Summer Afternoon, Lower Manhattan - No. 2

Summer Afternoon, Lower Manhattan - No. 2

It is difficult, if not impossible, to have just one favorite spot in New York;
and over the years, I have added many favorite spots to a growing list.

This is one such place, and it is hard to imagine a city – anywhere – doing it as well as New York.

While the soaring form of the Freedom Tower (One World Trade Center) draws the eye skyward, there is much at ground level that gives this spot, at the west end of Vesey Street, a reassuring sense of human scale, as well as a complimenting aura of gentleness against the unyielding architectural lines.

For one, there is The Lily Pond (*) with its cascading waters, ducks gliding among the reeds, and the welcoming shade from summer's broiling sun, which I discovered on this afternoon in late June, 2014, while exploring Battery Park City. Located in Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, it is part of an inviting swath of parkland that flanks the Hudson.

Rising above and beyond is the viewing terrace of the Irish Hunger Memorial.

Whether looking at the cascading waters, or upward and beyond to the variety of forms and textures leading to the shining iconic form of 1WTC, or turning around to take in the inviting Battery Park City Esplanade along the busy Hudson River, with its never ending procession of ferries, water taxis, sailboats, and ocean liners, it is a special place to enjoy an intoxicating cocktail of the ingredients New York manages to stir together so well.

This new treatment was created from the original Ektachrome transparency, shot in my
Canon EOS-RT through a Tokina 20-35mm lens, set at its widest, and using a polarizer.

©2016 Steve Ember
(*)