Street Photography: The American Flag in NY

[photosmash=]
Note: Photo is incorrectly labeled NY Life Building, it is in fact the Met Life Tower, Sorry!

New York City is full of tall buildings, historic landmarks and generally well-known points of interest; it has everything one can think of, and then some. Yet amidst the hustle, and bustle, and grandness that Manhattan has to offer, certain things are often left ignored. These things, often trite or commonplace usually have no significance in being overlooked; it struck me however that one oft-unnoticed thing happens to be the Flag of the United States of America. Of all things, our country’s flag is probably the greatest symbol of unity of some 300-plus million Americans; it seems that at moments of hardship for our country, flags seem to pop up everywhere, at most other times though, their prevalence dwindles. Yet, their presence is undeniable, so for my street photography project, I set out to visit different points of Manhattan in search of the American flag.

In my twelve-photo set, the one shared theme throughout is not only the capturing of the American flag, but doing so within the larger scope of more recognizable places throughout the City. I tried to accomplish this (in some of the photos) by entirely shifting the focus off of the world renowned buildings onto the American flags seen in the photos. Part of the irony that hopefully my photos gave off was the fact that normally when one gazes at the Empire State Building, or the Radio City Music Hall, one’s attention is focused onto the building itself, however in my photographs, the center of attention is always on the American flag, contrary to how one may view the scene in real life.

The idea for the set came to me several weeks ago, and was solidified as I walked down the parade route of the Veterans Day Parade. However unnoticed the flags may be, one thing was obviously apparent: they happen to be everywhere in the city. Up and down the streets, lining parks, placed on the sides, tops and bases of buildings, the ‘Stars and Stripes’ can be seen flying in all their glory. For something so present in the city (and in many cases so large), it amazes me that so often one can pass them by without noticing our country’s most widely recognized symbol. Whatever the case, I understood that the flags were there and I set out to capture them in various scenes.

Upon deciding on the theme, the actual part of taking the pictures was pretty simple. It just so happens that at most points of national achievement or pride, or buildings of significance, the American flag is proudly flown. Prior to taking any photos (other than three test ones), I did some research online to find out what buildings offered the best angles with American flags in view, I compiled a list of about fifteen places that I thought offered the best possibilities for my set. Taking the pictures themselves turned out to be the easy part, as I soon realized though, several elements were working against me.

As is often the case in Manhattan, scaffolding caused more problems than one in my photographic endeavors. Its presence on desired buildings, such as the Chrysler Building forced me to reevaluate my options and ultimately find new angles to shoot with. While not terrible, many of the resultant shots were not the one’s originally intended. A major case in point was my experience in Rockefeller Center.  In preparing for their annual Christmas Tree, they had set up level upon level of scaffolding both around the tree and around the famous golden statue lining the ice rink. Certainly not anticipated, my plan had to be entirely redrawn, and instead I had to settle for a nice photo of 30 Rock. Apart from their unattractiveness, the temporary structures also were troublesome in that they blocked out shots from further away.

Yet, construction scheduling ultimately ended up being secondary to the main problem that was ‘wind conditions’. Nobody likes to look at a flag when it is simply wrapped around a pole, so in many scenarios I forced either to settle for lesser desired shots, or minutes of waiting for the wind to get it right. In the end, I hope that I got the majority of the photos ‘in action.’

After taking all of the photos, I made the decision to digitally edit several of them in ways that my camera could not originally accomplish. In doing so, I sought to bring the focus onto the flags, so in many instances it is the only clear thing in the photograph. That being said, one will notice that after zooming in on the photos to the umpteenth degree that I ultimately sacrificed the integrity of the photo for the image that I had created in my mind. If viewed though in the intended dimensions, one cannot notice this, and they can be appreciated as they are hoped to be.

In setting out to capture the American flag, I set out to encapsulate not only the ‘Stars and Stripes’ themselves but the values and significance that lies underneath. In many instances, the American flag is not the only symbol of our country, but instead is joined by the likes of the Empire State Building or Times Square. Hopefully, my collection can justly show both.  Enjoy.