LIFESTYLES
WEEKEND, NOVEMBER 26-27, 2016
Manhattan’s skyline glows on the horizon as night falls on New York City.
New York City wraps you in its high-energy embrace
Story and photos by KATHY ANEY
K
athy Aney, Zen photographer.
That’s how I felt standing at
the rail of the Staten Island Ferry
several weeks ago. All seemed beautiful
and good and blissful.
About 10 minutes earlier as the sun
dipped low in the sky, I had boarded
the boat for a ride to New York City’s
Staten Island. The Statue of Liberty
drew closer as the sun set, appearing
as a silhouette with a backdrop of
vivid tangerine. I sighed happily. The
feeling persisted on the return trip, as
the Manhattan skyline glowed in the
growing darkness. My shutter clicked
away as the ferry cut through the New
York Harbor, catching the cityscape
from myriad angles.
Such moments are the reason I love
photography. In the Big Apple, these
moments seem to wait around every
corner.
I fi rst visited New York City a
decade ago with my friend, Brigit
Farley. Brigit, who teaches history at
Washington State University’s Tri-Cities
campus, describes NYC as dynamic and
♦
East Oregonian
ever-changing and “the most American
of all cities.”
“I love it for its immigrant origins.
From its inception, it has attracted
people from all around the world to
work and make a life for themselves,”
she says. “You can see this in any trip
into the subway.”
That in part explains my
photographic love affair with the
Big Apple. The diversity is mind-
boggling. The city is a mecca for street
photography. People of every ethnicity
from every nation.
New York is a city that wears its
heart on its sleeve. Before my fi rst
trek to the city, I envisioned a mass of
humanity — grim-faced New Yorkers
making their way along city sidewalks,
mixing with some of the almost 60
million people who visit the city
annually. I expected maddening traffi c,
lines and subway rats. I prepared to feel
like an anonymous speck of dust.
The reality was quite different. Yes,
See NYC/4C
A rosy sky backdrops the Statue of Liberty during a sunset ride on the Staten Island Ferry.
A Manhattan food cart vendor hands a customer a warm pretzel.
Three Orthodox Jewish men stand in front of a men’s clothing store at the World Trade
Center shopping mall. The men hold symbols of a Jewish festival called sukkot.
A doorman stands outside Trump Tower in Manhattan.
Two boats sit in New York Harbor as photographed from the Staten Island Ferry.