New York City Travel Photography from Jay Anderson Photography

I was never one to make Bucket Lists, when I think of Bucket Lists it always reminds me of the film starring Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freedman. Being old, twilight of your life and thinking of stuff you want to do and see before you die. But I decided, actually, there is no shame in doing them. On my personal list was to visit New York and on the photography list was New York City Travel Photography.

For the last two years, I have been thinking about what I would like to do and get before I turn the big 40. After going full-time with my photography business and turning what was just a passion into my main and only source of income. The next thing was I wanted to go on a big trip somewhere. I pondered on a few places including Jamaica, Australia, Hong Kong, & Los Angeles to name a few. But it always came back to my desire to visit New York.

I had visited New York with my Mum once before to meet my Granddad over 25 years ago. I was only fourteen and at that age, all I was interested in was getting the newest computer games, going to the arcades in Times Square and getting the latest Hip-hop or Reggae mix tapes from Harlem & Jamaica Ave to show off to my friends back in the UK. I wasn’t interested in seeing the Empire State Building or walking up and down 5th Avenue going into Tiffany’s and other Luxury stores like my Mum wanted to do. I did do some Tourist stuff like go up the World Trade Centre and see a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, but as for the other stuff New York is famous for, wasn’t that interested.

So for the last couple of years, my thoughts has turn to visiting the Big Apple and doing the big tourist stuff like walking through Central Park and taking a ferry over to the Statue of Liberty. There was also another big reason for me to visit New York City, my oldest friend, who I have known since we were babies and had been inseparable for the first 20 years of our lives, had move to the States over 12 years ago. First of all to Atlanta and then finally in New York where he runs a very successful clothing brand. So with all of this in mind, New York was the only choice.

Over the months preceding, I started to plan the trip and also discussed them with my new American pals (The MRTS team and friends) that I met at Sophie & Will’s Ireland Wedding. It started to turn into a mini American tour. It would start in New York to visit Wayne, Jo (and then Kylee who I met later on), then fly down to either North & South Carolina depending where Amaris was staying at the time and finally to Salt Lake City, Utah to see the ever smiling Chad (Chadwick when in Europe). With all these plans I knew it would be epic, but costly both in time and finance. So I had to cut back. Sorry Chad, but next time you are top of the list, I promise we will do the whole Salt Lake City to Nevada road trip like we planned.

The plans were coming together very well and to top it all off, I was not only going to visit Amaris in Raleigh, North Carolina I was going to photograph a wedding with her. More of that to come very soon. This was planning to be the trip of a lifetime as I always thought it would be all those years ago.

My plans were to land and stay in New York for two days, fly down to North Carolina for another two days and then back up to NYC for the last three days of my trip. Plenty of time to see, visit and explore everything on my list.

And I did try to do everything on my list, my first day was full, packed with jumping on and off subway trains, walking up and down avenues and across streets. Seeing the majority of all tourist sites like Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Empire State Building etc. The rest of my time in NYC was about seeing the other sites but mostly seeing my friends.

I didn’t get the chance to see and do everything on my list including meeting up with Jo in Hells Kitchen. Reasons why was mainly down to Wayne who was suppose to take me to a bar for one hour and it turning into an all nighter and so losing all of that evening and then the next day due to a massive hangover. But I am happy I didn’t get a chance to do everything, it gives me an excuse to go back very soon to see the other half of the exciting city.

Words cannot describe what this trip meant to me, something that will etch in my mind for ever more. Just have to thank everyone that made this trip happen you are all stars.

So here are the images you have been waiting for