When I moved to New York one of the first thoughts I had was just how bipolar it is. NYC is both the best and worst place I've ever been. It is the definition of plurality, yet it's so easy to feel alone and anonymous within it. You walk through the streets and are immersed in all sorts of wonderful diversity, turn the corner and you are witness to tragic isolation. The anonymous nature actually helps make it all work, moves people of all sorts forward together, because after all everyone else is anonymous as well. Of course, the other side of that coin is the anonymity perpetuates the negative, subvertly encouraging people to move along regardless of what they come across. While the image is certainly less shocking than a lot of what you can witness in the city, where else can you find people lining up to buy food directly adjacent to a heap of garbage?
0 comments: