Yes, I'm a journalist
On October 1 and 6, I returned to the place I left 24 years ago when my father joined the army: New York City. Technically, I am from Queens, but I only visited Manhattan. What spurred on this trip was that I attended the New York Film Festival, my second vacation centering around cinema. But what was different from that trip is that I could only stay in town for a day (Have you seen the prices for hotel rooms and parking these days?). So I made the most out of them.
In short, I watched L’Heure d’ete, attended a concert by Black Kids and took awesome photos, visited MoMa to see Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, trekked 40 blocks on Madison Avenue to take store window photos, felt slightly out of place at a Young Friends of Film party but relieved after chatting with film producers and Spaniards, and was trapped in a crowded bar to see Raphael Saadiq perform.
It was a nice trip, but no matter where I went, I got the stare, the question, the stereotype, “Are you a professional photo? Are you a journalist?” No matter if I’m on vacation, I’m still a journalist. Then again, it didn’t help that I have a gigantic shoulder bag filled with two cameras, a notebook, three lenses, four lens filters, a cleaning kit and a book. At least I didn’t look like a tourist.
Added: For the next two weeks, I will upload a photo to Cartophobic about the trip as well as post items on my Flickr photostream.
permalink | | travel | 10/08/2008
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