The Face of New York Photo Book by Bohemia Galleries

Steve Eccles has long had a passion for photography and art but as a young man from Hull, he was told to get a proper job and this lead to a successful career in engineering and the aerospace industry. He acquired his first camera at fifteen the first of many, and has since won several photography competitions. Throughout the last forty years he has studied fine art and photography becoming a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2009. Eventually in a second career opening two very successful art galleries with his wife, in York and Beverley, showing fine art and photography. During their extensive travels around the World Steve, camera always in hand has continued to photograph people and places that have inspired him. Steve is currently working on his next book project The Face of Jazz to be published in the early part of 2019

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The Face of New York By Steven Thomas Eccles

Photo: By Sheana Hollowood

E F AC NE OF E W Y OR K

The Five Boroughs of New York In 2017 we travelled to New York for an extended stay. After visiting this amasing city every year for some twenty years on business, it became apparent that there were big changes occuring both in the makeup of the people but also in the layout of the city. The old village areas of Soho, Greenwhich and Chelsea are becomiing like everwhere else. losing their individual shops, eateries and quaintness in favour of expensive apartments and franchise outlets. So before they disappear altogether it was Steve;s ambition to travel through the five boroughs more leisurely and to meet the people of this great metropolis, to talk with the locals and to photograph them at their places of work, play and in their native habitat. The five boroughs comprise Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx. Independently each of these boroughs could have been an entire city in its own right up until 1898. Today of course this is not the case. Brooklyn is no longer the poor neighbour to Manhattan, Williamsburgh is the new hipster hangout. Bushwick,which leads on to Queens is fast becoming the next affordable place to move in to. In the other direction going from Manhattan up to the newly gentrified Harlem, you must travel through the Upper East and West Sides with the fabulous mansions of the super rich and of course the wonderful Central Park. Then onwards to the Bronx. All these journeys were undertaken on public transport and mostly on foot, walking at least ten miles a day. This is by far the best way to meet and talk to the people and most of them feature in this book. From the homeless and down and outs to the drug addicts and those reformed. To the artists, artisans, shopkeepers to shopworkers. To the law enforcers and breakers, the old and the young and the the ones who would never need to be any of the above. It was a fascinating and enjoyable collaboration. Most of the hugely diverse people were warm and friendly, with interesting back stories that we will never forget. It only proved to enhance our view of this incredible city and our understanding of what makes it unique.

Sheana Hollowood

Photo: Manhattan

To Sheana and the people of New York

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The Face of NEW YORK

2018

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DOWNTOWN The term `downtown` has a fairly broad meaning in the rest of the United States and usually denotes the city centre, however in New York its meaning is very specific. Take a look at a city map and you will see why. Downtown is the southern half of Manhattan.

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New York City is made up of a whole series of islands - a fact that is easy to forget. Manhattan itself is one, the Statue of Liberty stands tall on Liberty Island and Ellis Island is where arriving immigrants were received until 1954. The city`s shore is 577 miles long.

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New York City is synonymous with the American dream and the only way to understand this adrenaline-fuelled, metropolis is to come and see it yourself.

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Today around eight million people live in the city. Once the world`s largest, it can no longer lay claim to that title as it has been overtaken by other megacities.

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BROOKLYN BRIDGE The first bridge to connect Manhattan with Brooklyn was completed in 1883 after 13 years of construction by engineers John A. Robling and son. Its two pylons, standing nearly 292 feet high and spans just over 1738 feet.

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New York is a city of contrasts. Winters are dry with freezing temperatures. In summer the mercury can easily rise into the 80s (over 30 degrees Celsius) and it can be very, very humid.

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The mix of immigrant nations is constantly changing. In recent years the waves of immigrants have included millions of people from central and south America, hundreds of thousands of Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese, as well as many Afro-Americans from the southern states.

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THE STATUE OF LIBERTY Erected by French sculptor FredericAuguste Bartholdi together with Gustave Eiffel 1886 Lady Liberty` stands 151 ft tall and weighs 221 ton.

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In 1989 the first African American mayor of New York, David Dinkins described it best in his acceptance speech when he said, `New York is not a melting pot. It is a gorgeous mosaic of people".

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Until the 1960s Greenwich Village was the domain of artists, musicians, writers, poets, dancers, students and professors from New York University. Today it has evovled into an expensive residential area spared from skyscrapers.

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BIG APPLE The expression has its beginnings in the jazz scene of World War II. If your performamce made it to New York you were getting a bite from the Big Apple. Not only were musicians` earnings much better but the city also held the promise of a career stepping stone.

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WASHINGTON SQUARE The land mark Washington Arch forms the focal point of this square that was built to commemorate the centennial of the inauguration of thr first American president George Washington. The ground had previously been used as a public burial ground and puplic hangings.

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New York`s first skyscrapers made their appearance in the 19th century. First was the World building (1890) then came the Metropolitan Life Tower (1909), the Woolworth Building (1913), Chrysler Building (1930), Empire State Building (1931) and of course The One World Trade Center 541m (1776 ft)

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WALDORF-ASTORIA Luxury hotel built in the art deco style of the 1930s stretches across an entire block. The guests of yesteryear staying in its 1380 rooms had a very unusual service made available to them: the hotel had its own platform as part of Grand Central Terminal.

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RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL Art Deco is what defines the character of thi concert hall. When it first opened its doors in 1932 it was the worlds biggest, seating an audience of 6000.

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THE FACE OF NEW YORK

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THE FACE OF NEW YORK

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THE FACE OF NEW YORK

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THE FACE OF NEW YORK

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THE FACE OF NEW YORK

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THE FACE OF NEW YORK

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The Face of JAZZ www.bohemiajazz.co.uk

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