The Island
Downtown Manhattan, New York
2020
Edition of 50
Reflection
We often think of Manhattan as a skyline, yet its identity begins with geography. An island surrounded by rivers and harbour, it has drawn people, trade and ambition for centuries. From above, the city reveals the landscape that made everything else possible.
Print information
- Edition
- Limited edition of 50, plus artist proofs.
- Archival pigment print on museum-grade fine art paper.
- Sizes
- Available sizes and presentation options provided on enquiry.
- Certificate
- Signed, numbered and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.
- Framing
- Framed, mounted and print-only options available depending on destination.
- Shipping
- Secure domestic and international delivery quoted individually.
Behind the Flight
The Island was photographed during a dedicated evening flight over Lower Manhattan. Departing White Plains in an AS350 AStar helicopter, we followed the Hudson River south as the last light of day faded behind the New Jersey skyline. Along the way we wove between the skyscrapers of Downtown Manhattan, passing close to One World Trade Center and the illuminated memorial pools that now occupy the site of the Twin Towers.
As blue hour arrived we climbed above the city, positioning the helicopter directly over the southern tip of Manhattan. Looking straight down, the familiar street grid disappeared and something entirely different emerged. The island became almost mountain-like, its dense cluster of towers rising from a rocky point surrounded by dark water and the constant movement of ferries crossing New York Harbor.
To exaggerate that feeling I chose an extreme wide-angle lens. Rather than simply recording the skyline, it created the sensation of falling into the city itself, with every building radiating outward from a single point of perspective inside the frame.
New York is one of the world's most photographed cities, yet from this perspective it becomes something altogether different. Stripped of its horizon, Manhattan no longer feels like a city at all. It becomes an island. An extraordinary concentration of human ambition rising from the water that has shaped its history from the very beginning.
