November 15, 2005
New York City, Installment 1
Arriving in Times Square at 2:30 AM, due to a small traffic jam in Hartford, we were somewhat slowed on 46th Street by a bicycle of sorts - actually it was a group riding a bicycle of sorts. The group made erratic progress down the street in front of us, as well as a great deal of noise. Of course, I tried to take a shot, and it turned out to be one of the many totally black frames in my New York City Series, to match my collection of totally fuzzy shots taken surreptiously without enough light.
Fortunately for my readers, I later came upon the "Party Bike" unmounted, and was able to get a picture in the light of the billboards. Then, of course, like a sensible person, I looked it up on google, and saw that I could have saved myself the trouble.
The hotel was in the epicenter of Times Square, and, though the room itself was a restful haven (available for purchase in its entirety), getting upstairs required finding one's way through flashing lights, glass walls and inpenetrable glare (an indoor simulation of the exterior scene) -- definitely not the hotel of choice for those with cataracts and/or epilepsy. Below you will find a picture of one thirtieth of the glare. Can you locate the floor upon which the person is walking?
And then there was the carpeting, probably meant as counterpoint to the glare. Some demented decorator must have chosen it for its stain resistance (anticipating all those hot dogs with catsup and mustard guests would drag in from the street vendors). I will spare you the blown up version. Suffice it to say that all floor areas that were not mirrored, were covered in some heraldic iteration of pseudo Chinoise. A view from the glass atrium elevator, reveals all sixty floors of hallways are covered with same. I suppose a quiet beige would have been difficult to keep clean.
And so, exhausted and wildly overstimulated, I began my visit to New York City. Awakening at the ungodly hour of 8AM to a lovely view of Times Square.
Really, for a metaphoromorphophotographer, New York can be quite overwhelming, considering the number of closely packed, shiny surfaces, covered with symbolic, architectural and human interest. I'm still tired.
Posted by Dakota at November 15, 2005 02:41 PM