DeborahShapiroPhotos

Late Afternoon Light, Central Park West

Posted on June 10, 2021 by deborahshapiro

In early June, the summer solstice approaches and the sun casts the most beautiful light of the year.

Broadway Blues

Posted on May 30, 2021 by deborahshapiro

May 29 on a rainy and chilly holiday weekend. A short walk on Broadway between 103rd and 97th Streets showed some of the lasting effects of the pandemic.

Leaving the subway at 103rd and Broadway.

The Mexican Festival Restaurant, a lively and popular restaurant and bar on the corner of Broadway and 102nd Street, permanently closed

The Metro Diner on Broadway and 100th Street reopened and added an enclosed outdoor dining space. No one was sitting there in the rain.

This convenience store on Broadway and 98th Street closed during the pandemic. On Election Day 2020 I photographed its shutter painted with “Vote Trump” in large letters. The storefront is still vacant six months later.

Posted in Manhattan, New York, Pandemic, Uncategorized | Tagged Broadway, closed restaurant, closed store, closed storefront, Manhattan, New York, New York City, Pandemic | Leave a comment

2021 in New York City, so far

Posted on May 17, 2021 by deborahshapiro

One year ago New York City looked and felt very different, but now in the middle of May change has started to take hold and hope is in the air. Here is a look back at the first five months of 2021.

January: A Snowy Owl came from the tundra to land on a baseball field in Central Park, where she was mobbed by angry crows and photographed by crowds of birders. Birds have been considered omens; this one was considered a celebrity.

February: Snowfall, and a Tufted Titmouse eating peanuts from a woman’s hand in Central Park. During the pandemic birding became an enormously popular safe, outdoor activity.

February: snowfall, and Central Park at its most picturesque

March: the museums cautiously reopen, with precautions. Masked people in the Greek and Roman galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

April: masked visitors at the Museum of Natural History

April: young musicians from the Manhattan School of Music played jazz in Central Park

April: flowering trees and a model in Central Park

May: cherry blossoms and a child who has grown up looking at people with covered faces

May: a glimpse of a normal, post-pandemic life

May: a trumpeter performing in Central Park

May: Wrong way? People are confused about wearing masks, but the Centers for Disease Control has issued clear guidance. Vaccinated persons no longer need to wear masks outdoors or indoors. The difficult part is knowing who has been vaccinated.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged American Museum of Natural History, Birding, Birds, Central Park, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York City, Pandemic, Snowy Owl | 2 Comments

New Website

Posted on April 16, 2021 by deborahshapiro

I’m very happy to announce that my new, redesigned website has gone live!

Please visit:

http://www.deborahshapirophotography.com

Posted in New York, Uncategorized | Tagged website | Leave a comment

2020 in 20 Photographs

Posted on December 30, 2020 by deborahshapiro

The year we would all rather forget, the year from hell, the year of shock and loss and pain is nearing its end. With vaccines and a new president, change is in the air for 2021.

January 2020 started so peacefully with a summer-like day in Central Park.

The fourth annual Women’s March in January took place while impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump were underway.

As the coronavirus epidemic raged in Wuhan, China, the Chinese-American community expressed support. The pandemic still seemed far away in February during the Lunar New Year celebrations in Chinatown.

Columbia University students enjoying springlike weather on campus, February 23. The university shut down soon after this photo was taken.

April 14: a dollar store advertises cleaning products, masks, and hand sanitizer. All of these supplies were nearly impossible to find for weeks.

April 6: Finding solace in magnolia blossoms in Riverside Park during the lockdown. The city parks stayed open for respite and recreation.

May 9: Bicycles and scooters take over the streets as New Yorkers shun public transportation.

A beloved neighborhood diner on Broadway, closed during the pandemic.

June 14: A protester in Harlem. Daily protests against police violence toward Black Americans continued for months all over the city.

Street vendors selling masks on Broadway in June

June 18: A doorman on West End Avenue bangs a spoon on a pan during the daily salute to front line workers of the coronavirus pandemic.

July 4: Protesters marching from Columbus Circle to Trump Tower

July 12: Hedy, a Trump supporter, on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower before a demonstration.

People listening to a jazz trio in Central Park, September 27. With all concert venues closed, suddenly unemployed musicians took to the parks to earn money from donations.

A guest at an outdoor wedding on Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, October 11

When early voting in the presidential election began, New Yorkers waited up to 4 hours on the streets to vote. Amsterdam Avenue, October 30.

Jubilant crowds poured into the streets on the news of Joe Biden’s election victory, November 7, 2020.

A woman celebrating the election results on November 7, Broadway and 104th Street.

November 3, Election Day: A shuttered convenience store that closed after months of the pandemic, Broadway and 99th Street

December 22: Visiting the iconic Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was strictly limited this year. People were allowed to stand in front of the tree just long enough to take photos.

Posted in 2020, Manhattan, New York, Protest March, Women's March | Tagged 2020, Bethesda Terrace, Biden, BLM. Black Lives Matter, Central Park, Central Park Lake, Chinatown, closed restaurant, closed storefront, Columbia University campus, Coronavirus, Election 2020, Harlem protest, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Masks, Pandemic, Presidential Election 2020, Protesters, Riverside Park, Voting, Wuhan | Leave a comment

Christmas in New York in a Pandemic Year

Posted on December 23, 2020 by deborahshapiro

Everything is different this year, but the quintessential feature of Christmas in New York is still the tree in Rockefeller Center. Crowds were strictly limited, tourists were absent, but visitors still found joy at the beautiful sight.

Posted in 2020, Manhattan, New York | Tagged Christmas, Christmas season, Christmas tree, Pandemic, Rockefeller Center | Leave a comment

A Walk on Rivington Street

Posted on December 21, 2020 by deborahshapiro

The Lower East Side of Manhattan is usually a lively neighborhood of young people, bars, restaurants, street art, and shopping. Not in 2020 in the midst of a pandemic, not even on the last Sunday before Christmas. Rivington Street was bleak with most restaurants and storefronts closed and shuttered. In the spirit of the neighborhood, murals decorate the metal shutters. We need our government to support small businesses or all of the remaining restaurants will disappear.

Rivington Street without cars or pedestrians on a Sunday afternoon

The popular cocktail bar Verlaine NYC is closed due to pandemic restrictions on indoor dining.

Economy Candy, in business since 1937 and barely hanging on, was the only store open on this block

A permanently closed storefront on Rivington and Suffolk Street

Posted in 2020, Manhattan, New York | Tagged Economic distress, Graffiti, Lower East Side, murals, Pandemic, Rivington Street, Small business, Storefronts, street art | 1 Comment

Aftermath

Posted on November 17, 2020 by deborahshapiro

The election is over, and with it the elation that erupted on the streets of New York. These two photos of stores on Broadway on the Upper West Side of New York were taken on the afternoon of Election Day. One shows a shuttered storefront of a business that closed permanently during the pandemic. The other survives, selling cleaning supplies, masks, and gloves that were impossible to find during the early months of the pandemic. Together, the two photographs show the challenges that lie ahead for the Biden administration in the coming months and years: control of Covid and repairing the economy.

Dueling messages on the shutter of a closed store on Broadway

A dollar store selling cleaning supplies, masks, gloves, and rubbing alcohol

Posted in 2020, Manhattan, New York | Tagged Covid, Covid-19, Dollar Store, Pandemic, Storefronts, Upper West Side | Leave a comment

Celebration in the Streets of New York

Posted on November 13, 2020 by deborahshapiro

On Saturday, November 7, 2020 New Yorkers poured into the streets to celebrate the news that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had won the election. Today, nearly a week later, Biden and Harris are projected to win 306 electoral votes, well over the 270 needed.

This young man on Broadway voted in his first Presidential election this year.

Columbus Circle, in front of the Trump International Hotel

People brought their children to Columbus Circle be part of the joyful celebration.

A family on Central Park West near the Trump International Hotel

Posted in 2020, Manhattan, New York | Tagged Biden, Broadway, Celebration, Columbus Circle, election, Election 2020, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, New York City, Presidential Election 2020 | Leave a comment

My photo in the ICPConcerned Exhibit at the International Center of Photography, New York City

Posted on October 18, 2020 by deborahshapiro

My photograph of a Manhattan doorman saluting front line workers of the pandemic with a spoon and pan is now on exhibit at the International Center of Photography, 79 Essex Street, New York. I am proud and honored to have my work shown together with so many amazing photographers from all over the world. The exhibit is online at icpconcerned.icp.org

Doorman saluting front line pandemic workers, West End Avenue, June 18

Posted in Manhattan, New York, Uncategorized | Tagged Doorman, ICP, International Center of Photography, Manhattan, New York City, Pandemic | 4 Comments