Incredible photos show the lonely soul of New York City
One of the most recognizable cities in the world, the Big Apple is full of much-photographed clichés – the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge.
As a result, snaps of these tourist attractions have become somewhat stale — something one New Yorker has tried to rectify with a new photocentric tome, New York Unseen.
The book contains 200 pages of exciting photographs by Luc Kordas, capturing the soul of the city rather than the usual scenes from a travel guide.
Shot over several years, the mostly black-and-white images tell stories more vividly than any number of photos of the Grand Central clock — and usually feature candid snaps of people on the city’s streets, parks and subways.
The result is an aesthetic amalgam of looks, gestures and situations unique to the city, offering a glimpse into the Black Lives Matter movement, the NYPD and the realities of the early days of the pandemic when the streets were mostly empty.
Here’s a taste of Kordas’ unprecedented take on what is arguably the most photographed city in the world.
The recently released book contains 200 color pages of exciting scenes captured by lensman Luc Kordas
Kordas moved to New York in 2014 and was inspired by the residents. With his new collection of street photography, he therefore wants to ‘capture the soul of the city’ instead of the usual attractions
Created over several years, the mostly black and white images focus primarily on people and situations – offering a unique glimpse into what is arguably the most photographed city in the world
The black and white images manage to tell stories better than any photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge ever could – with many snaps taken from the city’s streets and trains. Here, an unnamed couple is seen embracing on the New York City Subway
The result is an aesthetic amalgam of looks, gestures and situations – all without drawing attention to doomed tourist highlights like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building
A pair of kisses on the New York City Subway in an undated snap from Kordas. The photographer has previously published books about cities such as London and Berlin, but mainly works between New York and Europe
The new work shows New Yorkers in their “natural habitat,” making for vibrant shots full of personality that show “all walks of life,” the author says.
The snaps also have loneliness as a predominant theme. “So many people here are focused on money or their career,” Kordas says of the sense of isolation thousands of New Yorkers face despite living in a metropolis. “It’s easy to be lonely and anonymous… It’s easy to get lost”
Brooklyn’s Coney Island, one of the liveliest places in all of the boroughs, also has its quiet moments, Kordas says — something he “looked for” when shooting for the book. He says, “There’s more magic on the boardwalk in the middle of a blizzard or on the beach on a sunny but freezing January day.”
Originally from Poland, Kordas has been photographing the loneliness of New Yorkers for nearly a decade. He says, “Loneliness is New York’s leitmotif. This feeling can be felt all over the city – a place filled with 8 million people, many of whom are immigrants and transplants.”
One of the photos taken by Kordas shows a dejected young girl staring out of a subway window, saying “the subway itself is almost like a city within a city,” as well as “a mini New York condensed underground, a real meeting place of people from all walks of life’
New Yorkers take to the streets in protest after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Other topical photos show a glimpse of the NYPD and the reality of the early days of the pandemic when the streets were mostly empty
“There are so many crowds in New York, and there are also so many lonely people,” adds Kordas: “This is not just because many of us are newcomers here with no family or friends around – the technology that is slowly making its way across our life, separating us from each other, also plays a role’
Despite being taken relatively recently, the photos manage to exude feelings of nostalgia while providing a quintessentially New York flavor.
This image shows yet another intimate encounter with yet another unremarkable protagonist
Kordas, 39, lives and creates mainly in New York and Europe. New York Unseen, published last week, is the third in his Unseen series, preceded by books about Berlin and London