What I Saw: Battery Park | Liberty Island | Ellis Island

Yes, the Battery Park/Liberty Island/Ellis Island area of New York City is touristy. But touristy makes for entertaining photos. It also gives you permission from the general public to stand somewhere and photograph something for several minutes without people starting to stare and wonder what the heck you're doing.

They're too busy staring at something else... like other people dressed up as the Statue of Liberty in Battery Park.

I like taking photos of people taking photos. And then I take a photo of what they were photographing.

People standing in line are a close second.

I like how easygoing and quiet Liberty Island is. There's a ton of people on it but everyone's just doing their own thing. Plus it's always interesting to see in person something you've seen photos of a hundred times.

Modern-day Lady Liberty knows it's important to protect your eyes from UV rays.

And then there's the Statue of Liberty's neighbor, Ellis Island. Ellis has this strange dichotomy of being historical and yet feeling really sterile. To be fair, the cleansed, too new feeling is mainly due to the buildings falling into disrepair for over 30 years after the island was no longer used as an immigration station and a major renovation taking place before it reopened in 1990. The Registry Room has beautiful tile work and great light. And it's still neat to think of all the people that stood in there before you, what they'd been through, and where they were hoping to go.

There's still a bit of what I called in my head "The Real Ellis Island". 

Sure, you can't go in it. But that's the building that's been worn over time. And there's something appealing about seeing history without makeup.

Hang on to your bootstraps. I have more NYC coming your way. (Ellis Island is partially New Jersey but just... pretend like... you didn't know that.)

©2010 Kristin Serna This post and these photos cannot be republished without my permission.