barking dog, a neighborhood restaurant in the upper east side, nyc.

Winter finally arrives in NYC as snow falls across the city.

Yesterday morning, New Yorkers woke up to a layer of sparkling white covering the city’s streets: the first snow of 2012 had arrived! When it snows in New York, the city slows down and, as we saw last year, is sometimes even brought to a standstill. Not wanting to miss the magical atmosphere of the city under snow, I bundled up and left the apartment by 8 30 am. Even better, it was still snowing!

Not being a morning person, I’m not sure how much hustle and bustle there usually is this early on a Saturday morning. Without a doubt, dog walkers are out and about and that was certainly no different this particular morning. The dogs were in their element, leaping excitedly through the snow, clearly demonstrating that the joys of snow aren’t limited to humans. Several of the dogs even had little snow booties wrapped around their feet to keep them warm and dry. Quite fancy, I have to say, but they are Upper East Side dogs after all.

After buying a latte and a pain au chocolat (so far, the best one I’ve had in NYC) at Juliano’s, I made my way to Central Park. Along the way, I came across a man with two striking Alaskan Klee Kai dogs, which were impossible to walk past without stopping.

bob gallagher, a professional dog walker and two beautiful alaskan klee kais.

Bob Gallagher, a professional dog walker, was very friendly and we chatted for at least 20 minutes about dogs and the dangers of dog walking in NYC. He talked passionately about his job and was eager to have his photo taken with the two beautiful Alaskan Klee Kais. In his own words, “Where would we be without dogs?”

manhattan half-marathon 2012 runners in central park, nyc.

Upon entering the park at 5th Avenue, I spotted a stream of people running in a line. I was quite surprised at the numbers given the weather: does nothing stop New Yorkers from running? I quickly realized that the Manhattan Half-Marathon was taking place and the competitors, most of whom did turn up, were doing a fantastic job of not slipping in the snow. Apart from the race, other hard-core individuals were braving the chill and the snow to accomplish their weekend run. Rather them than me!

Central park was also the common destination for families and groups of kids, who were flocking there with their sledges in tow. I never noticed how hilly Central Park is until I started running there but, for sure, there are some damn good hills for sledging!

With some foresight, the Park authorities had placed protective haystacks in front of benches and fire hydrants lying at the bottom of some of the more popular slopes. Just as well considering the alarming speed at which some of the kids were hurtling down.

New York City is a special place but, when it snows, it really is magical. Here’s to the next snowstorm!

To see more photos click: New York City in Snow
Photographs: Güney Cüceloğlu

The “People’s Playground” at its best: Coney Island on a winter’s day

I realize that bitterly cold weather doesn’t usually entice people to make an outing to the beach but I felt the urge to wrap up warm and take a long, contemplative walk somewhere desolate. Having just returned from Europe, I didn’t want to go too far afield, which is how I ended up making a day trip to New York’s Coney Island.

Coney Island is an Atlantic Ocean beach resort in Southern Brooklyn, a short subway ride away from the city. With its broad sandy beach, boardwalk and amusement parks, previously the largest in the US, Coney Island has been a popular destination for vacationing New Yorkers since the 1830s. In its heyday, the resort was referred to as “The People’s Playground”, the atmosphere of which has been portrayed in the photos of Weegee and paintings of Reginald Marsh.

I like to go to Coney Island because of the sea, the open air, and the crowds—crowds of people in all directions, in all positions, without clothing, moving—like the great compositions of Michelangelo and Rubens. – Reginald Marsh

The crowd of New Yorkers flocking to Coney Island in the summer today is meager in comparison to that depicted by Marsh. Nevertheless, and in contrast to him, it is precisely the crowds that have provoked my dislike of Coney Island. I recently saw the film Two Lovers, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Joaquin Phoenix, which takes place in the neighboring Brighton Beach during winter. There are relatively few scenes at the beach but the mood of the film is one of desolation and solitude. With this in mind, I decided to give it a go in the off-season!

And what a change a season can make! Seagulls have full rein of the beach at this time of year although that’s not to say it’s completely deserted. During my walk to Brighton Beach, I came across the ubiquitous dog-walkers as well as several guys with metal-detectors. Intriguing: what are they looking for and do they actually find anything?

Among the more memorable beach goers that day, was the man running along bare-foot in shorts and t-shirt while another was strolling around in swimming trunks. More than likely, the latter belongs to the Polar Bear Club, that group of hardy swimmers who take to the ocean during winter, most famously on New Year’s Day. It made me cold just looking at him although it did remind me of playing in the sea off the coast of Scotland as a child. Naturally I only ever did this in the summer but it does make me think that perhaps I used to be made of sturdier stuff!

With the dearth of people, the only sounds on the beach was that of the birds, the waves and the wind whistling through the ferris wheel of the empty amusement park, which appeared stuck in motion. With none of the usual summertime distractions, I was able to get lost in my thoughts and capture the serenity of Coney Island in the winter. And thus, I satisfied my winter beach yearning!

“Hellooo, Mister!” is the usual greeting called out to tourists by kids on the streets of Java in Indonesia. I was slightly put out at first, questioning my femininity in the comfortable, baggy boy shorts I had bought for travelling, but soon realized that the title is intended for males and females alike! Away from the streets, in the mountain areas of Sulawesi, yells of “Belanda” echo over the rice terraces. A former Dutch colony, Belanda is the Indonesian word for The Netherlands and was a term used for the Dutch colonists. Nowadays, children in rural regions, who often have no television and are less accustomed to tourists, still use it to call out to any Western foreigner they see.

Here are some shots of Indonesian children on the islands of Java and Sulawesi. One thing is for sure, they do love to pose!

School Kids in Yogyakarta, Java.

I shot these kids as they were leaving their Muhammadiya school in Yogyakarta for the day. Muhammadiya (meaning ‘Followers of Islam’) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia comprising 29 million members and was founded in Yogyakarta. The girls and boys wear matching blue and white uniforms with the addition of the jilbab (the Indonesian term for the hijab or headscarf) for the girls.

More school boys on their bikes.

Muslim boy on his bike in Poso, Central Sulawesi. The boy is wearing a traditional Indonesian Peci, a cap shaped like a truncated cone.

Tana Toraja is the highland area of Southern Sulawesi, which is known for its traditional burial ceremonies and stunning Tongkonan houses. Many of the people in this region are Christian but Animism plays a big role in the funeral rituals of the Torajans.

Children playing in the football fields of Rantepao, the major town of Tana Toraja.

Two boys hanging out on a bridge in Rantepao.

We stayed at this traditional, and electricity-free, village on the first night of a 3-day hike into the mountains of Tana Toraja. After a full day of hiking, we were happy to sit and watch the children play before darkness, and silence, descended on this remote place.

The village girls posing before the stunning traditional Torajan houses.

The boys at play: carting each other around with sticks and a sarong.

An older boy returning to the village with banana leaves. The leaves are used to wrap food in and can be used as plates.

A week ago, we came across Elijah and Manoah hanging out in Union Square, one of their regular meeting spots. With their 80′s retro clothes and high top hairstyles, they immediately stood out from the crowd and Guney had to take their pictures. Elijah and Manoah told us they belong to a group of like-minded individuals known as Tribe NYC, the members of which are recognizable by their retro fashion sense.

We arranged to meet up with seven members of Tribe NYC in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to shoot more photos and to find out more about their lifestyle. As we went to work on the photo-shoot, Tribe NYC turned up the music on the boombox and were clearly having fun as they danced in front of the Bushwick mural.

Tribe NYC was formed in 2009 with the aim of paying homage to the music and fashion of the late 80′s and early 90′s. Composed of 19 young artists, predominantly New York-based, in their late teens and early 20s, they are aspiring dancers, musicians, poets and designers who refer to this period as ‘the best era to hit the world’.

It was a period of hip hop that emphasized African-American social issues, but was also about fun, expression and innovation. The importance of this for Tribe NYC was eloquently revealed by Elijah who said “If you don’t know where you come from, you can’t become who you want to be.”

Tribe NYC members think of each other as family, and meetings involve discussing situations and problems as well as listening and dancing to music and having fun. Essentially, it forms a platform of support for young artists, showing them that it’s possible to succeed despite individual hardships and criticism from the mainstream.

A characteristic fashion accessory of many of the Tribe members is a unique medallion: Mookie wears a self-made wooden ‘Do The Fly Thing’ medallion. Manoah has a Sonic the Hedgehog pendant and Jimmy has a music cassette hanging around his neck. Chelle’s medallion, made of fused plastic beads, bears the Tribe logo of two eyes and a cross for the mouth, representing the group’s ideology of ‘speak no evil’.

Elijah, one of the original members of the group, explained: “We want to avoid negativity. The group is about putting yourself around good people, being humble and, above all, positivity.”

Although the 80s are long gone, Tribe NYC demonstrates that an era can still exist if you want it to and that there is fun in everything – even when considered unconventional by others.

Whole set of pictures can be seen here: Guney’s Flickr

Author: Ilona Gutcher

Two cool guys were hanging around Union Square last saturday and i could not stop myself from approaching and asking permission for taking several pictures.

They were nice enough to accept my offer and here are the results.

Thanks Noah and Eli! for being kind and looking f.ing awesome!

Photos from last night’s Beirut concert at Terminal 5, NYC.

The North Meadow, located north of the great lawn at 97th street, is home to seven state of the art ball fields as well as five softball fields.

As in many team sports, baseball players form a huddle to discuss tactics and strengthen team spirit.

Batter, catcher and umpire line up at the home plate of the baseball diamond waiting for the pitch.

Cheered on by family, friends and passersby, central park baseball players battle against their opponents as well as the blazing sun.

The pitcher initiates the game by throwing the baseball from the pitcher’s mound. Ball speeds can reach over 100 miles per hour (160km/h) depending on the type of pitch.

Baseball players on the bench follow the action of their teammates on the field intently while awaiting their turn to bat.

Baseball players hydrate themselves before returning to the field.

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport that is thought to have evolved in North America from the British game of rounders. The game is played with a wooden or metal bat, a ball and two teams of nine players.

A batter takes position in the batter’s box. The short distance of 60 feet 6 inches (18.4 meters) between the pitcher’s mound and the home plate, in addition to the high ball speeds, requires the batter to be entirely focused on the pitch.

Traditionally, baseball players wear pants that stop just below the knees, known as knee-breeches, together with knee-high socks. Recently, however, it has also become acceptable for players to wear closely-trimmed or loose-fitting full-length pants.

Baseball is a national sport that is taken seriously from a young age. In the US, excelling in baseball, or other sports, can lead to a scholarship to attend college.

Photos: Güney Cüceloğlu
Captions: Ilona Gutcher

Saturday morning I went to Sleepy Hollow to photograph my friends who competed in “Rivertown Runners – Sleepy Hollow 10K” FunRun.

I was very surprised to see the famous “Headless Horseman” riding around, from the 1999 movie “Sleepy Hollow” by Tim Burton.

Here i wanted to share a couple photos of the horseman. To see the complete set of photos from the organization click Sleepy Hollow 10K.

Headless Horseman can be seen everywhere in Sleepy Hollow.

Photos from today’s Rivertown Runners – 2011 Sleepy Hollow 10K fun run. More on Flickr.

I visited Liberty Square to support “Occupy Wall Street” protest and to take pictures. Please see the rest of the photos on my Flickr page.