New Yorkers say you can easily spot a tourist in Manhattan. They're the one's looking up.
I must confess, when i first walked the streets of NYC in 1990, as much as i tried, i could not help myself. Concrete jungle perhaps, but it's hard not to admit it is an impressive, awe inspiring place. There is something incapsulating about Downtown Manhattan, the noises, the iconic yellow cabs, the steam rising from vents. It pulls people in with it's promises, and like many urban webs, traps them.
11 Years after I had spent several months in New York, I stood in disbelief watching the global news coverage of the horrific events on September 11th, 2001. It was a day which shocked the world, and changed everything.
When the Covid lockdown forced us to stay home, the part of me still wanting to travel, began sifting through all my old photos. It was then that I saw this image
It was early April 1990. Cold. On this particular day a leaden sky blocked out sunlight, creating a flatness, dulling textures. I decided to spend the morning walking downtown, testing my new Minolta with 'Auto-Focus'. Mid afternoon, whilst riding the Staten Island Ferry, I quickly snapped this photo.
It was not until 19 years later, when sifting through old photos from my travels, that i noticed the seagull in this shot, captured, by happenstance, as if flying into the World Trade Centre South Tower 2.
#blackandwhite #skyscraper #happenstance
Camera : Minolta Maxxum-7000, 35mm SLR. Ilford FP4 200
