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Look Down

Maybe it’s nostalgia from growing up riding Boston’s subway trains that makes the New York system so captivating to me — the dingy stations, the drama of arriving trains, the aloneness of working class commuters and aimless riders, and the artfulness and daring criminality of graffitti.

Don’t be disgusted by this underworld.  Absorb it. Maybe discreetly shoot a batch of images.

Be sure to click/tap on photos for a closer view. And check out other ways to see New York City …  Look Around, Look Up, People.

Subway directional sign for platforms NYC

Feel the Exhilaration

The intensifying roar and clattering of a subway train emerging from darkness, the vibrating platform, the shuffling of anticipative passengers — all creating imploded exhilaration and anxiety. Look at the train operator as s/he comes by and reflect a minute about that life.

Watch Out for Alligators

STOP!  You almost stepped on the alligator coming out of the sewer on the floor of the 14th Street subway station.   Lots of these creatures hang out in NYC — and, actually,  around the world. They’re by Tom Otterness with the theme of dysfunctional capitalism. 

When in Union Station

Don’t be like the thousands of commuters passing by this simple memorial to 9/11. A bunch of folks pasted these transparent mailing labels on the tiled walls, each with the victim’s name and where they had lived. Spend time getting to know and remember them.

Underground Museum

Some NYC subway stations are art museums of sorts, exhibiting clever creations by paid professionals and other hastily made expressions by risk-taking graffiti artists.

Want to see similar photos?

Look Up

Manhattan is an island of canyons; they’re called streets and avenues. As you walk them, focus on the canyon walls: their variety, textures, and how light plays on them.

 Look Around

Even on a drizzly evening unusual things are happening around you, so keep your eyes open and ask  yourself not only what but why.

 Look at People

New York is an implosion of diverse folks living their individuality. Some will fascinate you, others with make you uncomfortable.  But all are humans like us.

Want to travel to other places?

Woman half-hidden by peppers in Barcelona marketplace

Barcelona

Barcelona is an explosive visual experience of architecture, markets, and street folks, dominated by the billiant imagination of architect Antoni Gaudí whose mystifying church, La Sagrada Familia, has been under construction for over 140 years. Then there is the brilliant colors of the marketplace and the absorbing daily lives of locals.

Night shot of ornate courtyard in Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

Saudi Arabia & Beyond

Over the years I consulted in Saudi Arabia and explored the Arab Gulf region, I was fascinated by the area’s opulence of magnificent mosques and ambitious commercial developments, by the implosion of multicultural people in the “oasis” cities — Riyadh, Jubail, Dubai — by the graciousness of everyone, especially Saudis, and by the love for the desert.