Sitting on the Rails

A lunch time break on a cold day at the corner of Wall Street and Broad.  

Suspended on the Rails

Wall Street people

Frequently I like to people watch down on Wall Street.  Tourists, business men, and many others...

One Selfie Too ManyMeet Me at the StepsAbsorbing the Atmosphere

Careful Steps

Slowly stepping forward, almost like a ballet dancer.  He gingerly walks forward with his sunglasses making him look perhaps like a blind man.  

Careful Steps

Whirlpool

The activity on the corner of Wall Street and Broad circulates with the umbrellas.  

Whirlpool

Above Wall Street

The swirling steam floats above the New York Stock Exchange.  

Above Wall Street

Storming Wall Street

Another rainy day on Wall Street, cold and damp.  I watched the activity from up the steps at Federal Hall.

Storming Wall StreetDancing in the RainNothing But YellowThe Blue Boys

Posing in the Rain

A rare moment on Wall Street where there were a handful of people.  

Posing in the RainFoot Pointing

Wall Street

While the tourists are shooting and looking, they have their own quirks and personalities.  

Wall Street

Runway

I was struck by her seriousness and zoned in on her.  She knows how to pose.  I kind of like the guy sitting on the fence too.  

Runway

A Framed

Many people, tourists and regular residents sit on the steps of Federal Hall overlooking Wall Streetildin.  They can appreciate the history with the large George Washington statue depicting the event of his swearing in as first president on this spot.  The windows reflect the modern buildings surrounding the Stock Exchange building in front.  

A Framed

Panting

He was waiting for quite a wild before he got something to pant on.  

Panting

Boots in the Hood

Touch element in the neighborhood.

Boots in the Hood

Wall Street Subway

I frequently walk around the Wall Street area looking for subjects.  There is an eclectic mix of people there.  There are of course, the investment bankers, but also police, construction workers, residents walking their dogs, and the tourists.  Walking around with a camera is not unusual so it is easy to people watch.  

I am regularly drawn to this subway station and caught some good light this time.  

Wall Street Man

Wall Street also seems like a place of grittiness so I worked on some of the pictures to strengthen that sense.

Moving West

Tandem

There is also a lot of construction in the area.  They construct blue walls to protect the work areas which together with the scaffolding creates strong backgrounds.

450 Broad Street

Entering into the area there are barriers that rise out of the street, these seem to me to be interesting geometric subjects.

Inclined Descent

 And, there are those who have inhabited the street for years.  Even from behind, I could tell there was a story in the relationship of these two.  The gentleman on the left would occasionally extend his hand to help stabilize the man with the cane.  

Continuing On

Sold!

The "Wall Street Bull" has been my most marketable picture (sold the most prints online).  I wish there were more sales of my street photography shots, but this one has sold five times more.  To me, it's kind of a commercial, almost touristy shot.  It makes me wonder who is buying it.  Is it tourists, fans of sculpture or... (as I suspect), Investment Bankers who have it on their walls?   

See what else is available on my NEW YORK gallery.  

Just a bit of snow...

I know there has been more snow than people care for in this part of the country lately.  While my commute in to Manhattan from the suburbs has been slippery and challenging, once in the city it actually is not that bad.  The ground is clean (although not dry) and it's not bad getting around.  

That doesn't mean that the snow hasn't impacted other people.  There are a number of cars that were not so fortunate and found themselves trapped, buried behind the snow.  

Buried Car

Buried Auto

Below is Stone Street.  Cars are always absent and generally this is a cobblestoned pedestrian mall filled with cafe tables.  Since it lacked a purpose in the snow, no effort was made to clear the street. 

 Street of No Cafes

But life continues on.  This woman was camped out at a table in Zuccotti Park sipping a Smoothie.  Her seat may have been colder than her drink. 

Desperate for a Smoothie

These guys had their priorities straight, and running out to get a coffee was top of their list.  

Coffee Run

The Wall Street area was also covered, as was the statue of George Washington in front of the Federal Hall national monument where he took the oath of office.  Somehow, the snow gave him a bit of a flair as he looked rather stylish.  

Frosted Washington

And behind the very same building, there was a cleanup effort in place although those steps are not used much.

National Monument Cleanup

That's it but there is more snow on the way.   

EYE'EM Awards

The EYE'EM Award Exhibition 2010 is wrapping up this week in Berlin.  This is a competition of photos taken by mobile devices (like the iPhone I have).  Out of several thousand submissions, one of my shots was chosen by the grand jury to be part of the shortlist of 144 mobile photographs that are being exhibited in the final show at the Schlectriem Brothers gallery.  The pictures that were selected are absolutely fantastic, so it is an honor to be included. 

Here is the one that was selected.  I'm not sure that I could have gotten a similar picture with my DSLR.  The extra wide-angle of the iPhone distorted the picture in such an interesting way that it exaggerated the sizes of parties in an interesting way.  This is the blog entry that I original posted about this picture. 

Free Colonial Concert

Wall Street People Watching

I like to wander down Wall Street at lunch time to people-watch.  There is usually a very odd mix of business people and tourists. Throw in protesters, offbeat musicians looking for handouts, news reporters and it can be a rather entertaining place to sit outside and enjoy your meal. 

I forgot my good camera today, but did have my iPhone camera.  A couple of subjects caught my eye. 

First, as I sat on the steps of Federal Hall, I was entertained by this man in red, who chose to play on his flute, in a continuous loop, "The Caisson's Go Rolling Along".  A catchy tune, but after 30 times I think his fund raising strategy might have been to keep playing until someone paid him to stop.  After a time, the sun got to him, and he moved 30 feet to the left into the shade, against another garbage pail.

Caisson's by Flute

There are a number of ways tourists in New York City like to pose.  They can stand in front of something famous to prove they were there.  Or they can do something photogenic.  Half a block down the road in front of Tiffany's a stranger helped two fashionably dressed women, in the style of "Sex In The City", pose in front of Tiffany's.  

Tiffany Posing

And, not more than 20 feet away, a Japanese photograph was manufacturing his own shot by asking these two girls to jump while he froze them in the air.  He attempted the shot five times, I took 3 and timed this one the best (the iPhone can be a little slow but I am getting better with my timing). 

Photo Jumping

Free Colonial Concert

Passing by the George Washington statue on Wall Street... it was the day after his birthday, not sure how old he would be now. 

These three colonial clad musicians were playing away, fife and drum songs.  People continued walking by oblivious to the effort these gentlemen put into this guest appearance.  I didn't have my regular camera, but I did have my iPhone, which was perfect for this shot.  It has an extreme wide angle camera on it.  It let me get the street, musicians and all of the statues in the one shot.  All it does make the players look rather tiny, as if they weren't even real.  But they were real.

This picture was the best, because of the complementary red shirts of the garbage men.  I also like the businessman on the cell phone. 

Exchange Spotlight

In the winter on sunny days, the light in comes in at extreme angles. In Manhattan, the morning light creates very long shadows. At lunch time, one block can be bright and the next dark. The New York Stock Exchange, with it's flags, is on the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street. Nassau Street forms a slight hill before turning into Broad. This creates an interesting hump where figures can be seen juxtaposed in front of the flags of the Exchange. Yesterday's light lit the flags as a spotlight and it looked like this.

Posing with the Bull

At the end of Broadway, at the entrance to Bowling Green Park, there is a bronze statue of a Bull. It symbolizes Wall Street. There was quite a story to how it got there, but mostly now it is a tourist attraction. The shot to the right is a rare look at the bull absent of people. It was cold and wet that day absent of the usual crowds.

There are two standard places that people pose with the bull. One is on the front, and the bold ones climb up to sit on his head. The other location is at the rear of the bull. You see, the bull is anatomically correct. So, posing at the rear brings the private parts of the bull into play, photographically that is.

It seems to me that those who pose in the rear are the most fun loving of the tourists. And, I like to watch them as they enjoy their visit. They smile and smirk and joke.