The coldest winter ever in New York City
In January 2018, I spent eight days in New York City in the heart of the coldest winter ever recorded in the city that never sleeps. The temperature went down to -16 degrees centigrade (3°F) and I was freezing to my bones while taking pictures in the streets of the majestic New York.
As temperatures were well under 0°C and knowing that batteries don't particularly like cold temperatures, I took the decision not to bring the digital camera and only brought my Leica M2 with me, with one 35mm lens and some color and black and white films.
It was very exciting to shoot in such a cinematic city where every corner brings back memories from classic movies, and I had to struggle to keep a good balance between my own perception of things and the vast quantity of eternal clichés that modern pop culture screwed into my mind. At the end of the day, there is no escape from clichés, the city as a whole being a modern fantasy. They are everywhere you look, from the most iconic skyscrapers in the world to battered metal trash boxes you saw in dozens of movies, so you have to embrace them and to make them your own. It's not easy to shine a new light on something as classic as New York City in eight days with a few rolls of film, but I had good fun without a doubt!
Leica M2.
35mm Voigtländer Nokton f/1.2 ASPH II. Kodak Portra 160 (+3 stops). Kodak Portra 400 (+1 stop). Kodak 400TX (+1 stop).
