Winter Garden | New York City

It seems that this throwback thursday (#TBT) concept is really catching on! I decided to get on board with this trend and share some of my early work. Today we go back to the very beginning…the spark that started my passion for photography.

In late 2002 I was able to join my parents and brother for a leg of their family vacation. They had been exploring the high points of the east coast, and I was able to sneak away from work for a long weekend to join them in the Big Apple. Other than the oppressive humidity and discovering that a New York block is nothing like a California block, we had a fantastic time!

I traveled to New York with a tiny Kyocera 3.3 megapixel camera. It was my very first digital camera and I had scrimped and saved, and paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 for this little pocket-sized point and shoot. I took a lot of photos on this trip, but one stood out above all the rest.

This is the Winter Garden at the World Trade Center, just one year after 9/11. You can see the cranes inside as they repaired and rebuilt. It brings back all of the emotion of that time. When I captured this photo we had been walking around what used to be the Twin Towers and had seen all of the memorials that had been placed, the signs where people were looking for missing family and friends…it was a sobering sight to behold. And then I saw this…the Winter Garden…this beautiful glass building that was being rebuilt. It was hope…optimism…

Several years ago my mom made a print of this photo for me and had it framed. Its an 11×14 (yes, a 3.3 megapixel camera can make a beautiful 11×14 print!) and it hangs above my computer as a reminder of where I started.

Photography is not about taking a photo, but rather being taken by a photo. (slightly paraphrased from Vincent Versace). This photo took me…and started a journey that I never expected!