NYC - only a few people
If the population density of New York was the same as in Alaska, Manhattan would be inhabited by only a few people. This comparison, once read in a book of reportage, lived in me every time I was in New York.
It is a city-behemoth, a city-anthill, baroque and full of energy, with an exuberant form and instantly changing its face; paradoxically, it always seemed far from the pop culture image of a populous “capital of the world”. Every time I visited this place I felt very strong isolation, a kind of loneliness – very strong, making me hide deep inside myself.
I noticed that New York favours this alienation and that in the public space a lot of people (unless they are surrounded by friends or relatives) behave as if they were alone in the big city. The scenery of a megalopolis, exceeding the human scale, even intensifies this poignant feeling of urban loneliness.
Walking around New York with a camera – first unconsciously, and then deliberately I searched for places and scenes that tell about the experience of alienation and emptiness. Like in a desert. I wanted to show the city so deserted as if only a few people lived in it.
