Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo
Photo: Francisco Collazo
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We never leave home without the camera.
It’s heavy, with its extra battery pack and additional lenses, but Francisco always says, “I know I’ll miss the million dollar picture the day I leave the camera at home.”
We are going out to do errands: buy shampoo and conditioner, mail letters and check our box at the post office on 34th Street and 8th Avenue, stop by the library to pick up some books for research, drop off some donations at Goodwill. It’s a day that has the first hint of spring in the air… one of those days when New Yorkers aren’t exactly sure what to wear– some have on shorts, some still sport winter coats.
It’s lovely, but I don’t expect anything out of the ordinary.
34th and 8th isn’t off the beaten path. Macy’s– “The World’s Largest Store”–is a block away on Herald Square, which is only slightly less crowded than Times Square. It’s at least as commercial: all the chain stores are here– H&M, JC Penney, K-Mart, Borders, Old Navy. With the exception of the one block stretch of Korean restaurants on 31st off 7th, the food in this neighborhood is unremarkable, one indistinguishable pizzeria after another, tucked alongside souvenir shops selling tacky Statues of Liberty, plastic snow globes, and New York themed t-shirts that no New Yorker would ever wear.
After you live anywhere for a while, your eyes adjust and start to glaze. It doesn’t matter how extraordinary, how vibrant, how vital your hometown is, it eventually takes on the sheen of the familiar. You start to believe in its static predictability, to feel certain that you’re tough to surprise and delight. After 10 years, you think you’ve seen everything, and so that’s one of the reasons why you travel.
And then you turn a corner, look up, and realize that even the Empire State Building can look new again.
There’s a lot on 32nd and 7th that’s been razed. Right now it’s a raw hole, littered with the detritus of demolition, exposing the backsides of two adjacent buildings that have been abandoned. It’s protected from the curious and the devious by a chain link fence and a wooden barrier pasted with advertisements about Absolut’s new acai berry vodka and television shows I’ve never heard of.
A year from now, maybe less, the hole will be filled and crowned with a skyscraper, new “luxury condominiums,” probably, the latest in a series. Its windows will glimmer and throw off sunlight in great, gleaming arcs.
You won’t be able to see the Empire State Building. Or maybe you will, but just its tip. You defnitely won’t be able to see it from this angle, seemingly dissolving into a far more modest building to the south.
“Hey, stop for a minute,” I tell Francisco, who’s pressing through the crowd of workers hurrying for the train at the start of rush hour. “Have you ever seen the Empire State Building from this angle?”
Click. A change of lens. More clicks.
We turn the corner and look up. “Have you ever seen that?” I ask Francisco, pointing to the second floor of a building where an old sign advertises hand-rolled cigars made with Cuban seed. It seems like Havana, not New York.
Click.
We’re satisfied, snapped out of our usual way of seeing Manhattan, our vision reframed.
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How do you see your hometown with fresh eyes? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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To see more perspectives of overlooked New York, visit our NYC Scenes set on Flickr.
This post has been entered into the Grantourismo-HomeAway Travel Writing Competition.
I love it! Very nice. But is this your actual home? Should be from a “travel experience”… Or is ‘home’ Mexico and this is your new home?
Thanks, Lara! We live in NYC, but definitely travel within it, so I guess I interpreted the guidelines for your prompt liberally. Also read them as needing to inspire others to get beneath the skin of a place, but oh well!
Fantastic Julie…I seriously cannot wait to get there.
No, I think that’s fine – it does inspire people to explore different ways of seeing a place that’s so familiar. Good luck! Looking forward to getting your tips when we’re there in July – haven’t visited NY in – eek! – around 18 years (or longer!) I guess.
The greatest advice you can ever give anyone in New York (local, or not) is to, “Look up!” In a city famed for skyscrapers, it’s amazing how many gazes are crawling along the pavement.
Wonderful – and such a brilliant photo. inspiring!!
I know I am inspired! I’m not much of a photographer so I carry a pen and paper instead
I have to agree with Rick…stumbled upon your website via a tweet – love the pics and interesting pieces!
Thanks, Julie!
Don’t you just hate this? I’ve lived in some spectacular places, and despite my best efforts, I, too, get that glazed perspective common to all locals, in time. Catching fresh glimpses through the eyes of a camera is a good idea.
Lisa,
It’s funny- I used to hate taking photographs. Just hate it; I felt like I was exploiting people, I felt like a “tourist,” and on and on. My husband’s son is a professional photographer who lives in Havana and he took me out one day to shoot and I learned so much about how to see the world anew through him. It really is amazing how taking photos will literally reframe your view. Thanks for visiting!