URBAN HIKE of MANHATTAN

I love New York. I have loved it for as long as I can remember. This is not exactly a bold statement; millions of people love New York, if those t-shirts they sell every five feet in and around Times Square and on Canal street are any sign. It's always been a place that feels like home to me in a very special way. It's a place where every dream you've ever had can come true, as long as you're brave enough and stubborn enough to chase them. It's where you can be outrageous and anonymous at the same time, surrounded by people and completely alone.

My love for New York is a little left of center; it isn't tied to fashion, theatre, food, or commerce - I am in love with the urban landscape and the history. I am especially drawn to the textures and patterns that make the city so iconic, particularly in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The city's architecture, facade design, and scale create an abstract imagery that is uniquely beautiful and thrilling to me, and heavily informs and influences my own art.

That New York is a pedestrian's city is a happy coincidence; most of my time not spent working is spent walking. My urban hikes in my home city of Portland provide an infinite source of inspiration and wonder, so a plan to explore Manhattan by foot seemed a logical artistic and heavily personal experiment. In 2015, I spent two months getting to know Manhattan in a way few people have - I walked every street on the island, charting every block on the map in this book. In thirty-four days, I walked more than six hundred miles and took over a hundred photographs. Realizing this dream gave birth to my "Urban Hike of Manhattan".

The photos in this collection are a selection of those images that capture the city's face as I have always seen it: constantly shifting while staying, in some unexplainable way, exactly the same. These pictures are my way of trying to show you what I see when I look at a wall, or a doorway, or a window or a building. The fact that millions of people walk past them without even noticing makes them even more magical. These photos are my New York.