Death of the City

 As someone who spent most of their life in large cities the transition to a more suburban area wasn't as hard as I thought but after almost 6 years my thoughts do drift back to that urban existence. I usually wake up after the realization that since a time machine does not exist I would be stuck in a city that is transitioning into more of a theme park full of tourists and dull suburban transients with stores and restaurants to match.

  When I think of taking the train into center city Philadelphia or to New York I begin to think of places that I would want to go and besides a diner here or there I can't come up with anyplace. Everyplace I ever loved is now gone and while change is a constant what has happened is the equivalent of the thermonuclear war that has quickly devastated the urban warrior and replaced them with the passive urban dweller.

  As I sit at my desk typing this I think back to my last 5 years in my Old City neighborhood and I realize that I have painted far more and taken many more times the photos since I removed myself from the "city". I'm sure being in a new environment has something to do with it but as for the photography I think it's because I'm no longer disgusted or bored with what I'm seeing and I'm now raising the camera to my eye a lot more. 

New York City 2005