Dear NYC,

My first time getting to know you, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. It was a hot, 7 hour stint that wasn’t conducive enough to get to know you all that well. I hopped off a plane, stuffed into a cab for 2 hours to go 5 miles, and thrown into a building to work for someone I don’t respect anymore. It wasn’t your fault in the slightest how I felt afterwards. With hard feelings I avoided you at every cost, even potentially moving there. 

Years later, after succumbing to a few opportunities that were presented to me, you’ve grown on me as a magical place. Yes there’s a certain smell in certain places, yes it can be loud and very busy, yes there may be some abnormally sized rats enjoying a large pizza on the subway, but none of that matters. What matters is how I felt walking through your streets with a camera and watching the light bounce off the buildings. What matters are the very kind, passionate, and frankly blunt people I encountered daily. What matters is the essence of momentum I felt either through visiting the places like the Statue of Liberty Or Ellis Island where people long before me felt that same positive momentum but for a better life, or simply riding the 1 up and down Manhattan to get to meetings, photoshoots, or sushi with a friend. 

Watching the sunrise over Brooklyn this past trip and pigeons and seagulls flew over me on my way to find coffee or a bagel is a morning I wished I could experience more often than not. The amount of wisdom and experience I retain from people of all walks of life that live in and around you is priceless. All I took for granted until now. On the last day of my recent visit, I roamed around taking every last bit of you in before getting in the Uber to Newark. I felt emotional having to uncheck my bags from the hotel as I wanted one more day to see what else I could do or see. 

I can’t wait return and do this all over again. If the opportunity were to ever arise to be closer to you, I would take that up as fast as possible. You’re not what people make you out to be and you’re more than I ever thought you were. 

Keep being a conduit of dreams, a mecca of opportunity,  and the protagonist in people’s potential. 

Love,

France