Chelsea Red
I have been looking forward to this day for a few weeks now—a day of expression, a day of exposure and experience. Today is the day I am leaving the house with one extra appendage. Today is the day I am shooting my own street photography. It is easy to see some of the anticipation on my face. No matter, I will get better at hiding things like these. Amongst all the good vibes today, I only have one negative thought that has been bugging me: I really wish I had a decent camera.
Ancient, low mega-pixel Kodak or not, I just had to deal. I used what I had to work with and probably dealt quite a bit of damage to me eyes squinting so much to determine whether or not the pictures I was taking were good ones, or at least good by my standards. Insofar as my theme, I am sure I’ll get a few furled brows at first while presenting but believe me I do have a theme: its Chelsea Red. I could have just kept it at “Red” but why should the professionals be the only ones who get to sound artsy. Anyway, the name is pretty self-explanatory. I was in Downtown Manhattan, specifically the Chelsea neighborhood, and I shot just about anything that caught my eye with only one criterion—the color red had to be present in some way. I am afraid to admit that it really is that simple. Anything that caught my eye in which red played a role is probably a shot in the slideshow. The fact that I have thirty-two pictures in all is somewhat of a guarantee to that. Since I cross the 59 St. Bridge when I get to the city by car there are one or two shots in midtown that I took on my way downtown, before I decided to stay in Chelsea. Also, towards the end of the day I had to go further uptown to get home and I took some shots that I just couldn’t pass up. Nonetheless, it is safe to claim that a majority of somewhere around 90% of the photos you will see were took in Chelsea, New York.
I had a lot of fun taking these pictures. I was enjoying myself tremendously that day. I have always liked taking pictures and known that it would make a great hobby for me but I could never quite find the time or the motivation to keep taking pictures. Maybe this time will be different; maybe this time I will be able to stick with it. I do feel like I am on the right path because as luck would have it, just the other day my father excavated his old Minolta from within the darkness of one of our many cluttered closets. He has passed it on to me and I am anxious to become more familiar with its functionality. Digital photography is great, but I have always held a special place in my heart for all things vintage. Just as I would take an old vinyl over a compact disc any day, I know I would prefer to hold a traditionally developed photograph in my hands as well.
Though I was lucky enough to avoid any personal confrontations, I would not say I was not completely without struggle that day. I learned firsthand that if you find a shot you like just take it. Waste as little time as possible because if you wait too long you just might lose it to our old friend time. There are two slides with which I will use delve into further details of the account that taught me so. Also, I am proud to say I jumped a particularly nasty looking fence in order to get the vantage point required to take some of the photos I wanted. Once again, I will discuss details when the relative sides come up.
As I alluded to before, my aim was not originally to capture this “neighborhood portrait” in the manner that I would like to think I did. I had intended to start in Chelsea with whatever few good shots I thought I could find and then move further south, ultimately finding myself somewhere in SoHo perhaps. Well that plan went out that proverbial window once I realized that I was getting shots that I really like right there within that five or six block radius of the pier. For better or for worse, I stayed. The photos captured on that day are organized here for your viewing pleasure. No shots have been technologically altered or edited in any way. I hope you might find some value in these photos, and perhaps, in viewing them, get a small taste of the pleasure I felt in taking them.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:04 am
Your pictures definitely show a natural skill in photography. I really like the second picture on top that shows the glow of the red light near the bridge. Keep up the good work buddy!
December 28th, 2007 at 12:03 am
No one would think that such a simple theme as the color red could evolve into such an intriguing photography project. The pictures you took depict the color red in a new light. You found pictures in which the color red stands out and looks alluring.