Art Prints Series: Ghosts of New York
by Juliet Shayne Lui
Artist's Statement
As a visitor to New York, the artist found an astounding number of people looking at famous paintings,
artworks and landmarks through the digital screen of their phones or cameras, without actually stopping
to enjoy the actual subjects themselves.
The artist visited parts of New York at their busiest times, and set up long exposure shots by stacking up
a number of filters, including a 10-stop Neutral Density filter. As a result, the tourists and everyday
commuters are mostly blurred out. Nobody stands still for very long, except for one man at Grand
Central Terminal.
In a world of instant digital photography and online profiles, the act of taking photographs has
diminished in some senses. We can use our digital cameras and mobile phones to take photographs of
anything we want, at any time we want, and as much of it as we want – without it costing us a cent.
The time it took to set up and frame each shot, and the trial and error involved in setting the correct
exposure time meant that each final piece you see here took up to 30 minutes to set up.
Grand Central Terminal
Monday 5:30pm
Exposure time: 30 seconds
Union Square
Monday 3:00pm
Exposure time: 3 minutes 20 seconds
Times Square
Sunday 1:00pm
Exposure time: 2 minutes 45 seconds
