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# I Didn’t Expect To Get Any Photos Today
- URL: https://journal.hellothalia.org/i-didnt-expect-to-get-any-photos-today/
- Published: 2026-09-30T16:58:10.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T03:38:16.000Z
- Description: So proud.
- Author: Thalia Longchamp
- Tags: NYC, THROUGH MY CAMERA

### I was just doing errands in Midtown, on a mundane day.

I knew that if I didn’t bring my camera, and saw scenes and people that were photo-worthy, I’d be pissed. Thats the thing about New York, its always on, and never off.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20174-1.jpg)

I finished shopping, stood at a corner, and carefully pulled out my camera, untangled my camera strap, put it around my neck, then started to head home.

### I didn’t make it down the block before stopping 3 people to take their portrait.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20148.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20170.jpg)

Everyone I stopped just had something. It wasn’t just their clothing, it wasn’t just their beauty…

### They had attitude.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20180.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20182.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20184.jpg)

### There’s something beautiful about a mundane city day.

I was in midtown, which meant everyone was running late, on their lunchbreak, on their phone trying to close a deal, getting their mid-day coffee (3rd of the day), and for the tourists- not paying attention to where they were walking. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20164.jpg)

And, there’s comfort in being a part of that. There’s a familiarity as a native New Yorker in being part of an interwoven society of doers, go-getters, hustlers. We’re always on time, which means we’re late. And if we’re late, we could get fired. This is the kind of stress, energy, and pulse that runs the undercurrent of Manhattan. I was grateful that I brought my camera, even to capture a few staple moments and faces. But, I was even more grateful to be in it. I want to be smack in the middle of New York chaos, sometimes. It’s such a big part of my DNA, and today was a reminder of that. **My savvy was born in this place.** And in bringing my camera on a random, gloomy, nothing Wednesday for an errand run— I noticed that real life is also made up of the small, seemingly insignificant, ordinary moments.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/75/c3/75c33d21-2620-4875-a96c-af61a0c3b9ca/content/images/2026/09/20136.jpg)

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