Ghost town

I took a walk around Boston with my camera today. These photos were taken between 1 PM and 4 PM on an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon. Usually the streets would be teeming with people on lunch break, shopping or just beginning their commute. But not today.

Fortunately people are are heeding instructions to practice social distancing. I made sure to keep my distance from the few people out and about. The experience reminded me of New Orleans after Katrina. It’s very eerie to see the city like this but I also thought it important to document what’s happening.

Masked and unmasked: People on the streets of New York in the time of coronavirus

On Friday the 13th, 2020, as New York began to close theaters and reduce many social activities, I took an afternoon and early evening walk around midtown and the Village, taking photos (w/Leica M10P, Voiglander 45mm, f1.2). I wanted to capture the mood of this particular time of coronavirus anxiety in the faces on the sidewalks. Although a lot of people were wearing masks, most seemed to be going about their normal lives. A lot of venues were closed and there were many less tourists than usual in Times Square. There was definitely a sense of anticipation of in the air. Of what exactly, none of us seemed to know.

A winter seascape

Forth Cliff in Scituate, taken today from across the channel. Leica SL, with the big zoom, handheld.

NYC street shots

I’m adding some new (old) photos to the site. These two were taken in New York back in 2001. Both were scanned from negatives. The Pringles billboard photo is from 7th Avenue near 49th Street. (I think the Ray’s Pizza is still there.)

The photo of a street vendor was taken just outside the fence at the World Trade Center rubble a few weeks after the attacks.

Winter walk

I trekked out through the Daniel Webster wildlife sanctuary yesterday afternoon. It’s a great spot, both for a walk and for photography.

The afternoon started out cloudy but the clouds thinned just before the end of the day and the light changed for the better. I set up a shot at my favorite two trees and a walker came through just in time to get into one of the photos – and that was the one I liked best.

This is just a first pass on processing. These versions are a little crunchy but eventually I’ll take some time to get the tones right. They were taken with my beat-up old Leica SL. For the twin trees I used a Voigtländer 15mm f/4.5 and my new Peak Design tripod. For the other two I used the Leica 24-90 f/2.8 at 24mm handheld. The shot at the top is a stitched panorama.