Chaotic Order

Lincoln Center, New York City

"Chaos and order are not enemies, only opposite." Richard Garriott

This photo was captured at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York and is part of the Hipstamatic photography series of New York, Manhattan.


It was late in the morning when we were walking around here. It was a beautiful cold, rainy winter day. Those are two attributes that make New York look more beautiful and perfect for Black and White photography. Usually this recreation area is bustling with people but on this particular day it was totally deserted. There was something really peaceful about it.


I couldn't help but notice the symmetry of the trees and the chaos of the chairs. It's like nature is showing us how perfect it is and how chaotic we human beings are. It's almost like an epidemic hit New York and everyone's gone in a hurry trying to run for their lives.


Originally this photo was shot in color but I converted it to Black and White to make it look more dramatic. Converting to Black and White also brought out an emphasis on the line of light you see where the trees on both sides meet which is in the center of the photo.

The settings on the Hipstamatic camera for this photography series were Lucifer VI Lens/BlacKeys Monochrome Film. Some minor adjustments were done in Photoshop CS4.