Robertson - New York in Color

To New Yorkers Copyright 2017 by Nichole Robertson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. ISBN 978-1-4521-5577-7 (epub, mobi) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. ISBN 978-1-4521-5476-3 (hc) Designed by Kristen Hewitt Chronicle Books LLC
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It was their balcony, with its sweeping, unobstructed skyline view, that sealed the deal. They had suggested I get a little fresh air, knowing well that the twinkling lights and infectious energy would woo me. By the time I came back inside, I had picked out the neighborhood I would call home. That view and rash decision put me on the path to a successful writing career, my wonderful family and great friends. It also put me on a path to roach-infested apartments with laughable rents, and the kind of broke that means sleeping on the floor and making two meals out of a cheap bagel bought at 10:30 a.m. Those kinds of contradictions define life in most cities, but New York is practically built on them.

After a decade of keeping up with its frantic pace, I needed a break. So with the same certainty with which I had moved to New York, I packed up and moved to Paris. And Paris was the perfect antidote to New York. I quickly came to appreciate the Parisian pace and enjoyed taking the time to get to know my new neighborhood, camera in hand. Over the course of many long, therapeutic strolls, I discovered that shooting the city one color at a time short-circuited my preconceptions about what was worth photographing. This process led me to shoot a host of beautiful, but mundane subjectsmetro signs, empty chairs, fading graffitiand I realized that not only were the stereotypical Parisian subjects unnecessary to telling the citys story, in many ways they were a hindrance.

The results of these serendipitous discoveries are documented in my first book, Paris in Color. Later that year, when work brought me back to New York, I returned rejuvenated, and with two essential lessons that made the book you are holding possible: How to tell the story of a place through everyday objects, and how to slow down long enough to see them. Upon returning, I saw New York with fresh eyes. Meandering through the streets revealed so many beautiful details I had ignored, as I rushed to the subway or sprinted toward whatever appointment for which I was late. And I had a new appreciation for the citys comically chaotic juxtapositions: A sign warning post no bills with snarky responses written just underneath, Gothic architecture next to a neon wash-and-fold sign, an elegant mural of a ballerina floating above a rusty chain-link fence. Feeling giddy on the energy (and just a little silly walking so slowly), I began photographing the distinctive details that now stood out in sharp relief.

I wanted to capture the mix of the high and the low, the gritty and the grandthe contrasts that give New York its tense, infectious energy. Some things remain fixtures of the city of coursethe yellow cabs, one-way signs and brownstones. Even the fruit stands, which I have seen on virtually every street corner over the past twenty years, still offer bananas at four for a dollar. But the most constant things in New York are the forces of change. Construction sites and scaffolding may switch locations, for example, but theyre always therea defining part of the city. These are the touchstones that define New York for methe conversations on bathroom walls, the laundries, the delis, the parking tickets (yes, even the parking tickets!).

While shooting this book, I revisited favorite places, retraced the steps of my earliest days in the city, and walked both familiar and unfamiliar streets with what to New Yorkers must have seemed like a maddeningly slow pace. But thats when the magic happens. No one neighborhood or monument can define the city, and similarly, no single photo in this book defines New York. Its the cumulative effect of colors, textures and everyday objects that reveal a citys true personality. My aim was to capture that personality through New Yorks often overlooked quirks and charms and to re-create a slow walk on what are typically fast-paced streets.