Stillness in New York
by Ashley Marinaccio
From my window, I have reconsidered my relationship to the world, particularly the natural world. I have watched restaurants and small businesses in my neighborhood close and many protest marches walk by.
I live on the 33rd floor of a high-rise building in midtown, Manhattan, and face in the direction of Times Square. From my window, which often feels like a hawks’ nest, I have looked down on Hell’s Kitchen and seen the neighborhood significantly change, “reminds me of the 70s,” recalls an elder in our building. From my window, I can see both the history and the future of our neighborhood meeting in one place.”
“The artistic artifacts I have produced here are not photoshopped and shot in my neighborhood of midtown, Manhattan. These artifacts represent the solitude, isolation, emptiness, and loneliness that many community members are grappling with during the pandemic. As a photographer, I enjoy playing with light and using the elements to create a heightened reality in my otherwise documentary images. This heightened reality represents where the United States is right now with a lack of leadership, an unclear vision of the future, and much of what we “know” crumbling and a new normal emerging. I am particularly interested in using documentary photography and film to archive this moment in US history. I have been making photos and short films since the beginning of the shutdown”.