attitudes at altitude

May 12th 2023

Mexico was part of my original itinerary after New York City over thirty years ago but - somehow - I never got there. A chance came up to close the loop so here I am wandering the streets of Mexico City, occasionally losing breath. The altitude has surprised me but also the vitality of the streets.

Using my mobile phone helps me familiarise myself with the different vibes of the areas I’m walking around, searching for places with the energy that I best respond to with my film camera. I find myself seeking out transit interchanges, commercial districts and tourist spots. From experience in other cities I thought they would be interreting locations but also they'd pique my love of the unfamiliarity of the familiar - everyday things that are common to cities in general but different in how they actually work or look in particular.

It was interesting to observe how much my pandemic style of documenting everyday ephemera is now part of what I do naturally.

Towards the end of my stay I'd identified some spots to use my camera in and it was a curiously liberating feeling to be back with the sun on my face, people and traffic all around me and the sounds of the street filling the air.

Warning sports metaphor incoming...as athletes train at altitude for a big event, Mexico City had become my physical and mental preparation for a return to an important arena of my past, New York City.