To be honest, to be able to capture New York City in one photograph is baffling. There are so many different aspects of New York City that can’t be contained in only one photograph, so having this Snapshot Day for Macaulay, to me, was difficult. How do I capture New York City? That was the question that ran through my mind when I first thought about this assignment. Then it came to: what is New York City, really? It’s unique to each person who lives and visits here. When you think about New York City, the basics come to mind: the shining lights, the skyscrapers, the bridges and the bustling sidewalks even at midnight. Then I realized that it didn’t have to be anything complicated. New York City is just New York City, no matter where you are in the city. So, to me, New York City is a bowl of ramen noodles.

This is an overly simplified version, of course. New York City is home to so many diverse cultures, and food is no exception. For the night of the eleventh, I went out for sushi with some friends, and I ordered some ramen noodles. This photograph loosely follows the rule of thirds; the large ramen bowl is on the first line, and the small saucer for soy sauce falls on the second line.  There is also the pattern of lines on the wooden table. The initial focus is on the bowl of ramen – it takes up most of the picture. The way the focus is on the bowl makes it seem like it’s the foreground and everything else that is out of focus the background. The more you stare at a picture though, the more you notice the rest of the details. Your eyes are first pulled into the bowl of ramen and then you start noticing the soy sauce, the chopsticks, the cup of water and someone’s elbow across the table.