Moving to Manhattan - Part 2

(most images in this post are from my personal instagram feed, but are hosted on flickr)

It's been four months since we turned the key to unlock our new home in NYC.  I still feel new here, and yet I already have favorite places in my neighborhood.  I have been very blessed with finding work entirely through word of mouth, and I'm so grateful for all the opportunities I've had to get started right away.  There are more photographers in this one city than perhaps all the other cities I've lived in combined, so I don't take any opportunity for granted.



I really wasn't sure I was up for another round of starting my business over again in another new city.  Some days I'm still not sure I'm up for it, but all it takes is looking at the alternatives to help remind me why I continue on this path that isn't always easy or predictable- nothing else appears to offer the same personal freedom and creative expression.  I'm not going to make light of the challenges involved- there are many good reasons why people don't survive very long in creative small businesses- it takes guts, determination, and sacrifice to keep on keeping on.  Especially here in New York City where so many people are out chasing their big dreams, where time operates on a completely different speed, and where connections are spontaneous and fleeting.



Unlike other moves, I decided to take a step back from rushing to put myself on the market right away, and instead decided that I really wanted to spend more time getting to know this crazy city and how it operates, since it's unlike any other place on the planet.  I've turned most of my unbooked weekends into adventures in and around the city, making the most of still owning a car, and finding out where and when a car is more of a burden than a benefit.  I've been surprised by the number of places that are accessible by train and public transportation, but I've also found a lot of gems off the beaten path.





I've also been taking random adventures inside the city to help me learn the neighborhoods, become familiar with landmarks, find the hidden gems, and become better aquatinted with the public transportation options.  One day I decided I was going to walk the entire perimeter of Central Park on its winding paths.  I started around 11am, and while I did make it to some of the lesser known parts of park, I only made it about 3/4th of the way around before it got dark and I needed something substantial to eat (speaking of- why are there not more quality food options in Central Park?  Let's trade some of those pretzels, hot dog, and ice cream carts for more veggie & fruit carts!)  Another day I decided to bike the perimeter of lower Manhattan and was pleasantly surprised with how easy and friendly most of the pathways were.





Of the things that people would put on a "NYC Must See" list, I've crossed most of them off by now, but there are still a few outstanding items on those lists like a game at Yankee's Stadium, the 9/11 Memorial, and Coney Island.  The amount that you can accomplish in one day is pretty incredible when so many things are within walking distance.  For example, I decided to take Alex on a one night walking spree to all of the major NYC holiday retail displays, and we even checked out the Winter Village at Bryant Park, Rockafeller Center Christmas Tree, FAO Schwarz, and Grand Central Holiday Market and Model Train Exhibit  along the way.  In about five hours of walking, we managed to see it all, including a very colorful Empire State Building celebrating Nelson Mandela.  If you follow my Instagram or Facebook feed, you've seen a lot of my adventures along the way, except for this little gem of ridiculousness at Barney's, where they've set up a virtual sleigh ride roller coaster photo booth…

There's certainly never a shortage of things to do here, unlike other places I've lived where the adventures needed to be more of the DIY type.  With an endless list of things to do, it can be quite overwhelming at times, and in those cases, we tend to choose events of a personal nature, like attending a friend's art show, or a colleague or student performance.  On nights when we don't have a special invitation and really just want to get out, but don't want to spend much, I've come to love sites with listings for free or promotional events like TheSkint.com and NYCGo.com to help me narrow the choices, and my friends with kids especially love MommyPoppins.com.







So, after living here for a third of a year, I've managed to accomplish experiencing quite a bit of what this iconic city has to offer.  As for all of those things I can't experience here and now, like what Manhattan used to feel like or how the neighborhoods have changed over time, there are plenty of movies and documentaries made in and about this city every year to help me catch up and recognize those iconic New York City ghosts and shadows of the past.



As winter takes its hold on the city, I come to have a new appreciation for things which are not so pleasant in the summer, like how warm the subways are underground and the hot blasts of air shooting up sidewalk vents, how the smog's thick moisture actually softens the winter air's dryness, how quickly the parade of dogs peeing on sidewalks in the morning helps melt the snow, how the city smells a lot less like urine thanks to the bitter cold keeping it low on the ground, and how a dusting of snow makes all the trash siting on the sidewalk just look like feather white shrubbery rather than unsightly rubbish.  When I return to NYC after visiting family for the holidays, I'll definitely miss the gentle smell of evergreens from the sidewalk Christmas Tree sellers, the festive holiday lights, and the chestnuts roasting at hot dog stands, but I definitely won't miss Times Square when the ball drops on New Year's Eve- not just because I can see it happen anywhere in the country on TV, but because I already spent 6 hours in the cold waiting for that famous sight once 13 years ago, and I can attest that the experience is much nicer from a warm living room. ;-)

Is Digital Really Archival?

As I've been sorting, organizing, and packing everything for this move, it's really struck me how the simplicity of paper and the printed image has actually survived and preserved information far better than the hard drives, DVDs, CDs, and other digital media that I've had. I found paper copies of my resume from 1997, 2001, & 2004 but I can't even tell you what version of Word those would have been printed from, what computer I would have saved them on, or if they ever made it to another form of "archival" digital media... and that was only 9 years ago! I have printed photos of myself as a child from over 30 years ago, but as I pulled out digital media from just 5 years ago, some CDs have been scratched or cracked to the point they can't be read, and that drive from just 2 years ago just doesn't seem to be starting up AT ALL and I have no idea if it's recoverable. 



Now I'm slightly terrified I've lost precious family memories because I never printed them and took them off that seemingly "safe" digital storage medium. It's really making me rethink what it means to archive and preserve information, and it's really given me an appreciation for the accessibility and archive that Pictage has of my professional work. Hard drives have failed, clients have had DVDs and Albums destroyed in flood or fire, negatives have been lost in moves, and yet Pictage has kept my professional images safe and sound through all of my moves and transitions so that my clients can always get a physical archive of their wedding and family memories, even 8 years later, after their CDs have become too scratched and computers have crashed.


I really wish I had printed my family and personal images over the last few years instead of letting them just live on digital media.  I had a bunch of personal images stored with Apple's former online cloud system DotMac which initially was moved to MobileMe, but when Apple sent me a notice that they were closing down these services and I should archive my media, I was too busy to make anything happen and now I've lost everything that was stored in their online server system and not printed or backed up in another accessible form.  Why they couldn't have just transitioned it to their new iCloud system is beyond me, but alas, it is what it is... a learning lesson that even things which you pay for one day may become unavailable the next.  At least I still have all the personal photos I stored on Flickr since 2005, but who knows how long that will last?



This move has made me keenly aware that perhaps it's finally time to print some of the family and personal images I DO still have access to so that I might actually have them even if some apocalyptic solar flare knocks out half the world's servers and electronics. I'm not being fatalistic... just realistic... nothing will last forever, but there are definitely ways we can make things last longer. I've been a huge advocate for digital media, especially for the seemingly eco-friendly reasons, but as I move a big bin of hard drives into storage next to the big bin of printed photos... I can't help but feel that the printed photos are the ones that are actually going to survive and still be accessible 10 years from now.  The longer I've waited to create a printed archive, the more I've lost.  Something to think about and consider for the years to come.

Moving to Manhattan - Part 1

(all images are instagram iPhone pics in this post)

The entire month of April, and part of May, was doused in nail biting negotiations in between a busy shooting schedule as my husband and I heavily weighed the opportunities and costs of a new position being offered to him by NYU.  Life has been so easy, lovely, and friendly in Lowell, MA and I felt like we were finally in a place where we could relate to our peers on a variety of levels.  There's a camaraderie and a can-do-team-spirit that is inherent in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I was ready to root myself and settle down for good.  Then, NYU made a game changing move by offering a tenured appointment for my husband, which would provide him academic freedom and the position he needs to accomplish his personal academic & professional goals.  In many ways, I've already accomplished most of my own career goals and created a professional life I love, but a part of me has put a few really big ideas and projects on the back burner to better support my husband's transitions.

If I had known 10 years ago that marrying an academic was going to mean moving as much as we have in order for him to find an ideal position and institution, I might have chosen a different career path.  At the least, I would have focused a lot less on running my own business and just focused on freelancing and working for others instead, since it would have meant much easier transitions with less overall paperwork, fees, and headaches- but hindsight is always 20/20.  What these multiple moves have taught me is exactly what it takes to start a business and restart a business quickly and efficiently over and over and over again.  Whether it's been starting from scratch, restarting in a completely different market, or transitioning while still serving clients in a former market, or even trying to find business in a completely foreign country, I feel like I've really "done it all" when it comes to starting a business and gaining new business.  You could say I've become a bit of a Start-Up and Restarting Creative Business Expert. ;-)

What I can't claim to be is a packing expert- but I may be an expert at getting other people to pack and move for me (there are plenty of people who will do it for money.)  I enjoy purging unnecessary things, but I will avoid actually putting things into boxes like the plague.  Trying to fit oddly shaped objects in with regular ones without crushing everything just isn't one of my resume skills- despite observing and helping with the moving process over 16 times in my life.  Yep, 16 moves in 34 years of life.  Only 1 or 2 of those moves were me deciding to move for myself.  I keep thinking, am I home NOW?!  The part of moving that I actually do enjoy is opening boxes- it's like Christmas morning, unpacking and finding just the right place for every little thing.  I've acquired a finely tuned skill for arranging furnishings for optimum feng shui and comfort in just about any space I'm given, and I'm looking forward to the furniture origami and multi-purposing that is required for living in a Manhattan apartment.

Our official move is August 6th, 2013, and we'll be settling ourselves into the thick of Washington Square in Manhattan.  This will be our 7th home together as a couple, and the smallest space we've ever lived in together.  In many ways, we've been in training for the small-space living of Manhattan for the last few years.  Living out of a backpack and a carry-on between packed 24-hour flights to and from Australia as well as the small apartments and hotel rooms of Europe make spaces of any size seem livable.  Each move we've purged more and more of that which has not been touched, only remained in a box, or does not have enough meaning to retain any longer.  As much as I dislike moving, I've come to love living more and more simply.  The smaller our space has become, the more we've traveled the world together, and the more freedom and joy we've had in our lives without the burdens of needing big things and big maintenance responsibilities.  I used to think success was owning special or exclusive things, but now I know that, at least for me, it's about having the freedom to experience whatever I'd like, whenever I'd like.  We've done a really good job of that in the last two years and I'm fairly confident that this move may help bring even more of that freedom to our lives.