RI DAILY

Manhattan's little, quieter island and beyond

Island insights that go beyond the tram.

RI DAILY

Manhattan's little, quieter island and beyond

Reporting Roosevelt Island since sunrise.

Images of New York City, Urban Landscapes

Images of New York City bring an angular view to urban spaces, seen through street photography. Catching what’s missed in the rush. Up Close, What Does New York City Look Like? Deborah Julian is a New York City based street...

Deborah Julian Fine Art New York City Photography

Being There: Images of New York City

A street photography view…

Images of New York City bring an angular view to urban spaces, seen through street photography. Catching what’s missed in the rush.

Balloon Girl, Tribeca, New York City

Up Close, What Does New York City Look Like?

Deborah Julian is a New York City based street and urban landscape photographer.

Her eye finds images from the street that tell stories.

Balloon Girl tells its tale on a summer day in Tribeca: A long-legged woman in a pink dress and high heels seems about to be lifted off the street corner, carried by her balloons.

But in reality, her distracted expression suggests she’ll be anchored on the assignment for a while.

Another, more subtle narrative about urban life can be seen in Between Two Universes, a vision that strikes the social differences in the dungeon-like characteristics of the New York subway system.

The woman in the photo descends steps from the upscale neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. The subway system, its filth and rudimentary design is a great equalizer. All travelers, rich or poor, young or old, greeted with indifference and disrespect.

Between Two Universes, street photography by Deborah Julian

People connect New York’s urban landscape with Manhattan’s aggregation of competing towers, now mostly glass, as they resemble a geometric mountain range, the angles squared and clean. But an older New York stakes a claim on values that once shaped Manhattan.   

The Empire State Building from High Line Park

Muscular in what now seems like old age, a force more than a presence. And not glass. 

See a related story: Why Is The Empire State Building Shrinking?

In Carl Schurz Park, above Hell Gate, the New Normal is indifference. Photo by Deborah Julian
Susan Rosenthal, a Sacrificial Lamb?*

Susan Rosenthal, a Sacrificial Lamb?*

The woman Albany condemned, the room she failed to read and the friends who survived by leaving her behind.

After Susan Rosenthal was fired, David Kraut would talk about almost anything except Susan. This was unusual because David could discuss a subject long after everyone else had exhausted both the subject and the available oxygen. When her name entered the conversation, however, he became careful. At first I mistook that restraint for discretion; later, I began to recognize guilt.