The Manhattan Times

Neighborhood Blogwatch

by Carla Zanoni

As a writer, it is hard to write the following words: Sometimes one image is much more profound than the well-crafted word. With that belief in mind, a new cropping of traditional bloggers and microbloggers have taken their cameras to Northern Manhattan and are collecting photos to tell their story of the area. Their tenacity with a camera is our gain. 

In the ‘Wood

Rachel “Jewyorican” Figueroa-Levin has been blogging about Inwood for a good portion of 2009 (she and her husband Mike Levin’s blog were featured in this column earlier this year), with photos mingling with the written word and her observations of the area. Now, she has dedicated a site to the photos she takes on the trails of Inwood Hill Park, the local dog run, random acts of graffiti, farmers market goodies and even some historical images of her grandfather growing up in Inwood.

inthewood.tumblr.com

I Was Out Walking

More art than straight documenting of life in New York City, this blog dedicates its pages to micro and macro looks at the streets of Northern Manhattan, but oftentimes leaves the viewer unsure of whether the shots were taken in Inwood, Washington Heights or Mars. Bright, saturated colors highlight the strong images and evoke a sense of poetry and lyricism.  

iwasoutwalking.com

ArtForStrangers

When it comes to photography, the world of Twitter has opened doors for varied audiences to enjoy the work of intrepid microbloggers who show their shots in snippets posted to their feeds. Inwoodite Richard Herrera, who goes by the username “ArtForStrangers,” is one such microblogger. His fabulous photography and digital design prowess is available in small doses to those who follow his Tweets or by those who visit his Flickr page, which contains images dating back to 2006. Either way, the visual candy he has been doling is utterly delectable.

flickr.com/photos/logik101

twitter.com/ArtForStrangers