One of the things I love about this city is its propensity for pageantry and serendipity. Often times these two forces cross paths and it's nothing short of amazing. NYC is just teeming with interesting characters and moments that happen around the countless experiences at every turn of the corner available to you. And because we are all packed on top of each other, you truly never know what will happen from one moment to the next. You get the privilege to capture a woman like this, it's exciting and thrilling. I knew when I asked my dear friend Juan Patiño to send me one of his shots. I had a feeling that it would probably be pretty awesome given he is truly renaissance man about town and has a spirit that is perpetually as curious as it is generous. When I asked him for one image, he sent me ten and so many of them were amazing. However, there was something about this shot that I enjoyed because of its energy and because there were so many things that were going on yet it all seemed to come together.

Another quintessential NYC collision on any given day... or night.

Artistic Statement

This is a photo that was taken on July 2013 at the corner of Astor Place & Broadway.

Artistic Statement

I feel very lucky to say that I get to spend my 9-5 photographing advertising jobs, branding, marketing campaigns, and executive headshots; however, it’s the after-hours sessions that often yield the happiest backstories. Such was the case with this portrait of an old muse I captured in Greenwich Village at the corner of Astor Place & Broadway in July of 2013. Having just left a late-night gig and shoot at JOE’s PUB, we made a pit stop at the legendary COZY Soup & Burger (R.I.P.) for their famous Matzoh Ball Soup. Reenergized, we then exited the diner after midnight, and the blazing 10,000-megawatt fluorescent lighting at the entrance to the adjacent parking garage seemed too good to pass up. I quickly unpacked the cameras and leapt into action. Just as my stunning model started to dance through her signature moves, this equally stunning late 70s classic Fiat 124 Sport Spider convertible pulled up, and the gentleman asked if he could watch for a bit. “Yes, sir, even better,” I replied. “Could you nudge this dream car from my early childhood (yes, I had the Matchbox™ version of it in 2nd grade) a few yards forward so it’s directly behind our model?” The rest was history, and this frame was the 6th of many classic shots that followed over the next few minutes. 

It seemed only fair to share this image with Sugary’s “Eye-Candy” series because he has done such a tremendous job of building community and creating opportunities for magical NYC moments just like this one. It also seemed relevant because it serves as a reminder that walking these city streets can occasionally unfold into the happiest twists of fate. A few closing words about me: I started here in NYC singing jingles and producing records for Lisa Loeb and Jewel, but a eureka moment at the end of my 2010 summer tour singing with Hall & Oates triggered my glorious pivot from pop music to commercial photography.

For more incredible photos, please follow Juan Patiño HERE.

If you have any amazing photos you’ve taken or that you’ve come across, that you think are simply incredible representations of community and culture in NYC, please send them my way [email protected] (when sending, please include photo credit as well as the location in NYC where this was taken and when as well as a brief description no more than a paragraph long of what’s happening in the photo and why it inspires you.)

Love and Lob

It may be hard to ignore the hegemony of pickleball and padel infiltrating into every aspect of our sporting and cultural consciousness, but the community surrounding its root origins of tennis is in fact thriving and well and they are best exemplified in communities such as Love & Lob.

The New York–based tennis club describes its mission as “cultivating community & the timeless joy of tennis,” and that spirit comes through in the way it approaches the sport.

Rather than treating tennis purely as competition or instruction, Love & Lob creates social experiences around the game giving people a reason to get on the court, meet others, and make playing part of their regular lives. The formula isn’t new, but it doesn't have to be especially if a sport such as tennis is so steeply rooted in tradition, history, and legacy.

This is obviously not like joining a traditional tennis club at your nearby country club and more like entering a social world that happens to revolve around rackets.

Love & Lob organizes casual play, community days, excursions, and special events that bring together players with different levels of experience. The emphasis is on participation and repeat connection: play a few sets, meet someone new, see them again at another gathering, and gradually become part of a familiar group.

And if you think about it, there’s something about tennis that lends itself particularly well to this kind of community-building. It gives strangers an immediate activity to share, removes the pressure to constantly make conversation, and still leaves plenty of room for interaction between points and after matches. For beginners, it can make a sport that sometimes feels intimidating much more approachable; for experienced players, it adds a social dimension that goes beyond simply finding someone at the same skill level.

In doing so, Love & Lob fits into what has been a larger shift happening around New York City, where increasingly people are building friendships around activities rather than traditional nightlife. This kind of low-pressure social infrastructure is clearly what more people are gathering towards these days.

So pick up a game. Accept the service of Love & Lob and remember... It's all love.   

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Thank you for taking the time to read to the end!

I hope you found something inspiring and meaningful in my content and until next time, explore the possibilities of NYC.

-Sugary

🍰🍭🍩🍦🍫🍪🍨🧁

PS. Don’t be shy and hit reply and tell me how you’re doing!