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New York Alley - Lower East Side - By Vivienne Gucwa When I was younger, I thought that New York City was teeming with alleys and narrow streets fueled by an over-active imagination and a predilection for film noir cityscapes. I wanted to believe that New York City harbored the best and brightest of in-between places and worn out spaces. The truth is that while New York City does have alleys, they are a pretty rare sight. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to the ones that do exist. ---
Municipal Building - New York City - Towards the Light - By Vivienne Gucwa We move slowly towards the light over the cobblestones that the weary feet of all those who have passed over these same paths have passed before us. And through the archways and doors that sit in our immediate view, the city opens up like so many opportunities that sit every so slightly out of our reach.
Dog Walking - Financial District - New York City - By Vivienne Gucwa I have been thinking a lot about different visions of New York City a lot lately. I had an interesting interview for a project I am being considered for a few weeks ago where I found myself talking about what I try to convey about New York City with my photography and writing. It was interesting to talk about it face to face (over Skype) rather than write about it because in a sort of stream of consciousness way I had to explain to someone who had never been to New York City how I try to show how I experience New York City on a regular basis via my own views of it colored by falling in love with a combination of streetscapes in classic film noir cinema, futuristic sci-fi city environments in literature and film, and years of traversing New York City on foot. A few nights ago, I watched a documentary about Woody Allen and there was a segment in it that resonated with me deeply which is no surprise since I am a huge fan of the Annie Hall and Manhattan era Woody Allen films. Martin Scorcese, the director of masterpieces such as: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Gangs of New York talks about Woody Allen's extreme nostalgia for the present that is evident in Allen's film Manhattan. He states that for Woody Allen it is as if New York City is constantly alive and continually evolving but Allen's New York City is an entirely different planet from his own. The documentary switches over to Woody Allen who then states: "I wanted to show New York in a very beautiful way, the way I see it. I never had any interest in showing it except through my rose colored glasses; my romanticized view of it." There is definitely a romanticized element that is evident in my photography of New York City. When I walk from my apartment on the Lower East Side through Chinatown and Soho or up through the East Village towards midtown, I am bombarded with memories and desire to capture the fragments of life and architecture that, for me, tug at the visions of New York City I have in my own mind. I hope that one day if and when I have the means to travel I will be able to do the same which each place I explore and experience. ---
Staple Street - Tribeca - New York City - By Vivienne Gucwa There are streets that I return to over and over again. These streets tug at memories I haven’t made yet while yanking memories I treasure from the deep recesses of my mind. They haunt me in all the best ways. They represent the New York City in my mind. Everyone seems to have a different version of New York City in their mind. It's the version that they look for when turning a corner and glancing down a street. My own version of New York City was formed early on. It's a result of falling in love with a combination of streetscapes in classic film noir cinema, futuristic sci-fi city environments in literature and film, and years of traversing New York City on foot. This is one of those streets that I could have only dreamed existed until I turned a corner one day and stopped dead in my tracks as I looked down the street towards the skybridge that crosses between buildings. It’s Staple Street in Tribeca. A tiny alley-like street, it contains one of the most fascinating pedestrian bridges (also known as a skyway, traverse, skywalk and a host of other terms) I have ever seen in New York City. Some history about this street: “In 1894, New York Hospital built the House of Relief, a downtown clinic, on Jay from Hudson to Staple, with an ambulance entrance facing Staple. In that year The New York Herald noted that the hospital was sending its ambulance out as often as seven times a day, sometimes on emergencies involving sunstroke, ”which so often occurs in the lower part of the city,” perhaps because of the large number of men working outdoors on the docks. In 1907 the hospital built an annex across Staple Street (replacing the saloon/row house at Jay and Staple) as a stable and laundry, connecting it at the third-floor level using a pedestrian bridge. Although Staple Street was then just an industrial alley, the hospital had the architects Robertson & Potter design a handsome little building with a terra cotta plaque bearing the ”NYH” monogram on the Staple Street side. The monogram is still there.” - from “Streetscapes: Staple Street in TriBeCa” New York Times By Christopher Gray, February 2001 ---
Washington Mews - Greenwich Village - New York City - By Vivienne Gucwa There are streets that I revisit with regularity. These streets seem to call me back again and again. Tucked away and nearly hidden, they are treasure chests that open to reveal a wealth of nostalgia with every passing season. I used to come to this particular street quite a bit but it wasn't until a year or so ago that I learned about its history. The street sits on land that in the 18th century was part of a large farm and contained private stables used by the families of men such as nineteenth century architect Richard Morris Hunt, John Taylor Johnston who was the founding president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art , and Pierre Lorillard who was a prominent American tobacco manufacturer. In the first half of the 20th century, a community of about 200 painters and sculptors flourished on this particular street and another adjoining street in the area. In 1903, a reporter for the New York Tribune wrote: "One finds a strange mixture of bales of hay and enormous blocks of marble, boxes of plaster and barrels of oats littering the roadways. Truckmen in greasy jumpers touch elbows now and then with the sculptors in their clay spattered working garb." One of the more prominent artists who had a studio on this beautiful street was Edward Hopper. Edward Hopper lived close to Washington Mews at 3 Washington Square starting in December 1913 until his death in 1967. ---
In the Shadows - Lower East Side Alley - New York City - By Vivienne Gucwa In the darkest canals of the city where light seeps through, wanderers emerge bleary-eyed into the sun: birthed explorers carrying darkness into the light. --- There is a solitary aspect to living in such a highly populated city such as New York City. It's easier to sink into the shadows. People pass in stairways and on sidewalks with vigorous abandon : ghosts brushing shoulders in a daily anonymous tango. ---
On Rainy Evenings Like These - Chinatown - New York City - By Vivienne Gucwa There is nothing like a rainy evening in New York City. The streets, darkened by the rainfall take on a beautiful sheen while walls and storefronts glisten. Couples huddle under shared umbrellas and inviting scents of dinner fill the streets. ---
In Dreams - Staple Street Skybridge - New York City - By Vivienne Gucwa I have favorite streets. They haunt me in all the best ways. They represent the New York City in my mind. Everyone seems to have a different version of New York City in their mind. My version was formed early on, a result of falling in love with a combination of streetscapes in classic cinema, futuristic sci-fi city environments in literature and film, and years of traversing New York City on foot. These streets tug at memories I haven’t made yet while yanking memories I treasure from the deep recesses of my mind. This is one of those streets. It’s Staple Street in Tribeca. A tiny alley-like street, it contains one of the most fascinating pedestrian bridges (also known as a skyway, traverse, skywalk and a host of other terms) I have ever seen in New York City. ---
Stolen Moments - Chinatown - New York City - By Vivienne Gucwa Stolen moments are the sweetest moments. When the rest of the city has escaped for the day, the world melts away with a lingering kiss under an umbrella. ---

New York Alley - Lower East Side

- By Vivienne Gucwa


When I was younger, I thought that New York City was teeming with alleys and narrow streets fueled by an over-active imagination and a predilection for film noir cityscapes. I wanted to believe that New York City harbored the best and brightest of in-between places and worn out spaces. The truth is that while New York City does have alleys, they are a pretty rare sight. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to the ones that do exist.


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New York Alley - Lower East Side - By Vivienne Gucwa When I was younger, I thought that New York City was teeming with alleys and narrow streets fueled by an over-active imagination and a predilection for film noir cityscapes. I wanted to believe that New York City harbored the best and brightest of in-between places and worn out spaces. The truth is that while New York City does have alleys, they are a pretty rare sight. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to the ones that do exist. ---

New York Alley - Lower East Side

- By Vivienne Gucwa


When I was younger, I thought that New York City was teeming with alleys and narrow streets fueled by an over-active imagination and a predilection for film noir cityscapes. I wanted to believe that New York City harbored the best and brightest of in-between places and worn out spaces. The truth is that while New York City does have alleys, they are a pretty rare sight. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to the ones that do exist.


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See photo in original gallery.
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