The Empire State: Gotham by day...

Kerwin Williamson December 6, 2022

The essence of New York City is not only its icons, famous areas, famous people, scumbag-famous, heroes, villains, etc. It’s the stories from the individuals who call it home. It may be one city, but the individual parts, and neighborhoods within are worlds unto themselves. A post-covid lull has already taken root amid inflation and political turmoil. Does age bring on nostalgia? We (photographers) seem to be a generation of artists through the looking glass and peering out our rear windows. At this point in my life being away from The City, Gotham, for so long has forced a reassessment of my time there. Washington Irving was the first to label NYC as Gotham in his periodical Salmagundi in 1807. Writer Bill Finger would choose Gotham for the fictional home for one of the greatest fictional detectives.

I highly recommend viewing on a laptop or larger screen for the best experience. Please feel free to view the other posts here in Side-notes, and current gallery sections. Click comment beneath the post and hashtags, left side, next to the share button to give your thoughts.

Brooklyn NY, east 18th Street — **#1. Consistently Contrasting. Albermarle road Brooklyn NY. $1,000.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Consistently Contrasting

**#2. Lonely street…. Albermarle road, Brooklyn NY.**

The old neighborhood still felt exactly the same, a comfort I hadn’t considered would wash over me. It’s many subtle contrasts, unique visuals and minimal changes more appealing than I remembered.

East 18th Street, near Church Ave, Brooklyn NY — **#3. Parking lot on east 18th Street, Brooklyn NY.**

Street photography - Church Ave, Brooklyn — **#4. Church Ave (Brooklyn NY). $800.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Church Ave

Church Ave, Brooklyn NY — **#5. Walk on by… (Church Ave train station, Brooklyn NY ) $300.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Walk on by...

Wall Street, New York, NY. — **#6. Wall Street. (Downtown Manhattan) $1,000.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Wall Street

Canal Street, New York, NY — **#8. Bright lights, big city. (Chinatown, Canal Street, downtown Manhattan) $300.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Bright lights, big city

Centre Street, New York, NY — **#9. Centre Street Blues. (Chinatown, downtown Manhattan) $600.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Centre Street Blues

I miss the joints and restaurants of New Yorks Chinatown, all the specialty Asian goods for cooking. Markets packed with exotic products, Peking duck hanging in eatery windows. The area is a separate world all its own, and yet it’s an integral part of New York.

Hudson Street & west Canal Street, NY — **#10. Everything in its right place… (Hudson Street & west Canal Street, downtown Manhattan) $300.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Everything in its right place

Just 10 years ago Hudson Street above Canal Street was still grimy and unappealing, almost like the 80’s. Now it’s becoming posh and too damn good for the plebs. But even now the daytime shadows tell another story.

Bleecker Street, New York, NY — **#11. Shadow Play. (Bleecker Street, downtown Manhattan) $1,200.00 - to purchase please click the link:** **Shadow Play**

Hard to believe Bleecker Street once ran through a rich family farm - hence the name. Its early days forgotten, made small by bohemian glory that’s become a cliche. Now it’s a quiet street, good for a stroll on a sunny day.

Street photography, Broadway & east 9th Street, NYC — **#12. The ruling party is still in control.** **(Broadway, east 9th Street, Manhattan)** **$400.00 - to purchase please click the link:** The ruling party is still in control

I’ve lost count of how many protests I’ve photographed and taken part in during the last 10 years. The feeling of solidarity, civic duty and responsibility is amazing in the face of an inhuman system created by humans.

West 14th Street, New York, NY — **#13. We’re not as apathetic as we appear. (West 14th Street, Manhattan)** **$1,200.00 - to purchase please click the link:** **We’re not as apathetic as we appear**

14th Street Union Square, New York — **#14. Playful… (Union Square east 14th Street, Manhattan)** **$1,300.00 - to purchase please click the link:** **Playful...**

Street photography — **#15. Simulacrum (Broadway, east 12th Street, Manhattan)**

Street photography, west 18th Street New York, NY — **#16. Neo - Noir (West 18th Street, Manhattan) $600.00 - to purchase please click the link:** **Neo - Noir**

Street photography, west 59th Street, New York, NY — **#17. New-normal dinning. (West 51st Street, Manhattan) $300.00 - to purchase please click the link:** **New-normal dinning**

Street photography, west 34th Street, NYC — **#18. The daily grind, along the Ave.**

Street photography. Bryant Park — **#20. Enjoying the silence & the background noise. (East 42nd Street, btw 5th & 6th Ave, Manhattan) $600.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Enjoying the silence & the background noise

One of my favorite areas in Manhattan. Two major libraries on the 5th Ave side of Bryant Park, each usually have free visual art exhibitions & culture events. Three seasons a year people flock to the park just to relax - watching these people teaches you a lot.

Street photography. East 68th Street, NYC — **#21. These Days… (East 68th Street & Lexington Ave - Hunter University) $600.00 - to purchase please click the link:** These Days...

Street photography. East 59th Street NYC — **#22. Fast times on 1st Ave. (1st Ave, eastside Manhattan) $800.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Fast times on 1st Ave

Trump 2024 — **#23. In living color… (Trump Tower, 5th Ave Manhattan). $1,000.00 - to purchase please click the link:** In Living Color

When it comes to Trump as President (he also plans to run in 2024) I’ll quote Peter Griffin (Family Guy): this happened, and we let it happen.

Some days I wander around in The Met for inspiration, the calming feeling, the spacious interior, and the people. It’s truly an incredible part of the city, and with Central Park as its backyard…perfect.

Street photography. Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn, NY — **#25. Back to Brooklyn… (Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn NY) $800.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Back to Brooklyn

Street photography. Sterling Street, Brooklyn. — **#26. Mean Streets (Near Sterling Place, Brooklyn NY) $600.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Mean Streets

Brooklyn, Beverly Road. — **#27. Compositional (Ditmas Park area, Brooklyn NY) $300.00 - to purchase please click the link:** Compositional

If we are marked with the lens, we do our digital-nation loss. Though if we live by the lens, ours is the greater share of honor. “..We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…” [1]

Kendell-Kerwin — **#28. The simulacrum is true…**

Each photograph is an original work of art for sale. The value of each purchased photograph increases every year based on the priced. Professional, high quality giclee digital printing or silver halide photo paper and emulsion printing is used. Delivery is free within the U.S and payment plans are available, so contact us for details. A lower price might be accepted for some photographs. Use code FL242 (Fiat Lux) for a 20% discount on photographs for sale. We invite you to take a look and tell us what you think. For further info, the artists resume, please contact us. Thanks for viewing and cheers!

1. Henry V by William Shakespeare

Trpejca [natura-amans]

Kerwin Williamson September 3, 2022

In a landlocked country, large bodies of water are sacrosanct, or at least they should be. Trpejca is at the foot of the Galicica mountain, along the shore of lake Ohrid. What started out as a small fishing village has become a very popular vacation area. The area is in danger of becoming spoiled by garbage from many of the people who travel there and unregulated tourism (see photos below). This short film is part of an ongoing project, (Photosensitive: [North] Macedonia).

Ohrid lake, Trpejca. — Broken wine bottle? (It doesn’t look recent) July 2022

Ohrid, Trpejca, North Macedonia. — It could be a relic….July 2022

I really hope the bottle is at least clean….July 2022.

Natura amans means nature lovers. “In the Kamigata area they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things.” Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure.

I first heard this quote in the film Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai, directed by Jim Jarmusch.

Beverly road train station. Ditmas Park sector, Brooklyn.

On the streets (in the city), 2022

Kerwin Williamson August 20, 2022

Going back to New York, the place of the gathering, wasn’t exactly my first choice. And yet these strange days left most of us with even fewer choices. The spirit of the city seemed fully committed to its own grandeur, however diminished and ravaged by 2020.

Canal street train station (Q line - Broadway & Canal street).

People did and were doing what they always have; they continued living despite personal and national tragedies. New Ad’s belie the facts - we’ve been decimated.

Canal street & Broadway (the downtown nexus).

Broadway, near Prince street (Everything Zen?).

Canal street NYC, near 6th Ave (Ave of The Americas).

Companies, corporations, superstars and scumbags got theirs while the proletariat took one for the team. Relief was in the air, few wore their masks, aside from their standard one.

Mary Jane went public like an IPO, her disciples out and about. Her delectable scent was in the air like fresh baked goods. It felt good to be home again, familiar feelings rising out of the time fog.

Times Square, Manhattan (a green disciple).

A sense of wonder and gratitude for a life lived within this concrete, cultured-jungle. My dismay and understanding of the pervasive apathy.

The seeming hopelessness mingled with arrogance, like the filth & conspiracy of political intrigue. Black Lives Matter, but what about black art? Had I become a stranger? Has my love changed for the city that never sleeps?

Darkness walks within me, therefore “…like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break…” [1].

Bob Dylan - Grain of Sand

Urban Inspiration

Kerwin Williamson February 22, 2022

Vandalized illegal Ad (Downtown Manhattan, Canal street)

One of the most interesting aspects of a city like New York is illegal advertising, vandalism against it, and against legal advertisement. Street art, graffiti, vandalism, also began fueling another part of my education. Old, rusted doors covered in stickers, and slogans, triggering creative thoughts and replication. Seeing at times, various combinations of all of these, like the mad work of a neo-contemporary urban artist. Soon enough I remembered certain artists' styles when it came to street art, seeing their work in various parts of lower Manhattan. Even in the subway stations advertisements were vandalized, sometimes in a creative way, possibly suggesting more than what was intended. Much of my recent and current digital art has been inspired by all this, and still has me thinking about the correlation there in. My digital-art

Torn advertisement for a shaving razor. It was on the boarder for a construction site (Manhattan, near west 14th & 9th Ave).

D-A #519(S5) - Jasmina by Kendell-Kerwin

Flora/Floralia

Kerwin Williamson May 15, 2021

In past eras flowers had major importance, attached to major and minor deities throughout the ancient world. Flora to the Romans symbolized nature, Spring, youth and fertility. Her festival, the Floralia, was observed between April 28th to May 3rd.

Strange days (in The Empire State)

Kerwin Williamson January 25, 2021

The city could be seen as a survivor, a place reborn out of its own figurative ash, one disaster after another. And yet Covid-19 seems to have crippled the empire state (and the state itself by extension); the wealthy, rich, and those who could, have fled. Panic and fear still lingers, personal freedom at cost of society and the state.