nythroughthelens: The New York City skyline...

The New York City skyline featuring the Manhattan Bridge as seen from the Brooklyn Bridge. New York City.

I am in an exceptionally great mood today. Tonight, I am attending the first ever gallery showing of my photography. It’s a group show with three other photographers and a private event where 8 of my photos will be on display. I will post all about it over the next few days (with photos of course). I also just got back from the orthopedic specialist who gave me the go ahead to abandon my crutches (from my bike accident a week ago). While I am still dealing with a ligament tear, I am thrilled that I can just wear my knee brace to the event tonight!

In honor of today, I am re-posting this post from a few months back. It’s about my photography origins and it makes me well up with tears when I read it because it feels like I have come so very far in a relatively short amount of time. It’s been a bumpy road full of challenges and road-blocks but it’s also been one hell of an adventure.

It seems fitting to post today somehow. I am so thankful for everyone here and all the wonderful people who I met and friended on this wild journey. I can only hope that the years to come will be just as challenging, inspiring and full of brilliant moments like the ones I have had the pleasure to experience. Enjoy :)

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I started taking photos a few years back in a rather stream of consciousness manner. I don’t drive since I live in New York City and without much in the way of material things or financial prosperity walking became a way to deal with stress. It also became the main way to experience New York City in a way I hadn’t experienced the city before. I would choose a direction and walk as far as my feet would take me (I still do this). I started noticing lines, forms and structures I had previously ignored. Scenery unfolded before me as if it was just rendered before my eyes.

To embrace my new-found sense of wonder, I decided to take the only camera I had at the time with me on these walking adventures. It was a simple point and shoot which was less than $100. It was all I could afford at the time and I just wanted to be able to record the moments and experiences that made my heart swell. After doing this for several years, I decided to start posting my photos online to keep a record of some of my walking adventure photos. It didn’t occur to me that there would be an audience for my photography. I had no formal training in photography and no real knowledge of the rules or major concepts that defined the field.

The website I started posting on a year ago is now where my main site points to which is my Tumblr. It’s been quite a journey since I posted those first few photos online. Along the way I ended up on the receiving end of a variety of experiences that have changed my world in a truly dramatic manner. I am so appreciative of the many opportunities I have had come my way. With around 30,000 followers currently on Tumblr, I am extremely appreciative of all of the private messages and notes as well as the bevy of talented people I have come to know.

I have also been floored by the recognition and interaction on Google Plus. One of my greatest joys in this world is to share the beauty I find in this city I call home. It fills my heart with happiness that I can not only share these moments with the world but that there is a platform to meaningfully interact with other inspiring photographers, thinkers and people who are invested in making the platform a welcoming and encouraging place to share.

A wonderful person on Google Plus shared a quote by Henri Matisse that really resonated with me: “a large part of the beauty of a picture arises from the struggle which an artist wages with his limited medium.” I think that there is a tremendous amount of truth in the sentiment that when you are limited you are forced to work extremely hard to get the results you desire.

The photo in this post was taken on one of my walks across the Brooklyn Bridge. One of my favorite things to do is walk over any of the bridges in lower Manhattan. Each offers a completely different view of New York City and each time I cross any one of them, I still feel butterflies in my stomach as the views of the city’s skylines come into sight.

I hope I never lose that feeling of pure and unadulterated wonder.

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View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

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Buy “The Manhattan Bridge and the New York City Skyline at Sunset” Posters and Prints here, View my store, email me, or ask for help.