Article by Pantelis Ainalis
Cover photo by Lefteris Papagiannoulis
No, you did not misunderstand. We really did make it all the way to New York. To this modern Rome, the centre of the greatest empire of the twenty-first century. We bowed before its grandeur and captured with our cameras a fragment of its glory.
Walking in the shadow of its skyscrapers, we felt both emotion and awe at the power of the human mind, but also fear at the chaos and darkness that same mind is capable of creating. The feeling of insignificance before its towering structures, and before the sheer number of people, must surely be the same feeling one would have had walking through ancient Rome, with the Colosseum rising nearby and the many-coloured crowd mosaic, gathered from every corner of the earth.
I'll make it anywhere»
Theme from New York New York
From the dizzying height of its gigantic buildings to the immeasurable depth and labyrinthine tunnels of its subway, New York could easily be described as a city of contrasts: of wealth and poverty, concrete and green, the colours of the human race, religions, and countless other things beyond numbering.
In New York, the opportunities for the American dream to become reality are many. But great care is needed, because the danger of that dream turning into a nightmare is just as great.
Its streets are full of photographs begging to be captured by our cameras, as the city’s constant motion is both mesmerising and endless. People, asphalt, glass, and steel come together exactly as they should, creating the urban jungle that draws, like a magnet, hundreds of millions who want to see it up close.
The empty spaces where the iconic Twin Towers once stood send a shiver through you, with the terrifying thought that nothing — however great, however impressive — is invulnerable, and nothing can last forever.
It is incredible how many conflicting emotions this city can create in you at every corner.
We share this unforgettable experience with you here, both photographic and personal. Yet we are certain it is only a single sip of a strong and richly aromatic drink, one that is almost impossible to have enough of.
A photographic paradise and hell at the same time, New York is not a place one can truly feel through a simple tourist visit. Still, we hope that through our photographs we have managed to convey something of what we felt as we wandered through this metropolis of nations.
