyond being the canvas for some street artists they appear untouched since the day they were half destroyed. Half rooms still remain with doors to the neighboring rooms where I'm assuming people still live. 

It's unfortunate that this building was subject to forced expansion by the city. That, and those ugly high rise apartments in the background are rapidly taking over the skyline.

                                      

Cool street art

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