Street Level

I used to use a point and shoot camera that had a viewfinder that tilted out so its view could be observed from above.  This worked well for taking pictures at low angles.  When I upgraded to a digital SLR though, it didn't have this capability so I need to pretty much have my eye near the camera's level to see what kind of shot will be coming.  For street photography, I do frequently just "shoot from the hip" and point in the general direction of the subject so the shot is discrete and the subject is more natural. 

For the main logo on my StreetObservations.com website though, I wanted to have a shot at street level.  Putting my head on the ground is not terrible convenient in Manhattan, so I started to think of alternatives.  I began to observe sunken locations, such as stairways, that would allow my eye to be at a lower level.   This angle and this perspective has given me some interesting shots. 

One of my favorite locations is an entry to a subway and also to a Subway restaurant.  Standing on the wide stairway down about 5 steps brings my eye just about to street level. 

Campaigning

As I walked past, I noticed this loudly dressed woman standing on the corner across from the World Trade Center site looking to engage with anyone who might be passing.  Hmmm... a politician, I thought.  I circled behind and above to the patio of a building that overlooked the corner.

Looking down I watched to see if she would present any clues that she was in fact campaigning for something.  I didn't recognize her, but technically I'm not a local... at least I can't vote in New York City since I live in New Jersey.  There is no voting this election day in New Jersey so I'm not necessarily tuned in to the local vote, although I do know, of course, there is a race for NY Governor. 

A serious looking "advisor" wearing a suit stood by watching with a notebook in his hands.  He was clearly judging how well it was going.  There was also a cameraman with a film camera standing next to him. 

The brightly-dressed point person first started to "sell" to an older woman with pearls she flagged down.  The pedestrian seemed to want to disengage, but the pink jacketed woman kept at it.  She pointed to a brochure.  Finally the passerby shook her head (not sure if it was a positive or negative expression) and then she walked away. 

I looked down to study the name of the politician who was being plugged on the pamphlet.  I wasn't sure if she was actually the person doing the running, or whether she was just dressed this way to attract attention for her candidate.  The name on the paper was Susan Kone.  I don't know who Susan Kone is, but I made a mental note of it so I could check it out on the internet and see if she was this person and what might be her story.  

She then spoke to a guy who appeared to be quite tall (although it could be that she was short even in her heels).  He seemed excited to talk to her. 

Next a guy approached her (bottom) and asked her for an autograph.  She seemed somewhat embarassed to be signing but then wrote a lengthy note in addition to her name which looked like it could be Susan X. Kone (where X. was some sort of middle initial).  It was hard to tell since my perspective needed to translate the scrawl upside down.

So, it appeared that this was Susan Kone and I was right, she was a politician and she was campaigning.  I went back to my computer and found her website at SusanKone.com. Seems she is a Conservative Republican running for Congress in the 8th District in Brooklyn.  From the looks of her website, she has many bright pastel jackets and might even be wearing the very same pink one in her picture atop her home page (although it might be a different one with only a minor color variation). 

I couldn't find much about her on the web outside of what she published herself.  In an image search I got several photos of Susan Boyle the singing phenomenon from "England's Got Talent".   (Not sure how those Google algorithms work).  Susan Boyle is not running in this particular race and looks quite a bit different. Now I also know who Susan Kone is, but I won't be voting for her.