demiomari

Gotham

04 New York 15 photographs

Two men in trench coats in the MoMA sculpture garden at night, lit trees and wet stone floor, MoMA, West 53rd Street Pigeons perched on a brick wall above coils of razor wire, fire escapes to the left, Manhattan, New York Wheatpaste posters on a construction wall below a sun-and-shadow tenement, cobblestones in front, Manhattan, New York A bare tree lit from below against a clouded moon, fire escapes and a red-lit tower behind, Manhattan, New York A figure under a plastic poncho walking a wet sidewalk beside an iron fence at night, Manhattan, New York A cyclist in a helmet and mask against a motion-blurred street corner, Manhattan, New York An I ♥ NY mural with a bowler-hatted figure on a brick wall under a water tower, Manhattan, New York A billboard athlete leaping beneath stepped towers and a storm sky, cables cutting across, Manhattan, New York An M&M’s billboard and traffic signal below skyscrapers lost in fog, Times Square, New York Times Square billboards and towers disappearing into fog, Times Square, New York Fog swallowing towers above the lit Haven Rooftop marquee, West 47th Street, New York A lit office tower and a brick block dissolving into blue fog, an old boarded building below, Manhattan, New York Green honey-locust canopy against a pale office tower at dusk, Manhattan, New York Lit fire escapes and bay windows on old apartment buildings at night, Manhattan, New York A narrow alley between dark brick buildings, a tree at its far end, Manhattan, New York
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About Gotham

Gotham is a series of street photographs of New York City, made in Manhattan at night and in bad weather. The name is the city's old nickname, and the pictures lean into it: fog swallowing the towers of Times Square, rain on the sidewalks, fire escapes lit from below.

It opens in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art on West 53rd Street, where two men in trench coats stand among lit trees on wet stone. From there it runs roughly south to north: pigeons perched above coils of razor wire, wheatpaste posters over a cobblestone street, a bare tree lit against a clouded moon, a figure under a plastic poncho by an iron fence, a cyclist blurred against a corner and an I ♥ NY mural under a water tower. In Midtown the fog takes over, swallowing the billboards of Times Square, the towers above the Haven Rooftop marquee on West 47th Street and a lit office tower, before the series ends among the fire escapes and alleys of the Upper West Side.

Each photograph is pinned to a map of Manhattan, from the Battery to about 90th Street, so the series can be read as a walk up the island. Gotham looks for the moments when the city's scale, weather and light turn ordinary streets into something closer to a film set.

New York City · 15 photographs · Demi Omari

All photographs

  1. Two men in trench coats in the MoMA sculpture garden at night, lit trees and wet stone floor, MoMA, West 53rd Street
    01Two men in trench coats in the MoMA sculpture garden at night, lit trees and wet stone floorMoMA, West 53rd Street
  2. Pigeons perched on a brick wall above coils of razor wire, fire escapes to the left, Manhattan, New York
    02Pigeons perched on a brick wall above coils of razor wire, fire escapes to the leftManhattan, New York
  3. Wheatpaste posters on a construction wall below a sun-and-shadow tenement, cobblestones in front, Manhattan, New York
    03Wheatpaste posters on a construction wall below a sun-and-shadow tenement, cobblestones in frontManhattan, New York
  4. A bare tree lit from below against a clouded moon, fire escapes and a red-lit tower behind, Manhattan, New York
    04A bare tree lit from below against a clouded moon, fire escapes and a red-lit tower behindManhattan, New York
  5. A figure under a plastic poncho walking a wet sidewalk beside an iron fence at night, Manhattan, New York
    05A figure under a plastic poncho walking a wet sidewalk beside an iron fence at nightManhattan, New York
  6. A cyclist in a helmet and mask against a motion-blurred street corner, Manhattan, New York
    06A cyclist in a helmet and mask against a motion-blurred street cornerManhattan, New York
  7. An I ♥ NY mural with a bowler-hatted figure on a brick wall under a water tower, Manhattan, New York
    07An I ♥ NY mural with a bowler-hatted figure on a brick wall under a water towerManhattan, New York
  8. A billboard athlete leaping beneath stepped towers and a storm sky, cables cutting across, Manhattan, New York
    08A billboard athlete leaping beneath stepped towers and a storm sky, cables cutting acrossManhattan, New York
  9. An M&M’s billboard and traffic signal below skyscrapers lost in fog, Times Square, New York
    09An M&M’s billboard and traffic signal below skyscrapers lost in fogTimes Square, New York
  10. Times Square billboards and towers disappearing into fog, Times Square, New York
    10Times Square billboards and towers disappearing into fogTimes Square, New York
  11. Fog swallowing towers above the lit Haven Rooftop marquee, West 47th Street, New York
    11Fog swallowing towers above the lit Haven Rooftop marqueeWest 47th Street, New York
  12. A lit office tower and a brick block dissolving into blue fog, an old boarded building below, Manhattan, New York
    12A lit office tower and a brick block dissolving into blue fog, an old boarded building belowManhattan, New York
  13. Green honey-locust canopy against a pale office tower at dusk, Manhattan, New York
    13Green honey-locust canopy against a pale office tower at duskManhattan, New York
  14. Lit fire escapes and bay windows on old apartment buildings at night, Manhattan, New York
    14Lit fire escapes and bay windows on old apartment buildings at nightManhattan, New York
  15. A narrow alley between dark brick buildings, a tree at its far end, Manhattan, New York
    15A narrow alley between dark brick buildings, a tree at its far endManhattan, New York