Ever since I was a small child with one of those underwater cameras, I was hooked on all things photography: taking pictures, looking at pictures, making pinhole cameras, and nowadays, finding interesting photo blogs. It's no surprise that Gotham is a great place for snapping some shots of famous places, but it turns out to be a good resource for all things photography: a first-rate museum, many galleries, numerous venues with photo booths, and a gigantic camera shop.
How meta of me, taking a picture of myself taking a picture of myself….
In college, I became obsessed with New York duo Simon & Garfunkel, particularly the video and soundtrack of their 1981 concert in Central Park. One of my favorite songs is “Kodachrome”, alluding to Kodak’s brand of color reversal film that still remains revered today.
Photos are everywhere, in the cozy coffee shop on the corner or hawked at a busy New York street fair, but there are a few places that guarantee a photo quota every day of the week. And quality photos at that! No offense, amateur Empire-State-Building capturers.
Gallery-hopping can feel like work, especially if you’re doing so in Chelsea on a Saturday with seemingly everyone else in the city. Before you know it, you can’t handle one more boxy white room with abstract paintings that are “commenting” on human plights. With that in mind, these are the best of the best galleries devoted exclusively to photography.
ICP is up there on my favorite museums list. Not only are the exhibits provocative, moving, poignant, striking, and fresh, but the size of the museum is so small, so manageable. If I read every wall placard and contemplate every photograph, it would take me 2 hours tops to see everything.
I know I sound like I’m lazy or disinterested, but I’m not! We’ve all experienced museum overload…and as a former museum educator, I have seen that overload so many times! Not possible at ICP, hooray!
ICP is up there on my favorite museums list. Not only are the exhibits provocative, moving, poignant, striking, and fresh, but the size of the museum is so small, so manageable. If I read every wall placard and contemplate every photograph, it would take me 2 hours tops to see everything.
I know I sound like I’m lazy or disinterested, but I’m not! We’ve all experienced museum overload…and as a former museum educator, I have seen that overload so many times! Not possible at ICP, hooray!
I’ve been to two openings here, and each time, I felt out of place in that oh-god-look-at-all-these-cool-sophisticated-New-York-people. One of the exhibits was all dark photos of books, positioned ever so dramatically. I left feeling jealous that I couldn’t taken massive photos of books and call it a day.
The upside to schmoozy, ritzy galleries on 5th Avenue is that the free wine and finger foods are stellar. As long as I dressed the part and hid my insecurities, I’m guaranteed a free meal.
I’ve been to two openings here, and each time, I felt out of place in that oh-god-look-at-all-these-cool-sophisticated-New-York-people. One of the exhibits was all dark photos of books, positioned ever so dramatically. I left feeling jealous that I couldn’t taken massive photos of books and call it a day.
The upside to schmoozy, ritzy galleries on 5th Avenue is that the free wine and finger foods are stellar. As long as I dressed the part and hid my insecurities, I’m guaranteed a free meal.
If you’re in need of anything related to cameras, video, or photography, pretty much everyone in this town will send you to B&H. Hours can be kind of odd, because the place is run by Orthodox Jews, meaning that all Saturdays and Jewish holidays are observed, i.e., the store doesn’t open.
Am I the only one who thinks this place feels like an airport terminal? Don’t go for the ambiance, I guess.
If you’re in need of anything related to cameras, video, or photography, pretty much everyone in this town will send you to B&H. Hours can be kind of odd, because the place is run by Orthodox Jews, meaning that all Saturdays and Jewish holidays are observed, i.e., the store doesn’t open.
Am I the only one who thinks this place feels like an airport terminal? Don’t go for the ambiance, I guess.
A seminar making the national rounds and hitting up B&H in August. Points for such a clever title.
Like record stores and luncheonettes, photo booths are disappearing and joining the dusty pile of yesteryear favorites. Yeah, I’m old-fashioned at heart I guess, and love the surprise and spontaneity involved in piling friends into a photo booth and seeing what happens.
There is no photoshopping, no do-overs, unless you fork over more dollars, and sometimes the damn machine eats your memories before you even see them. But, that’s the fun of it! Luckily, New York bars like their photo booths and will not allow them to go gently into the night.
The photo booth at Bubby’s, home of tasty mac and cheese and comfort food galore.
Ah, to work Kmart into a guide! I practically grew up in the home of blue light specials, so imagine my glee at finding a photo booth at the Astor Place location. Combine that with the cheap cereal and frozen pizza that sustained me on my first budgeted year in New York, and I’m flooded with fond memories.
Ah, to work Kmart into a guide! I practically grew up in the home of blue light specials, so imagine my glee at finding a photo booth at the Astor Place location. Combine that with the cheap cereal and frozen pizza that sustained me on my first budgeted year in New York, and I’m flooded with fond memories.
Ferris wheels terrify me, but to this day, I ride them whenever possible. When I was 6 years old, I stood up at the top of one when it stopped (my first ride) and exclaimed, “why aren’t we moving?”, shaking the car by accident. The family with me SCREAMED at me for standing and making the thing shake. I have been traumatized ever since.
Luckily, I can usually promise myself a subsequent trip to the photo booth that sits underneath Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel if I face my fear yet another time. You will wait forever and a day for the photos to come out, but do NOT walk away. They will come!
Ferris wheels terrify me, but to this day, I ride them whenever possible. When I was 6 years old, I stood up at the top of one when it stopped (my first ride) and exclaimed, “why aren’t we moving?”, shaking the car by accident. The family with me SCREAMED at me for standing and making the thing shake. I have been traumatized ever since.
Luckily, I can usually promise myself a subsequent trip to the photo booth that sits underneath Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel if I face my fear yet another time. You will wait forever and a day for the photos to come out, but do NOT walk away. They will come!
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