7 Days Shooting Street Photography in New York City

And that wraps up 7 days in NYC.

Man, I am the luckiest person ever. Feeling very grateful to pursue my dreams like this and basically just prat around in one of the best cities in the world.

I've just finished editing all my digital photographs and, in an attempt to sound as humble as I can: I am very happy.

I have no idea what my 15 rolls of film have in store, but I'm already really stoked on the digital work. I'll trickle a few of my favourite shots throughout this post.

What makes a good photography trip?

What makes a good photography trip? For me, the following three things, in order of importance.

The people
The location
The photography

Starting at number 3, the least important. The photography is entirely down to you, your taste and your ability. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We can't put too much pressure on ourselves to make this a success. If it happens, great. If not… at least you enjoyed the next two points.

Number 2, the location. NYC did not fail to deliver. The characters, the food, the lights, the sounds. It's nuts. I understand why the history of street photography is established in the streets of Manhattan - it's a phenomenally unique place that showcases all kinds of humanity. For photographers interested in human behaviour, it's so much fun to observe.

Number 1, the people. The people you surround yourself with make or break everything in life. You can be in the worst place with the best people and be happy. Now imagine you're with great people in a great location. The vibes were immaculate in NYC.

I travelled with JP - you're probably familiar with him and his work if you've followed me for some time. We see, think and shoot in similar ways. It's always a pleasure to get to do the thing you love with a best mate.

We also met up with Dave Rosenblit. I met Dave on my previous trip to the US when I was in California back in February, and after I realised he didn't live too far from NYC he tagged along for a couple of days on this trip. Dave is a true gent. On Saturday I also got to catch up with Jimmy Mac - his work is beautiful and his attitude is even better. He let me borrow his flash too, so you'll see some of my attempts at that in the full YouTube video soon. On Sunday, before we closed out the week, we caught up with Scotty as we wandered Midtown until dark. I met Scotty when he visited London in 2023 and we've stayed in touch ever since. I think it's crazy that photography has connected me with such a variety of people all over the world. I'm very grateful for that.

200,000+ Steps

I wanted to try and put in some miles around Central Park ahead of my half marathon in October. JP and I enjoyed a chill 5 miler on Sunday. On top of the run, which wasn't necessary at all, we averaged 30k steps each day. On the second to last day I peaked at 46k. Wild. My feet are begging for some recovery this week.

I shot 15 rolls of film in total: 12 Portra 400 and 3 CineStill 800T. Most of the Portra was shot on the Leica MP with the 28mm as we walked endlessly around Manhattan, but the film I'm most excited to see is the CineStill. That was a somewhat spontaneous decision to head to Coney Island as the sun went down and the lights turned on. The last time I was at Coney Island was the 4th of July 2024, which was one of the craziest days of photography I can remember. So this evening mission at Coney was slightly more chill, but still insanely interesting… it's Coney Island after all.

Let’s talk coffee.

I'm not kidding when I say we plan our walking routes based on which coffee shop we're going to next. I usually stop at coffee number 3 on a normal day in the UK. But given we had 30k+ steps in mind for each day, grabbing a 4th wouldn't do anyone any harm, would it?

JP and I made a small list of our favourites. Any NYC locals reading this? I hope you agree - or recommend any others for when I return.

Culture Espresso: The best spot in Midtown, and a few streets over from our hotel, which made it ultra convenient. Very good coffee, even better cookies. I don't want to count the amount of flat whites I ordered here over the 7 days. It's always quick, it's always exceptional, always good vibes before hitting 5th or 6th Ave.
Arcane Estate: Located in the West Village, serving Panamanian coffee. You can tell they REALLY care. Service was good and the coffee was special. The type of place where you want to speak to the barista — ask them what's on offer, what they recommend. We visited Arcane twice on this trip and I'll definitely be going more often next time.
SEY Coffee: I could swap this with Arcane as they're equally cool. Located in Brooklyn, and again, this place REALLY cares. After I asked what they'd recommend, or what the best option was, the barista responded with: "whatever you want, it'll be our best." We went really out of our way for this spot after a stranger we met gave it a 10/10 rating. Lucky we got chatting to said stranger, as it was well worth the trip over to Brooklyn just for that.
La Cabra: Found on Lafayette St. A very popular spot. I've never seen this place not busy, and for good reason. We found ourselves walking through or past this location almost every day, so it's an easy option… if the queue isn't too bad. Obviously a selection of speciality coffee, but a solid bakery option as well.
La Colombe: There are quite a few of these dotted around NYC. I get the impression this might not be the most speciality of the list. As soon as you start opening multiple locations I understand you need to streamline your operations, one specific speciality coffee store isn't the same as having 10 stores, if that makes sense. For London coffee snobs, I'd say this ranks like a WatchHouse would. Not the best in the city, but always a good option if you're near one. However, the thing that lands it in my top 5 is the draft latte. Good lord, that thing is brilliant. It REALLY hits the spot on a hot and humid day. It's basically just a milkshake or a smoothie in texture, but coffee in taste. It's not even like a regular iced latte. It's just different. I wish we had that option in London. Why have I never seen a draft latte anywhere else before?