THE LOMO APPROACH: When time is rare, I found the Lomo a capable camera for holiday snapshots. To not run the risk of getting slave of my own photographic intentions during trips when time is limited. And anyway, I think that Lomography brought an unexpected creativ impuls into armateur photography.

NYC LOMOS ‌ SELECTED PIECES OF HOLIDAY SNAPSHOTS FROM NYC. (08.2002). DIGITALLY RETOUCHED.

> NYC LOMO SLIDESHOW [1,4 MB]
[Requires Macromedia Flash4 or higher Versions; Popups must be enabled]

As an alternative to the flash version the slideshow is also available as exe-file [1,4 MB] > DOWNLOAD HERE

FAST, RAW, BIZARR AND COOL, LIKE TRACKS FROM SONIC YOUTH. THESE ARE MY IMPRESSIONS OF NYC. A BRIEF OUTLINE OF A TRAVEL DIARY - FULL WITH PERSONALLY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXPLORING NYC

Approaching Manhattan from JFK airport on Hwy 495, driving through Queens you will see a face of NYC beating all cliche drawn from urban decay photography. The approach to Midtown Manhattan over Hwy 495 from Queens is very impressive. The first time you see the island Manhattan, you are crossing a knoll covered with a farranging cementary and at the horizont - the Manhattan skyline suggesting the image of bizarre crocodile teeth. Minutes later you dive through the East River and come up in Midtown Manhattan through the Midtown tunnel.

A BED TO SLEEP

Midtown Manhattan is a good starting point for daily exploration of NYC. When you are searching for extraordinary hotels within this area, you will like the Carlton Arms with crazy rooms styled by various artists and the renaissance style Wolcott. Both of them are quite different to the mass and not really expensive compared to the alternatives downtown. Cheaper accomodations you will find in Queens and Brooklyn. But unfortunatly the daily trips to Manhattan are time consuming.
For getting more information about a places to sleep in NYC try New York habitat.

NYC BY FOOT

NYC itself is a unique, expressive metropolis with very different faces. I personally prefered the upcoming districts with bohemian tendencies, like Greenwich Village, Lower Eastside, Tribeca, Soho and and and … to the barren athmosphere of Lower Manhattan and the Financial District. But I think the best way of exploring a city is to walk across the streets instead of jumping from spot to spot. Do so - also in Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens, wherever - just do not look like a tourist ;)
Guide books for independent travellers provides good ideas for walking trips. I myself relied on the "Let's go" travel guide book.

GET AN OVERVIEW

In general I don't really tend to classical all inclusive tourists tours. In case of the circle line though I really can recommend the Circle Line full island cruise starting from Pier 42 (42nd street, west harbour) around Manhattan in three hours for getting an overview of this borrow - not only from above. Apart from the nerve racking patriotic blather of the travel giude you get great views on NY, you won't get in another way.

MUSIC AND OTHER CULTURAL STUFF

Music, culture and atmosphere - the ingredients of a sleepless time at Gotham.

Especially for me, it was a great surprise to hear two of my favourite musicans during the short stay in NYC. Sonic Youth at their one and only concert in their hometown that year for free at the summerstage in Central Park - and John Zorn at the Tonic Club.

One of the stages you will find John Zorn the founder of Tzadik and associated musicans performing their acts is the Tonic Club and Subtonic: A cell for avant garde and experimental music. You will find it at 107 Norfolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets in Manhattan's Lower East Side. At the same time the legendary Knitting Factory seemed to drift in more commercial fields of music with a broader spectrum.

In an endless row of NYC theatres there is one I want to mention here. The fabulous Apollo Theatre at the main street in Harlem: 125th Street, 253 West. Once a week there is the amateur night, at which the auditory decide whether the artist or better said the amateur artist stays on stage or leaves.

For photography entusiasts the International Center for Photography besides small galleries and ateliers which are changing in very short periods, could be interesting, depending on the current exhibitions. IPC is located in Midtown Manhattan, 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street.

The city that never sleeps changes very fast. An overview of current cultural events with an broad appraoch gives the NY TimeOut Magazine.
For deeper cultural insights I can recommend a very good art magazine which is focussed on the region - the Bomb Magazine.

LOCAL INFORMATION

To stay tuned and informed about daily things - try New York Times and NY1, NYC's 24 hour Newschannel on the Web.

BOOKS ABOUT NYC

Starting my trip to NYC I was endowed with the book "Delirious New York" from Rem Kohlhaas, I can warmly recommend, especially for people interested in architecture and the history of its beginning. A celebration and analysis of NYC - but definitely no guide book.

My search for an photo book or illustrated book about NYC which reflects my impressions of this city wasn't really easy. But I found one from David Bradford, a NY cap driver. It is not really surprising that cap drivers of NYC get deep insights in the variouse faces of the city. That's what the book is about - manifold! * Drive by shootings * Photographs by a New York Taxi Driver * David Bradford

FURTHER STUFF

Most of the locations mentioned in this text, you will find at google earth based on satellite views covering the whole world. For NYC high resolution views are available.

For further insights in NYC - try www.zettler.at which provides a collection of numerous NYC photos from different NYC trips.