In the Spotlight
My partner and I had barely settled in before our shared love of exploring pulled us back outside. It was early evening on the very first day of our New York adventure; we’d only landed at JFK a few hours earlier, and already we found ourselves wandering towards South Point Park on the eastern side of Roosevelt Island.
We were caught up in the easy joy that comes with being somewhere new—a full week in Manhattan ahead of us—wide awake despite the inconvenient truth that it was midnight back home.
Before us stretched an extraordinary view of Manhattan1, the skyline glowing as the sun slipped into the blue hour. The colours were fleeting, and the artist in me moved before thought could catch up—camera raised, exposure set almost by instinct. I metered for the shadows, then reduced the exposure by a full stop to retain texture in the darker areas and keep the luminous blues from blowing out. For me, the contrast between sky and water holds the city perfectly in balance.
One or Two Quotes
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
— Henry Miller
“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”
— Bill Bryson
And now, a brief word from the studio.
Business matters
In the near future, I’ll be launching paid subscriptions. I deeply appreciate each of you and aim to make this transition as seamless as possible. With a paid subscription, collectors can enjoy the following benefits:
Current subscribers keep full access for three months after the switch. If you choose to support, you’ll help fund the stories and images shared here—decide whenever it feels right.
That’s a wrap—thanks for reading! As ever, if you know anyone who’s into photography, visual storytelling or collecting finely crafted prints, feel free to pass this email on. Or just hit reply and let me know what you think, say “hi,” or anything else that pops into your mind!
Johan du Preez
I’m making a small change to how I share my gallery images. To help protect my copyright, from now on I’ll be linking to them on my website rather than posting them directly here on Substack. Just follow the link to see them all!