I arrived in the New York City with $47 in my pocket, a duffel bag and enough camera gear to build a dream with.

A weather delay in Chicago brought me into town at sunrise. I was struck by the odd beauty of oxidized bridges, walls ridiculed with graffiti and the might of the cityscape. Compared to these massive structures, Boulder was a tiny suburb in Legoland.

I can’t believe I’m on a pier by the Hudson River with the backdrop of the World Trade Center. Manhattan makes me feel like I can do anything - lose 300 pounds, gain 300 pounds or become a millionaire. Following in the grand old NYC tradition of defacing public property I added my name to a dirty barricade: "James Keivom has arrived. 6/12/99."

The bike chains are much thicker here but I’m in love with NYC, like Madonna on the radio said a moment ago, "Romeo and Juliet, they never felt this way, I bet." I’m living large in Greenwich Village, a hood that’s safer than Sesame St. The bars close at 4 a.m. - considering I could live up to 60 if my prayers are answered, that’s 7280 extra hours of potential partying.

I’m suddenly ordering from a larger menu of photos and getting edjumacated in the intricate ballgame of street photography. A sidewalk masseuse waved me off with one hand and hid her face with the other after I pointed my camera at her. I was puzzled by the reaction until my friend said she was one of the cities’ many undocumented people. I’ll have to quicker on the draw from now on.

A visit to a Chinatown park showed the diversity, or should I say, reality, that was missing in Boulder. The pock-marked streets were dirtier than day old diapers. Random trash, parts of a typewriter, crumpled flyers and bits of processed meat(good with fava beans) cluttered the sidewalk. The constant clack of dominoes filled a park where Asian men socialized and smoked. Handball and basketball games were the yang to a courtful of slow moving tai-chi addicts. And off in one corner an old Chinese man screamed and almost backslapped a woman.

"I'm On Long Island" photo by DICK KRAUS

Coming to New York made me realize how lucky I am: a lot of people are scraping the bottom of the barrel to make a buck – selling eggs boiled in soy sauce, sweet rice wrapped in banana leaves, phonecards and fading photos of Wonderwoman. I’m lucky: the only manual labor in my line of work involves pushing a couple of buttons, cranking a focus ring and lugging around heavy gear.

Scarfed down my first TWO Krispy Kreme donuts.

June 16, 1999:

I saw my first Rosco CC+50 sunset today in the face of a young Chinese kid crossing the street. God I LOVE POLLUTION.

Everything was abuzz at 7:30p.m. as people scrambled out of the city. The only immobiles were the alcoholics on the sidewalks.

Cruising up West Side Highway to 116^th St. after dark, I saw hundreds of apartments light up the night. These windows were a peeping Tom’s dream; if I were god for a day I would float in and see what lives were being lived behind the anonymous brick.

My friend just got a 400Mhz PC so I wasn’t surprised it took two days and eleven service calls to set up basic e-mail and Web access. I sent a request for help in a photojournalism forum and Manhattan area photographers welcomed me to the city: they offered advice, contact numbers and "don’t hesitate to call me" signoffs. I was shocked: New Yorkers WERE nice after all.

Photojournalist Bill Swersey gave me some helpful tips:

1. Get a NY Police Department Press ID: Cops unnecessarily bother you if you aren’t wearing this tag, even in public. Bill told me he was hassled while shooting baseball players handing out hotdogs on the sidewalk. The catch-22 is you have to have several published clips to get the pass, but without the pass you can’t get access.
2. To get a foot in, you have to bring the wire services or papers something they don’t have. Call them even if you have a good hot weather feature.
3. You have to be SUPER RELIABLE.

Bill said Manhattan was host to a lot of "manufactured news" such as publicity events and PR stunts. A quick look at upcoming events in the Entertainment News Calendar showed me he was right:

• In-store appearance by former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, in support of her debut solo Capitol album Schizophonic.
• The 16th Elite Model Look USA National Finals; Elite seeks the next modeling superstar.
• Playboy’s Extreme Team of five beautiful Playmates help launch the New York Festival of Technology.
• Penthouse 30^th anniversary party.

I think I can live with this, so-called, "manufactured news".

June 18, 1999:

The city’s breakneck speed is infectious and has turned me into a fast walker and talker. I’ve really got my work cut out for me: there are barely 196 days, 15 hrs, 35m till the year 1900.

Setting up shop was Job #1: getting a cell phone, business cards, a negative scanner, negative developing system and most importantly, tickets to the Conan O’Brien show. Transferring my portfolio to Photo CD, duping some portfolio slides and applying for Canon Professional Service membership were the B-sides of my to-do list.

There are so many possibilities for a photographer who isn’t scared of knocking on doors and being patient for a call back. As one photographer said, "You can knock and they might say no, but if you don’t, they’ll never know you’re there." I remember the advice from a steady freelancer at a metro paper in Denver. Lucas has come a long way since he started less shooting less than two years ago:

1. Accessibility: There is no excuse for not having a cell phone these days. Lucas told me no one has time to wait for you to return their page. He told me he got a lot of freelance work because he was ALWAYS available instantly.
2. Get in the system: Lucas was shooting a Tibetan protest during Chinese premier’s Zhu Rongji’s visit to Denver. He sent his slides to Sipa photo agency and got his name, number and e-mail in "the system". A couple of weeks later, Sipa called and asked him if he could get on a helicopter in 15 minutes for a breaking news story: the Columbine school shooting. To quote The Fixx, "One thing leads to another."
3. On meeting photographers: Lucas has the enviable position of working and slugging beers with some industrial strength names in the photo business. He said a mistake photographers make is they ask what the photographer can do for them, not what they can do for the photographer. "Everyone wants them to look their portfolios," he said. "You have to ask them, ‘What can I do for you?’ and show them they are not just a person you are going to use." He has invited several photographers who are into fly fishing to his father’s ranch.
4. Greet them like they are your best friend. If I am nervous before meeting a photographer I respect, I pretend they are a long lost friend. This technique really washes away my anxiety and lets me talk to them like.
5. Make them say, in any way, YES: Whether it’s with women or photographers, Lucas knows how to make people say YES. He asked if he could buy one of Chris Rainier’s prints at a photographic workshop. Rainier told him they were very expensive, up to several thousand dollars, but Lucas turned the situation in his favor by working out a trade: he offered to perform some additional research for Rainier’s tattoo and scarification project for a discount. Lucas is now scheduled to be Rainier’s aid.
6. Tell them what interests you. I am often over awed when I meet photographers I respect. Lucas asks them about their life and their work, but also tells them what he’s up to, his ambitions and his hopes. I used to be shy and those photographers never got to see my intense passion and ambition.
7. Image is everything: Lucas looked like a photographer out of a Gap/Banana Republic ad. He had the cell phone, the Nikon pouch, the F-150 truck, the Tag Heure neckband and Kodak Sharpie holder, the F5 and F100 with Silent Wave 80-200/f2.8, even the brand new Nike shoes. We used to joke about his look but the image paid off.

June 27, 1999

Millions have come to this city to look for fame and fortune. I don’t want my name on a marquee but I don’t want to be just another name in the phonebook either. I’ll give myself 45 years and if things don’t work out, that’s it dude, I’M OUT OF HERE!!!!

I feel the sense of all possibilities now. Before coming here, my vision was restricted to photojournalism but I am now ready to explore the better paying worlds of magazine, fashion and advertising photography.

A random search through the Manhattan phone book revealed the legends that a local phone call away: Steven Maisel, Bruce Davison, Bruce Dale and Elliot Erwit(whose number I calculated was RX-WORMS).

As I age I find my subscription to good karma is constantly being renewed by an unknown force. I’m lucky to be surrounded by good people who are willing to give me a chance. Perhaps these are the rewards for living an honest life, helping others in any way I can and making people laugh.

June 30, 1999: Cropping

Photography students should follow actor James Wood’s(I think) approach to emotional scenes: he doesn’t overpower the audience.

"I only put in 2/3rds of what is necessary and let the audience take it the rest of the way."

What a coincidence. My friend Tom and I were talking about how certain photographers, James Nachtway and the Magnum crew for example, often boil their photos down to the essentials. They crop their photos just enough to let your emotions and imagination lead you to the photo they want you to see.

We discussed a photo of Indian bricklayers carrying their goods, a photo in which was cropped from their elbows up. I thought of James Nachtway’s photo of a Rwandan kid in front of a pile of skulls, a photo in which you only see the kids eyes. Both photographers cropped the scene in their camera, but everything that needs to be, is there. My fear of cropping is based on a bad habit of underestimating the intelligence of the newspaper reader. Now I know that a photo that tells too much loses its feeling.

We also talked about layers. A good example is an Alex Webb photo with four Mexican men standing in front of a doorway(check out ze National Geographic story on Mexico). Each section of the photo is a photo in itself. Tom talked about how he composes the background with his Leica before composing the foreground. This is totally different from an SLR where the foreground is everything.

June 28, 1999: Shooting One Hell of A Parade

My last news assignment was over three weeks ago and I was starting to get the shakes. I decided to shoot the 30^th annual Gay Parade that started from 52 Avenue and continued for 40+ blocks to Greenwich Village.

I was in my element immersed in a group of Pakistani men dressed as evil deities or standing next to a sexy Brazilian lass(rrrrrrrrrrrrrr) with the music blaring.

The cops were jerks. Several who saw me without police media credentials told me to get off the parade route even though they had better things to do.

But the day paid off: the back of head made an appearance on the 10 p.m. news.

June 30: Cellular Etiquette

My cellular phone, an essential business tool, almost done killed me. I was on the phone with a friend from Colorado as I walked to meet a friend. I looked right, saw a car in the distance and crossed without realizing it was a two-way street. A honk and a screech interrupted my conversation about "THE LADIES!". I looked up and saw a cab bumper right next to my shoe. Some guys on the curb were shocked. I knew Steve wouldn’t believe what a close call I had so I asked them, "How close was the cab?"

"A foot," they said.

Behind the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
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