NYC | Virtually Gina

A Moment Worth Recording

September 4, 2022 by Gina Marie

“Photographs bear witness to a human choice being exercised in a given situation. A photograph is a result of the photographer’s decision that it is worth recording that this particular event or this particular object has been seen. If everything that existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless. A photograph celebrates neither the event itself nor the faculty of sight in itself. A photograph is already a message about the event it records. The urgency of this […]

Categories: America, Brooklyn, Journal, New York City, NYC, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, The Artistic Process, Urban • Tags: Brooklyn, New York City, Photography, Urban

A Moment of Change

June 1, 2020 by Gina Marie

Allyship towards people of color involves recognizing the racial biases that may live within me and committing to counter these subtle, insidious patterns of thinking. I can choose to speak up and ask for feedback from trusted peers of color, instead of remaining silent as I might otherwise be inclined to do. Similarly, I can seek to learn about the history of racism and ways in which discrimination has impacted and continues to impact POC today. I can make an effort to live life with compassion, respecting and honoring differences rather than seeing them as barriers.

Categories: America, Brooklyn, CBT, Civil Rights, Compassion, Healing, History, Minneapolis, Minnesota, New York, New York City, NYC, Racism, Social Work • Tags: America, CBT, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Racism, Social Justice, Social Work

Cosmic New York

April 22, 2020 by Gina Marie

“Think of yourself in a cosmic context,” someone once suggested. It seemed like easier advice to take when I was out and about. In quarantine, sure, I go for daily walks and enjoy the fresh Brooklyn air. (An oxymoron, right? But it actually IS fresh, since carbon emissions have fallen since mid-March.) Meanwhile, I haven’t been across the river to Manhattan in about 5 weeks, although it feels like ages. I miss the window-shopping, the people-watching, the stunning skyscraper views. […]

Categories: Brooklyn, New York, New York City, NYC, Photo Journal, Photography, Surrealism, Urban • Tags: Brooklyn, Manhattan, New York City, Photography, Quarantine

Brooklyn Quiet

April 2, 2020 by Gina Marie

The streets of Brooklyn were mostly empty. The few brave souls outdoors wore masks, scarves, or bandanas around their faces to keep virus at bay. A sign posted on a lamppost encouraged neighbors to stay connected in spite of the shelter-in-place order, now in its second month. And yet, the flowering trees still bloomed. Their message: your worldly illusions have been shattered, but deep within the earth, it’s business as usual.

Categories: America, Brooklyn, Nature, New York, New York City, NYC, Photography, Spooky, Spring, Urban • Tags: Brooklyn, nature, New York City, Photography, Spring, Urban

The Hilarity of Life

August 11, 2019 by Gina Marie

On the second day of my period during a marital separation, feeling extra hormonal and mopey, I hopped on a bicycle and passed a scene that could only happen in New York. A scruffy-looking fellow who I probably would have mistaken for homeless except that he was riding an expensive-looking bicycle, was BLASTING Sinead O’Connor’s rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which—under the circumstances—brought tears to my eyes. I pedaled behind him for a few blocks, listening to the mournful […]

Categories: Bicycles, Brooklyn, Heartbreak, Life, Love, Memoir, New York City, NYC, Personal, Short Story

Just Be Here With Me: People-Watching in NYC

November 23, 2017 by Gina Marie

I see you walking, talking, looking at your phone not wanting to be alone. You’re never alone: so many places, spaces, people to see. We’re in NYC. Let’s take a selfie.

Categories: America, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, Nikon, NYC, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Travel, Urban • Tags: Brooklyn, Candid, Manhattan, Mickey Mouse, New York, New York City, Photography, Urban

Spooky Photography

March 14, 2017 by Gina Marie

It’s official. Jeff and I will soon be New York transplants, as he recently took a job in Brooklyn. We began the apartment search last Sunday. On our drive to the first apartment viewing, we passed this curious-looking dwelling. I snapped a photo and upon returning home, noticed I captured but not one but two orbs in the photo, one at each window. Coincidence, flare effect, or evidence of spiritual activity? You decide.

Categories: Architecture, Ghosts, New York, New York City, NYC, Photography, Spooky, Superstition • Tags: Brooklyn, Ghosts, New York, Orbs, Photography, Spooky

My Umpteenth New York Visit

February 7, 2017 by Gina Marie

Before we delve into the New York pics, let’s start with this: “Always maintain only a joyful mind.” This is one of the 59 Lojong slogans taught to students on a path of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. These slogans are traditionally used to help meditation students tame the mind. Even in the face of distractions and suffering, the idea here is to maintain a sense of joy that you are on a path of awakening. That being said, […]

Categories: America, Meditation, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Nikon, NYC, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Recovery, Spooky, Travel, Winter • Tags: Lojong Slogans, New York, New York City, Recovery, Travel, Urban

Hello, Brooklyn . . . Hello, B.I.G.

January 15, 2017 by Gina Marie

On a wintry afternoon, Ilona and I took New Jersey transit on a slow (under the snowy conditions) train trek into New York. It was so cold that I wore my pajamas underneath my clothes, plus several hoodies and my black puffer jacket with the goofy faux fur hood. The city was magical under a blanket of fallen snow. “Biggie Smalls is from here,” I observed as we trudged through the snowy sidewalks of Brooklyn. “I saw him in concert the year before […]

Categories: America, Biggie Smalls, New York, New York City, Notorious B.I.G., NYC, Photo Journal, Travel, Urban, Winter • Tags: Biggie Smalls, Brooklyn, iPhoneography, Manhattan, New York, New York City, Notorious B.I.G., Travel, Urban