Variety = Spice of Life

Photo by myself in the East Village, outside Veselka, a popular Ukranian restaurant.

A group convened on East 10th Street and 2nd Avenue, to admire a recent addition.

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One of these days, very soon, I'll have to take pictures in the West Village and Tribeca. It seems as if all my photos come from the East Village (where parking is a breeze), Midtown (where I work), Union Square (where I hang out), the Upper West Side (where the project I'm working on is located), and Brooklyn (where I live).

Photos from Hell's Kitchen would be nice, too, and Alphabet City, and Murray Hill. But again, is it about the places, or is it about the people?

The above photo could have been taken anywhere, but there is the sensibility of New York there - pedestrians, chatting on a scrubby sidewalk, wearing nondescript clothing. The scene looks more Brooklyn and Manhattan to me, in its lack of pretension. It could have taken place anywhere.

For me, though, it's the fact that these images all come from the same place that makes New York the city that it is. This group might convene on a sidewalk, next to a homeless man and his shopping cart. Steps away, people stand in line for expensive fashion/accessories/tickets, a mix of hipster douchebags, businesspeople and artists, while a street musician plays an impish tune.

Diversity. That's where it's at.

Related posts: East (Side) Versus West (Side) and All That Jazz.