The most Instagrammable view in New York City [SLNYT]
June 24, 2018 6:33 AM Subscribe
"Situated in a neighborhood that's almost a caricature of urban grit — where the city's early-20th-century streetscape meets the Instagram-era — Washington Street has become a must-visit because of the way the buildings frame the Manhattan Bridge and the bridge, in turn, frames the Empire State Building beyond it."
More from Times photographer Sam Hodgson here.
More from Times photographer Sam Hodgson here.
Reminds me also of a photo series I saw online once, showing mobs of tourists all doing That One Pose with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but taken at an angle where the tower itself wasn't in the frame.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:55 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:55 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
you will hear angry honks if you're taking too long with the picture.
Angry honks are at least as much a part the New York City experience.
posted by pracowity at 7:15 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Angry honks are at least as much a part the New York City experience.
posted by pracowity at 7:15 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
I have complicated feelings about this sort of thing. On the one hand, I've always placed a high value on originality in any creative endeavor. On the other hand, there are so goddamn many people out there taking pictures now that originality is pretty hard to come by even if you're trying for it, and obviously the vast majority of people don't even care, which, of course, is their right. I'm pretty sure I've never taken a truly "original," as in "nobody's ever seen something like that before!" picture in my life. Yet I still enjoy the heck out of going out to take pictures, playing around with them, and then sharing them with folks; I enjoy looking at other people's photos too, and often get ideas for my own photos that way.
That is all kind of incoherent but my feelings on the matter are a bit incoherent too. Tourists swarming iconic locations to get That Photo can cause real problems (see also EC's warning above that getting the Washington Street photo involves standing in the middle of a busy street) and we ought to reckon with that somehow. There needs to be some kind of zero-impact ethos for photography, something akin to the Leave No Trace principles that hikers are encouraged to follow. Except, with photography being several orders of magnitude more popular than hiking, that would seem like a pretty major uphill battle to fight.
Anyway, go ahead and get that iconic photo for your Instagram if you want. Not everything we do needs to be something that nobody else has done before, and it's not like professional photographers haven't been blazing away at places like Half Dome and Horseshoe Bend for generations so framing this as an Instagram phenomenon strikes me as a little bit of a Millennial Panic thing, although it's undeniable that Instagram has been a major driving force in the popularization (some would say democratization) of photography.
I guess I don't know where I was trying to go with all of this, except to say: photography is fun, do it however you like, just try not to be a jerk about it.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:23 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
That is all kind of incoherent but my feelings on the matter are a bit incoherent too. Tourists swarming iconic locations to get That Photo can cause real problems (see also EC's warning above that getting the Washington Street photo involves standing in the middle of a busy street) and we ought to reckon with that somehow. There needs to be some kind of zero-impact ethos for photography, something akin to the Leave No Trace principles that hikers are encouraged to follow. Except, with photography being several orders of magnitude more popular than hiking, that would seem like a pretty major uphill battle to fight.
Anyway, go ahead and get that iconic photo for your Instagram if you want. Not everything we do needs to be something that nobody else has done before, and it's not like professional photographers haven't been blazing away at places like Half Dome and Horseshoe Bend for generations so framing this as an Instagram phenomenon strikes me as a little bit of a Millennial Panic thing, although it's undeniable that Instagram has been a major driving force in the popularization (some would say democratization) of photography.
I guess I don't know where I was trying to go with all of this, except to say: photography is fun, do it however you like, just try not to be a jerk about it.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:23 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Then they can jump over to here in Tribeca.
There is a pretty nondescript alley in Chinatown that I've seen in dozens of movies. Maybe someone could start a selfie-tour-bus, hitting all the iconic locations.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:36 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
There is a pretty nondescript alley in Chinatown that I've seen in dozens of movies. Maybe someone could start a selfie-tour-bus, hitting all the iconic locations.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:36 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Maybe someone could start a selfie-tour-bus, hitting all the iconic locations.
Maybe even do it with an optional professional photographer to take the shots. If you did it with one of those open-top double-decker buses, you might not even have to get off the bus for some of those "me and the Statue of Liberty" pictures. Stop the bus just long enough to let everyone on the bus file past the best posing spot on the top of the bus and let the photographer click a shot or two. "Look, everyone. This is me in NYC!"
posted by pracowity at 7:59 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Maybe even do it with an optional professional photographer to take the shots. If you did it with one of those open-top double-decker buses, you might not even have to get off the bus for some of those "me and the Statue of Liberty" pictures. Stop the bus just long enough to let everyone on the bus file past the best posing spot on the top of the bus and let the photographer click a shot or two. "Look, everyone. This is me in NYC!"
posted by pracowity at 7:59 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Not really relevant, but let's have more sky bridges please. Especially adorable old steampunky ones between old brick apartment buildings, please?
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 8:01 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 8:01 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Although wow, the actual apartment that includes that skybridge is incredibly bland on the inside, seriously disappointing. Although I suppose if you have the $50 million to drop on it, you probably have the money to make it look like whatever you want in there.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 8:04 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 8:04 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
There’s a mural in Austin near where I live (google greetings from Austin mural) and it’s on a major busy intersection and the only way to get a good smartphone photo is to stand in the street. It’s very very dangerous and on the weekends there will be constant crowds of 15-20 people people there throughout the day.
I want to work with the city council to shut that little part of the corner down from cars on the weekends so people can get their photos without near-misses. The number of times I’ve seen someone barely miss getting plowed by someone barreling a right turn off the major thoroughfare onto that tiny street is 1+n too many for my comfort.
I’ve thought about this for a while and at first I was all “why those picture takers gotta be in my way while I’m trying to to (unimportant in the grand scheme of things) place?!” then I realized cars are the assholes, the mural is pretty dang cool and I want these people visiting our city to have the safest and best trip they can have.
posted by nikaspark at 8:35 AM on June 24, 2018 [8 favorites]
I want to work with the city council to shut that little part of the corner down from cars on the weekends so people can get their photos without near-misses. The number of times I’ve seen someone barely miss getting plowed by someone barreling a right turn off the major thoroughfare onto that tiny street is 1+n too many for my comfort.
I’ve thought about this for a while and at first I was all “why those picture takers gotta be in my way while I’m trying to to (unimportant in the grand scheme of things) place?!” then I realized cars are the assholes, the mural is pretty dang cool and I want these people visiting our city to have the safest and best trip they can have.
posted by nikaspark at 8:35 AM on June 24, 2018 [8 favorites]
This reminds me that I've been to NYC dozens of times over the years and I still have no idea where that contemplate-life-and-loss bench that looks out at a bridge from every movie and TV show is. Battery Park or something, maybe?
posted by stevil at 9:05 AM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by stevil at 9:05 AM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Maybe someone could start a selfie-tour-bus, hitting all the iconic locations.
One up: There is already a touring art exhibit of selfie rooms.
posted by srboisvert at 9:08 AM on June 24, 2018
One up: There is already a touring art exhibit of selfie rooms.
posted by srboisvert at 9:08 AM on June 24, 2018
A friend opened an office in Dumbo in the mid-2000's when most NY'ers still thought Dumbo was an elephant. I'd always stop in to visit and then walk along the river to see the awesome view of lower Manhattan. I remember when that area was all artists lofts and then Powerhouse moved in and then the carousel and then came the tourists. Still love it down there but it was definitely nicer when you could wander around under the bridge largely by yourself.
posted by photoslob at 9:21 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by photoslob at 9:21 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Reminds me also of a photo series I saw online once, showing mobs of tourists all doing That One Pose with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but taken at an angle where the tower itself wasn't in the frame.
The best ones of those are when some OTHER iconic place, such as the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal, IS in frame.
posted by DreamerFi at 9:24 AM on June 24, 2018
The best ones of those are when some OTHER iconic place, such as the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal, IS in frame.
posted by DreamerFi at 9:24 AM on June 24, 2018
stevil, I think that might be this spot at E 58th St and the East River?
That's where the bench was in Woody Allen's Manhattan, anyway.
posted by good in a vacuum at 9:36 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
That's where the bench was in Woody Allen's Manhattan, anyway.
posted by good in a vacuum at 9:36 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I have friends who just got back from a vacation in Mexico where they stayed in a resort picked out because they saw so many great pictures on Instagram. They complained ironically that the resort was full of Insta-tourists there to get their iconic resort shots and that they had to wait in line to get their selfies in front of that view, or that beach shack, or that comfy chair. That's why I love photos like this that show you what the tourist zones really look like.
posted by peeedro at 9:45 AM on June 24, 2018
posted by peeedro at 9:45 AM on June 24, 2018
ha! I don't know NYC at all but I knew what street they were talking about before I even RTFA
posted by KateViolet at 10:47 AM on June 24, 2018
posted by KateViolet at 10:47 AM on June 24, 2018
No mention that it's basically the poster for Sergio Leone's 1984 film Once Upon A Time In America?
posted by kersplunk at 10:59 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by kersplunk at 10:59 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
The more I think about this, the more I feel like if you're out to get interesting and beautiful images rather than to just say, "I was here!" at a particular landmark, you really need to be constantly on the lookout for pictures. Sure sometimes you might find a great photo that was taken in a particular spot and think, "Oooh, I want to go there and see if I can figure out how to get that!" and other times you'll be at some iconic place like the Grand Canyon and you'll challenge yourself to try to do something a little different with the heavily-photographed scene in front of you, but more of the time you just need to be using your eyes, thinking about the kinds of scenes that you like and that your camera (whatever kind of camera you use) is good at capturing, and training yourself to notice those frames when they appear.
You also need a repertoire of techniques that work for the kinds of subjects you like to shoot, so that when you see for instance an interesting bug you know, "OK, I need to set up my camera like so, and I need to get down real low and real close to it, and I need to try to get as much of it in focus as possible, especially the head area." (I muffed it a little bit on that golden net-wing, but I thought the texture of the elytra and the striking color made up for it, and in my defense the beetle was on the run the whole time and I saw it while I was in the middle of rock-hopping across a mountain stream.) Oftentimes the moment of perfect natural light passes or the bug flies away even as you try to photograph it, so you need to know what to do when the moment presents itself. I'm not saying I'm anything like an expert at this, but it's something I work at.
You're still not likely to find anything totally new under the sun, but at least more of your pictures will be products of your own creativity rather than just reproductions of somebody else's photograph. That's if you care about such things obviously, which nobody is required to do.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 11:04 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
You also need a repertoire of techniques that work for the kinds of subjects you like to shoot, so that when you see for instance an interesting bug you know, "OK, I need to set up my camera like so, and I need to get down real low and real close to it, and I need to try to get as much of it in focus as possible, especially the head area." (I muffed it a little bit on that golden net-wing, but I thought the texture of the elytra and the striking color made up for it, and in my defense the beetle was on the run the whole time and I saw it while I was in the middle of rock-hopping across a mountain stream.) Oftentimes the moment of perfect natural light passes or the bug flies away even as you try to photograph it, so you need to know what to do when the moment presents itself. I'm not saying I'm anything like an expert at this, but it's something I work at.
You're still not likely to find anything totally new under the sun, but at least more of your pictures will be products of your own creativity rather than just reproductions of somebody else's photograph. That's if you care about such things obviously, which nobody is required to do.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 11:04 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also I feel like AskMe would be marginally but noticeably improved if more people knew how to get the best possible insect pictures out of their phones. So many blurry, dark-brown blobs that people want to identify!
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 11:09 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 11:09 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I tend to feel that if all you're trying to do is reproduce a postcard, it's easier and nearly as cheap to buy the postcard. And you don't get in people's way.
posted by praemunire at 11:35 AM on June 24, 2018
posted by praemunire at 11:35 AM on June 24, 2018
It's not the same feeling though when it's somebody else's picture, even if your picture is basically the same or even noticeably inferior. There's something powerful about a photo that you actually took yourself that isn't there when it's a postcard or an image you found on the internet. And that's setting aside the fact that many people want themselves to actually be in their picture.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 12:15 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 12:15 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Seriously. I mean, I know I'm not going to sound like Bruce Springsteen, but I still sing in the shower. It's not because I'm unaware that I can buy the album. It's because singing it myself is fun.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:50 PM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:50 PM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
The more I think about this, the more I feel like if you're out to get interesting and beautiful images rather than to just say, "I was here!" at a particular landmark, you really need to be constantly on the lookout for pictures.
Or, just have your camera ready and your eyes open. And don't worry about pleasing anyone but yourself, either. A lot of the pictures I take on my travels are just things that catch my eye - some of them are traditional landmarks and eye-catching views, but I also take pictures of quirky things like graffiti in a bar or a flag made of t-shirts or things that look like they're still life paintings or funny signs.
I also think that my aversion to huge crowds also sends me away from the big obvious landmarky things anyway; I did hit up the Eiffel Tower when I went to Paris, but took one look at the crowd and noped out of there pretty quick. (After allowing myself one picture from a funky angle.) Screw getting a photo from the top - I'll be in line too long, people will get in my way and I'll be cranky, fuck it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:26 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Or, just have your camera ready and your eyes open. And don't worry about pleasing anyone but yourself, either. A lot of the pictures I take on my travels are just things that catch my eye - some of them are traditional landmarks and eye-catching views, but I also take pictures of quirky things like graffiti in a bar or a flag made of t-shirts or things that look like they're still life paintings or funny signs.
I also think that my aversion to huge crowds also sends me away from the big obvious landmarky things anyway; I did hit up the Eiffel Tower when I went to Paris, but took one look at the crowd and noped out of there pretty quick. (After allowing myself one picture from a funky angle.) Screw getting a photo from the top - I'll be in line too long, people will get in my way and I'll be cranky, fuck it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:26 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Seriously. I mean, I know I'm not going to sound like Bruce Springsteen, but I still sing in the shower. It's not because I'm unaware that I can buy the album. It's because singing it myself is fun.
Every performance, even in a deliberate cover band, is different, though. I've made modest excursions in photography, and enjoyed it, but simply trying to exactly reproduce a well-known view because it is well-known (i.e., not as a technical exercise) is not the same. "This is what a bunch of other people on my phone think is The Shot, therefore this is what I must take a picture of" just seems...depressing. And kind of antithetical to actually seeing anything.
When we were in the Louvre, my mom dragged me to the Mona Lisa. There was an absolute mob in front of it. They weren't looking at it, they were trying to get a picture of it, or a picture of themselves with it. Why? Because it was a Famous Thing Known As Art and had even Been In A Movie. Which is the ultimate result of a terrible traditional mindset that is now killing art--that its value is as a prestigious cultural artifact that you can somehow annex a piece of through reproduction rather than as anything you can engage with, think about, be moved by. No danger that the beautiful-views industry is going to go under, but it strikes me as rather similar.
I mean, it's no skin off my nose, as long as they don't block the roadways, and I'm not going to tell anybody they're vacationing wrong, as it's none of my business, but it's what I think.
posted by praemunire at 6:19 PM on June 24, 2018
Every performance, even in a deliberate cover band, is different, though. I've made modest excursions in photography, and enjoyed it, but simply trying to exactly reproduce a well-known view because it is well-known (i.e., not as a technical exercise) is not the same. "This is what a bunch of other people on my phone think is The Shot, therefore this is what I must take a picture of" just seems...depressing. And kind of antithetical to actually seeing anything.
When we were in the Louvre, my mom dragged me to the Mona Lisa. There was an absolute mob in front of it. They weren't looking at it, they were trying to get a picture of it, or a picture of themselves with it. Why? Because it was a Famous Thing Known As Art and had even Been In A Movie. Which is the ultimate result of a terrible traditional mindset that is now killing art--that its value is as a prestigious cultural artifact that you can somehow annex a piece of through reproduction rather than as anything you can engage with, think about, be moved by. No danger that the beautiful-views industry is going to go under, but it strikes me as rather similar.
I mean, it's no skin off my nose, as long as they don't block the roadways, and I'm not going to tell anybody they're vacationing wrong, as it's none of my business, but it's what I think.
posted by praemunire at 6:19 PM on June 24, 2018
I dunno… some people probably Do It For The Likes, I guess. Maybe even a lot of people—so much of social media is essentially a popularity contest. But even if you're doing it because you're Playing Instagram rather than Playing Photography, well, that's not something that can be replicated with a postcard. Getting The Shot where The Shot is a specific selfie that you've seen lots of other people do before could be kind of fun in and of itself—it's not something I personally do, but there's a sense of being part of a shared community there, of being someone who knows about the existence of that particular photo and who has added it to their collection, sort of a selfie scavenger hunt, or maybe closer to selfie peak bagging. Like, I can see there being some sense of accomplishment there. It's not for me, but I kinda get it.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:03 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:03 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I can't seem to find it right now but Airbnb now lets people offer "experiences" and I definitely saw a "Best NYC Selfie Locations" walking tour available the other day.
posted by yeahlikethat at 12:58 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by yeahlikethat at 12:58 PM on June 25, 2018
Sometimes the journey is as important (or more so) than the result. And its not like a reproduction of a particular shot erases all the other photos I may take that day. I can make something incredibly derivative and incredibly original in a 10 minute period. Plus I find attempting reproductions or re-imaginings of famous photos gets me out there where original art can happen.
A drive for originally is sort of weird anyways and often pretty firmly wrapped up in commercialization. Most people who aren't seeking money (or fame) don't care as can be plainly seen by how popular these spots are. Heck in some spheres (I'm thinking skateboard but there are lots of others) being able to perfectly execute something that has been done hundreds of thousands of time is applauded.
Finally I think there is obviously a social aspect to it and an argument can be made that reproductions can further the education of the 10K.
posted by Mitheral at 6:04 PM on June 25, 2018
A drive for originally is sort of weird anyways and often pretty firmly wrapped up in commercialization. Most people who aren't seeking money (or fame) don't care as can be plainly seen by how popular these spots are. Heck in some spheres (I'm thinking skateboard but there are lots of others) being able to perfectly execute something that has been done hundreds of thousands of time is applauded.
Finally I think there is obviously a social aspect to it and an argument can be made that reproductions can further the education of the 10K.
posted by Mitheral at 6:04 PM on June 25, 2018
With the literally millions of pictures that have been taken from that spot it isn't like you are going to go there and get something very unique with the bricks, bridge etc., but hey, this is a very cool spot and everyone should go. If you are new to NYC then make sure you get some pizza, or a bagel, and definitely walk over the bridge to Manhattan, preferably at dawn.
posted by caddis at 6:07 AM on June 26, 2018
posted by caddis at 6:07 AM on June 26, 2018
I just, I don't think it would be news to any of the people taking their picture there that they're not doing something original, or that they're not making art. I don't think they're trying to do those things. That's not the game they're playing.
I like the "scavenger hunt" comparison a lot — it's like looking at people having fun running around collecting things for a scavenger hunt and saying "Ugh, they are terrible museum curators."
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:39 AM on June 26, 2018
I like the "scavenger hunt" comparison a lot — it's like looking at people having fun running around collecting things for a scavenger hunt and saying "Ugh, they are terrible museum curators."
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:39 AM on June 26, 2018
I actually heard a really inspiring defense of vacation snapshots while on a guided photo safari in Yosemite. Actually, the whole thing was great - the guide was giving us pointers on composition, leading us to particularly noteworthy spots in the Yosemite Valley, making suggestions on aesthetics and also discussing some of the history of the park and Ansel Adams' association with it.
She also defended vacation photos as being just as much of the record of a place as more "artistic" or "professional" ones. At first glance, my photo of a specific spot in the Yosemite Valley may be "just like" one of Ansel Adams' ones; but time has elapsed between his photo and mine, and the place has changed too. Curators have been able to identify trees in tourists' photos that were saplings in Adems' day, and scientists have compared the two photos to chart those trees' growth and draw scientific data from that.
And another perspective - I heard a great thing about art from a New York eccentric, Ed Boros, who spent his dotage building that huge tower of junk and toys in an East Village garden. Someone interviewed him for something, and during that interview, he remarked on a recent auction at Christie's where an original Van Gogh sold for several millions. "That's stupid," he said. "Why would you want to spend all that money just because it's 'original'? People spend millions for something just because it's 'original'. You want something original? Get yourself some paper and paint and make your own painting. There, you've got an original."
Sure, you could spend money on a postcard of the view you're trying to get - but sometimes what you want is your own original.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:02 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
She also defended vacation photos as being just as much of the record of a place as more "artistic" or "professional" ones. At first glance, my photo of a specific spot in the Yosemite Valley may be "just like" one of Ansel Adams' ones; but time has elapsed between his photo and mine, and the place has changed too. Curators have been able to identify trees in tourists' photos that were saplings in Adems' day, and scientists have compared the two photos to chart those trees' growth and draw scientific data from that.
And another perspective - I heard a great thing about art from a New York eccentric, Ed Boros, who spent his dotage building that huge tower of junk and toys in an East Village garden. Someone interviewed him for something, and during that interview, he remarked on a recent auction at Christie's where an original Van Gogh sold for several millions. "That's stupid," he said. "Why would you want to spend all that money just because it's 'original'? People spend millions for something just because it's 'original'. You want something original? Get yourself some paper and paint and make your own painting. There, you've got an original."
Sure, you could spend money on a postcard of the view you're trying to get - but sometimes what you want is your own original.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:02 AM on June 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
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Still, it's kind of like the same people-watching scene I dug near the Trevi Fountain in Rome - people of all shapes and sizes and walks of life all trying to get the same photo. There's something charming about that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:53 AM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]