Month: September 2017

Sorry for the delay.

DUMBO is a neighborhood in Brooklyn and is an acronym for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The neighborhood has seen dramatic change with Brooklyn Bridge Park and many new condos. On Thursday evenings, there is a concert series located under what they name The Archway. It is located directly under the Manhattan Bridge and is a public space that holds many different events.

Thursday the 14th, there is live hip Jazz music by a local band that has over 1 million view online. Thursday the 21st, there is a DJ who composes beats that raked up over 10 million views online. I’m not fully sure which one I am going to attend yet or I might even go to both but I will make time to be there.

When it comes to composition, I feel like with Jazz music will be a crowd full of well dressed fans from the period. The band itself has that 1930s vibe which would like great on camera. With the DJ, the crowd will probably be more mellow taking in all the beats. Either way, the venue is a beautifully shaped arched. I want to incorporate the neighborhood and how music brings the community together.

UPDATE: There wasn’t much going on at this concert for a full story. My photo assignment was done on The Medieval Festival instead.

I have two ideas that I can’t decide between for this photo essay.

1. Since we’re in the season of US Open tennis, I decided to visit Arthur Ashe Stadium and the surrounding tennis courts to document the going-ons this weekend. Being a huge tennis fan, especially when the major is brought to America this time of year, I thought that it would make sense for me head to Queens to photograph this event. This would also be a prime opportunity given that there is a large possibility that two American women could be playing in the final this Saturday. This also means that there will be more fans, and people who will or won’t know who to root for. Furthermore, since it will be two American women at the only tennis major in America, there will definitely be a buzz at the courts that will be great to document. Although I don’t have tickets to any of the matches, it is free to go onto some of the smaller courts, and there are always large crowds that gather outside of the bigger courts to watch the game on some of the large screens outside. The women’s singles final takes place this Saturday @ 4:00.

2. My second idea is to visit the Smorgasburg food market in Williamsburg. Being an avid food lover, I would like to document all of the different foods that will be featured at the market. There will also be a large number of food vendors there that I could interview. Possible questions could be what food are you selling, why did you decide to come to Smorgasburg to sell your food, and what do you hope to get out of this experience? Smorgasburg is a free event, so it will be easy to go there and photograph all of the different food and vendors there. I of course plan to take pictures of the food, as well as the vendors I will try interview and possibly patrons who are there to just try out the different foods.

With all the turmoil and animosity going on these last couple of day over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and now the Trump Administration wanting to “wind down”/ end the program. I feel for my the photo essay, I want my to display the sentiments of people over this action. Being raised by an immigrant parent and seeing their dreams unfold because they were given the opportunity to come to the United States, bring concerns that these children who are here in the United States through DACA program won’t be given the same possibility. If were are a nation that boost its ego on its care for children well then the ending of the program is a major contradiction to that and is damaging the children and our future.

1. Im still waiting for confirmation on my subject. I plan on doing a day in the life of a FDNY paramedic. A good friend of mine is a paramedic in the city, and is always telling me about the crazy stuff he encounters on a daily basis.

My intention is to capture that “craziness” in a complete narrative. I will be using Manhattan as the back drop for my essay. I hope to convey, the stress involved in being an paramedic, as well as the fulfillment of helping others and saving lives. My ultimate goal is to capture the grittiness of the job, it’s highs and lows.

For my photo essay, I have a few ideas I am considering.

The first is to profile a couple up-and-coming designers and either attend their shows or accompany them to events during Fashion Week to observe how they are network and work on expanding their brands in the industry, as well as the challenges that they face. I have contacted two designers who are relatively low-profile and both are willing to have me interview them and work with me to get the material I would need for this project.

The second is to profile a Georgia native DJ that immigrated to the US via a talent visa. He struggled for a couple years to sustain himself without documentation whilst working on on his music career, miles away from his family. He recently gained citizenship and is now signed to a label and has been booking numbers of shows. For this story, I’d like to address not only the struggles he faced when he immigrated to the country but also his pathway to success in his music career. I have contacted him to inquire whether he has any upcoming shows I would be able to attend.

The third is to cover the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, which is taking place September 9-10 at Washington Square Park. This annual exhibit features hundreds of artists, young and old, who come together to display their paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry, woodcraft, and everything in between. The photo essay would feature some of the artists and the reasons they have chosen to dedicate themselves to their artistic careers, despite the difficulties to break through and sustain oneself as an artist.

For my photo essay I plan on attending the 2017 Peace Lanterns Festival taking place on Saturday, September 16 in Gantry Plaza State Park. The event is hosted by HarborLab and The Buddhist Council of New York to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace. It is an event for all cultures and religions to enjoy consisting of a day full of different activities such as meditation, yoga, painting, dance, kayaking, and of course creating and setting afloat the paper lanterns. The purpose of this event is to unite as a community and promote peace. There is no special access needed for this event as it is open to the public. I think this event focused unity and peace is much needed considering the all the violent events and general aggression occurring not only in our country, but around the world. I hope to express this using photographs of the different activities and all the different groups of people. Of course I will also capture the lit lanterns on the water at night. This event relies heavily on volunteers that I will interview, as well as speakers, to understand what the event means to them.

While Central Park is a citywide landmark and enclave for conservation its charm is in its escapism. New York City high rises peek over treetops; airplanes etch contrails in the sky; but this park represents a refuge for nature, not an attempt at integration with the surrounding metropolis. For this reason the piers that circumscribe Manhattan, especially by the Hudson River, offer a more striking image of nature’s place within the concrete jungle. And the bike paths that trace this region aren’t just a tourist’s best friend but a miniature highway rubbing shoulders with the real thing. It’s more than a convenient bike lane: there’s a lot to see and do by the Hudson. Scenic vistas are peppered with restaurants; biking along the underpass you’ll see the whole gamut of sports being played, from basket- to baseball and soccer, in the typical New Yorker pickup style; like the rest of the city there’s a niche for everyone, and I want to help others find theirs.

I want to reproduce what I’d consider a typical Hudson River experience with this photo essay. However, this is more than acting as a tour guide—for me it’s about capturing the immediacy of these experiences. My plan is to record myself biking up and down the Hudson’s bike path. My photos will contrast the Hudson River freeway with the sights and sounds of its adjacent piers. I already have a trail mapped out in my head: I would start my journey on Fifty-fifth street Twelfth avenue and bike up the Greenway, as the path is called, towards Ninety-sixth street. Between these two points are basketball courts, gymnastic rings, several interesting modern sculptures, and tons of geese. But what’s just as important to me is how the public uses it all; I want people interacting with the environment to bring these experiences to life. Hopefully I will also be allowed to interview the people I photograph, so I can learn why they choose to spend their time here by the Hudson. This will also add a more human element to my tableau that will, I hope, further impress the intersectional nature of this other environmental enclave.

For my photojournalism assignment, I plan on doing a piece at the World Trade Center for the anniversary of September 11th. As someone who lost a lot on that fateful day over a decade and a half ago, this is a story that speaks to me personally as a journalist. There is so much material that is possible to capture at this site, including the museum, the memorial, the new World Trade Center, places around the site, and the many people affected by this tragedy. Sixteen years after the worst day in American history, I would like to hear the stories of New Yorkers who lived through that day and get their opinions on the political climate of the city, the country, and the world in 2017. The goal of my story is to reflect back on what happened, tell the stories of real New Yorkers, and reflect on how much has changed/stayed the same all these years later.

In a world as technologically advanced as ours, music is accessible with the mere click of a button. Streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal provide millions of songs at our fingertips. However, the vinyl industry is still afloat. In fact, it’s had a resurgence.

Though many record stores have closed its doors in recent years (such as Other Music and Rebel Rebel), vinyl records are projected to sell 40 million units in 2017. “Many of today’s consumers just want to own something that they can hold in their hands,” Jordan Passman wrote in a recent Forbes article.

For my photo essay, I want to visit the surviving record shops of New York City. I plan to photograph decisive moments that take place in each store, full of candor and authenticity. I will interview record store owners and consumers, asking them how they’ve manage to survive and why they choose to do so. I will ask them how they feel the industry has changed over the years, and, finally, what they think the future for the physical format holds.

For my photo essay, I would like to do a story on the iconic place of Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment. I grew up seeing my parents watch and enjoy Seinfeld as their daily late-night entertainment program. However, understandably at my youth, I was unable to interpret what they found to be so hilarious and relatable. Fast forward to the future where I am now a young adult, whenever I watch the show I find it to be just as amusing and great to watch as they had. The show just has this timeless charisma that I believe would be fun and interesting for several generations to come. I want to document this place through pictures to see the variety of people from different backgrounds that are familiar with the place as well as its significance to the hit TV show.

When it comes to obtaining access to Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment, the task should be fairly easy since it is an open, public space. I can definietely expect to take some pictures with elements of symmetry from the alining of the buildings. There are many color combinations available since the buildings adjacent to each other are different colors. I hope to capture some decisive moments of the neighborhood animals, the individuals walking by and the vehicles passing by too. From an exploration of multiple angles to point my camera, I should expect some shots of dramatic leading lines such as the staircase leading up to the apartment door. If granted permission, I hope to use “Layers” shots from the top of the staircase. Finally, for the individuals that I’ll be interviewing, I hope to get up close and personal headshots of them.