Take a peek into pieces of my life! Here are some photos I snapped in LIC and 1st Ave.
Introduction
A couple things happened in September, my X-S10 was repaired, I went out more for photo walks, the Fujifilm X Summit, and many more. In this issue, I will share some pieces of my September in LIC and 1st Ave.
Long Island City
Long Island City is just a river away, and it is very easy to go from Roosevelt to LIC via ferry, just one stop. The Astoria ferry was set to increase on Sept 12, so I went there on Sept 4 to get myself vaccinated and enjoy the breeze. Right across the Roosevelt Island, there is a power generation station called Ravenswood Generating Station. It was a very sunny day, with just a touch of clouds in the sky.
There were quite a lot of people on the ferry. I cannot distinguish commuters from tourists, everyone is up on the second deck to have a great time. It was great to see people coming to outside again, we’ve been quarantined for too long.
Looking far away on the ferry to Long Island City one is unlikely to miss the large Pepsi Cola sign. A Coca Cola fan myself, I think Pepsi is for household cleaning. However, many would disagree. What we can all agree is the sign becomes very vibrant under the sun and it looks awesome!
Once I got off the ferry, I started walking over to the vaccination site. I walked pass a dead end with an “end” sign and a lot of barricades. These barricades were used in the July 4th celebration, I think. There were a lot of people, so barricades are surely needed.
Once I finished getting that vaccine into my body, I came back to take the ferry back to Roosevelt Island. The ferry ran once every one hour, so I had a long wait. I just took my camera and wondered around, then I saw this truly amazing skyline of Manhattan.
Photo Walk Along 1st Ave
One day I was overstressed by school work, and decided to go on a photo walk. I took the Roosevelt Island tram to get to Manhattan, and decided to walk along First Ave. The tram station is a two story building, looking down from the arrival portal is a great view of everything down below, and I captured a conversation of a bus driver.
The main purpose of this walk was originally to check out Greenacre Park, which is an urban oasis waterfall in the heart of Manhattan. It was a great spot, close enough to home, just bring a book or a sketchbook and I can imagine myself having an awesome afternoon. I’ll come back next time!
Walking along the 1st Ave, I walked pass the United Nations building. However it was surrounded by black bars, and no interesting photo can be taken with my 35mm lens without getting suspicious.
I kept walking, and I saw something interesting, so unique to New York City, and that is a lot of steam coming out of the ground. The first time I saw this was at the Met, I initially thought there was a fire but everyone seemed ok with it. Now, after a year, it’s normal to me now. Regardless, it still made an interesting photo.
I saw this massive sculpture outside of a children’s hospital. A playful sculpture of a dog with a New York City taxi on its nose, wearing a mask because… well, COVID is still here, although nobody cares about it now.
The spider man animation produced by Sony depicted a culture of putting stickers everywhere in NYC, and that is true. This electricity box pretty much captures the essence of the sticker culture. There are political messages, graffiti, advertisement, stuff I have no idea of, and of course, googly eyes.
Then I walked past a public laundry shop. I saw an old man reading inside the shop alone, with the machines running and the man is inside the world of knowledge. The scene is very cinematic, and harmonious comparing to all the chaos outside. It is still possible to find peace in the chaotic forrest of concrete and steel beams. We just have to look for it.
Sun was setting again, I hopped onto the subway, and headed back home. I think 1st Ave is a great walk, not too many people comparing to 5th Ave, and there are many interesting things on the streets, just waiting for a shutter click.
Equipments
Most photos are taken with a Fujifilm X-T4. My X-S10 had a viewfinder issue and had to go to the repair shop. The majority of the Long Island City photos are taken with the Fujinon XF 23mm F2, and the majority of photos of the 1st Ave are taken using a Fujinon XF 35mm F1.4.
Legal
“Street Photography” usually is done in a public place such as a street, sidewalk or park involving candid images of people going about their daily lives. This type of photography is permitted in the U.S. under the legal premise established by the Supreme Court that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place. (Osterreicher)
However, if you are one of the subjects and my article makes you uncomfortable and would like me to take your picture down or just want to quickly say hi, please kindly let me know.
References
Osterreicher, Attorney Mickey H. “Street Photography and the Law: What You Need to Know.” PDN Online, 27 Dec. 2018.
License
These pictures are distributed by Hongjun Wu under the CC BY-NC 3.0 license.
Share — You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt — You are free to remix, transform, and build upon the material.
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
Non-Commercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
