For my series of photos, I tried to incorporate graffiti, sculptures, and street art into my shots of the sites that we visited, as well as several from my commute to and from Brooklyn. I also included some textures/patterns that I found interesting. Graffiti can be found pretty much everywhere in New York, from stickers and quick tags to full murals, on buildings, mailboxes, even cars and one particularly interesting cement mixer. It is a part of New York culture that is sometimes embraced and sometimes subverted, but permeates the entirety of the city. I saw at least two people (no photos unfortunately) wearing Kieth Haring shirts today. There was a pretty good chunk of the day where I wasn't seeing anything, which i suppose is a good thing, I don't necessarily want to see the High Line covered in spray paint. In cases such as this, sculptures, mosaics, and murals serve the purposes of street art.
That all being said, what I took from our trip today goes far beyond street art and its significance to New York City. I do not take photographs. I don't believe that photos do justice to the experience of being somewhere. In fact, I felt like an idiot taking pictures all day long. For example, the third photo from the left in the top row is from the terminal at the World Trade Center. It is incredibly vast, and I feel that this photograph is belittling to the experience of being there. The same goes for the High Line, Bryant Park, and Paley Park. These three sites are very different from one another, but I can recall having the same feelings at each of these. The High Line is more of a narrative space; it contracts and expands, creates tension and release like a musical composition. Bryant Park contains a multitude of unique, intimate spaces embedded within the larger perimeter area, which is one of my favorite places in the city. This contrasts with the open central lawn, which provides a welcome escape from the density of the surrounding urban environment. Similarly, Paley Park is an oasis from the sensory overload from the city. The sound of the waterfall drowns out the insanity of the city outside, the trees provide an excellent canopy of shade, and combined with the mist of from the waterfall make the space exceptionally cool. It was an intimate and much needed break from the sensory overload of Manhattan.
A reason that I chose to focus on street art is that it reflects peoples experiences and the connections that people have with their city. It is not necessarily always positive, sometimes it is abstract, sometimes it is blatant, but in many cases it is the truest form of expression that exists in a city.
That all being said, what I took from our trip today goes far beyond street art and its significance to New York City. I do not take photographs. I don't believe that photos do justice to the experience of being somewhere. In fact, I felt like an idiot taking pictures all day long. For example, the third photo from the left in the top row is from the terminal at the World Trade Center. It is incredibly vast, and I feel that this photograph is belittling to the experience of being there. The same goes for the High Line, Bryant Park, and Paley Park. These three sites are very different from one another, but I can recall having the same feelings at each of these. The High Line is more of a narrative space; it contracts and expands, creates tension and release like a musical composition. Bryant Park contains a multitude of unique, intimate spaces embedded within the larger perimeter area, which is one of my favorite places in the city. This contrasts with the open central lawn, which provides a welcome escape from the density of the surrounding urban environment. Similarly, Paley Park is an oasis from the sensory overload from the city. The sound of the waterfall drowns out the insanity of the city outside, the trees provide an excellent canopy of shade, and combined with the mist of from the waterfall make the space exceptionally cool. It was an intimate and much needed break from the sensory overload of Manhattan.
A reason that I chose to focus on street art is that it reflects peoples experiences and the connections that people have with their city. It is not necessarily always positive, sometimes it is abstract, sometimes it is blatant, but in many cases it is the truest form of expression that exists in a city.
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