Spring Is In the Air

Yesterday was the first official day of Spring - the equinox is the day of March and September during which the plane of the Earth's equator lines up precisely with the center of the Sun. With a little help from Daylight Savings Time the days seem a little longer (except if you have to get up at 5am), and even though the air is still nippy with a winter chill, everyone's attitude is just a little warmer. I look forward to many days of roaming the city streets before the intensity of summer heat and humidity make New York feel like a blast furnace.

I spent a few hours yesterday roaming the midtown area near Rockafeller Center with a friend, and although I rarely get much quality shooting done when I'm with someone, I was able to capture a few quality frames.

NOT the South Bronx

In the previous blog entry I posted images of characters I chatted with on 149th Street in the South Bronx. Very different than the usual characters I photograph in midtown Manhattan. On that same day, as I worked my way back to Penn Station, I walked down Fifth Avenue and shot these characters, in sharp contrast to the folks in the Bronx. The heterogeneous diversity of people in New York makes the city a great studio for street photography.

The South Bronx

In 1981 a movie starring Paul Newman entitled Fort Apache, The Bronx portrayed an area of the Manhattan borough, now called the South Bronx, as a corrupt and crime infested neighborhood. The movie created quite a stir at the time, and the area's residents protested about the stereotype it portrayed. I visited the Bronx Documentary Center a few times over the past several weeks to view photojournalism exhibits, and had the opportunity to walk across 149th Street and do some street work. This neighborhood is a far cry from the Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods I've walked in over the past couple of years. It certainly has its share of characters, but I had to be a bit more cautious than usual. No tourists, no fine ladies in mink, no gents in shearling coats shopping at Bergdorf or the Apple Store. Just the local residents recovering from a hard night or getting set up for the day to come, out to pick up daily supplies at the corner bodega - just life ....