There is no other city quite like New York, where life moves at lightning speed, altitudinous buildings spear low-lying clouds like arrows through apples, and everything remains in a constant state of flux. It is also animated, proud and gloriously unpredictable – though each and every one of its inhabitants will likely proffer a different opinion. For photographer Tori Ferenc, New York was “mesmerising” even before she had the opportunity to stalk its sidewalks with her camera. “It seems to me,” she says, “that it gives you the possibility to create over and over again. Every day there’s something new.” Hailing from a small town in Poland (“with 17 churches and only one cinema”), Ferenc was similarly intrigued by the “the underlying motivation and drive of American society there,” and so, when the right moment finally arose earlier this year, she packed her bags and jetted off to the capital to document her observations.
“For almost three weeks, eight to ten hours a day, I wandered across the city by myself,” she explains, adding, “I found it captivating. The sun reflects from every possible window and blinds you completely. Everything is there. The light and the dark, the colours, a river of accents, cacophony of smells that make you sick and hungry at the same time, tiny houses next to skyscrapers that somehow make sense, and a subway that doesn't make any sense at all.”
The photographs – shot entirely on a medium format film camera to retain a “timeless feel” – surmises the architectural contradictions; spirited and diverse characters that one might encounter on a chance excursion from say, the Lower East Side to Fifth Avenue. “Well, I guess you could say this is my love letter to the city,” muses Ferenc. Below, she sheds light on the key shots from the series.
"I tried to capture real and unrehearsed emotions, so I preferred it when the subjects are unaware of my presence. However, with the camera I used it can be quite tricky as it draws a lot of attention – it's an old Rolleiflex and every so often I would be spotted from miles away. However, in these cases I would use my camera to my advantage as a conversation starter and eventually convince people to have their picture taken. Sometimes I didn't have to convince them at all."
"Here, you can see a whole police department sitting on their motorbikes in front of Unisphere. They had a photoshoot that day and were almost ready to pose. I thought the whole situation to be a bit surreal, all these cops sweating under their helmets on a hot September afternoon, so I couldn't resist taking a picture."
"Every time I was in Times Square I would see these girls walk around – sometimes only in their lingerie, sometimes with partial body painting, dressed up as showgirls – and they would pose for tips. When I was taking a photo, a man leaned over to say something to one of the girls, and judging by the look on her face, one could only wonder what he has whispered into her ear."
"I think that the reason why I tend to press the shutter button is when I see vulnerability – which I consider to be a strength rather than a weakness. We all wear masks sometimes and I like it when my subjects are caught off guard, showing their true selves. Nowadays we often value attitudes that make us indifferent and distant. I believe being sensitive is really brave, even if sometimes it hurts."
