corporate canvas

An abandoned office tower in Mexico DF.

in the end

Everything looks beautiful--if you look at it in the right way.

my favorite place in NYC

This is my favorite view in all of New York City. It's the Renwick Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island, the narrow strip of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. Behind the hospital, you can see the 59th Street bridge, which spans the island but there isn't an exit, which is weird. You can't drive to the island; you can only gain access to it on the subway (F) or the endlessly fascinating funicular.



This photo was taken in February, 2009. The ruins of the hospital were under renovation for the preparation of South Point Park. (Last I heard, it was going to be turned into a café.) My friend and I sneaked in to shoot this photo just as the sun was rising, and we had the entire tip of the island to ourselves. It was a truly amazing feeling to be alone on an island wedged between two boroughs.

sky queen

This photo is from last year but I just re-discovered it. It's the Unisphere in Corona Park / Flushing Meadows, Queens.

Highbridge Park

Highbridge Park up in Washington Heights is a peculiar place. I avoided it for a while because it is literally depressed in both senses of the word, and I like to shoot places at sunrise. You can't really see into it from the street, because it's sunken from view into the Harlem River and...you just don't know what goes down in there, although you can imagine. But I really wanted to get down there. I'd heard about some crazy parties that go down there, and the Old Croton Aqueduct makes for some fantastic shots. Several months ago I ventured down there with some friends.

There were, as you can imagine, a few squatter settlements, including this penthouse suite.

The Staten Island Farm Colony

The Staten Island Farm Colony has been one of my favorite shoots for my AbandonedNYC project. Here's a sampling of photos, one in the snow at sunrise, and one not in the snow, at sunset. It's pretty easy to get to, in the sense that you don't have to worry about climbing anything crazy, or getting chased by cops. Sunrise shoots are a big commitment though. I discovered that the Staten Island ferry at 5 a.m. is a mini-ferry.

Here's a map if you want to get there yourself.

Rossville, Staten Island