Manhattan | At Home with Tech

October 5, 2025

Decoding my Father’s Story through his Vintage Photographs

I’m trying to understand more about my late father through his photography. He passed in 2022, and he passed on a mostly disorganized collection of photos that he snapped across his life.

My dad fashioned himself a photography enthusiast.

My Father, The Photographer
While I was growing up, I remember he’d proudly carry around his SLR camera with zoom lens throughout New York City like he was some sort of urban Ansel Adams. Before that, he went through his James Bond subminiature Minox phase. While his tiny Minox camera was indeed cool for its time, the resolution of the resulting photos was mediocre at best.

I believe my father’s self-assigned photography projects were frequently more about expressing his own style and experience than the creativity in his photos’ form. (I was aware how much he enjoyed simply playing ‘photographer.’) But as I’ve been reviewing and archiving his old photos and negatives over these past few years, I’ve come to an additional conclusion.

He was also interested in the art of photography… I’ve uncovered some cool photos.

But my dad was limited by the technology of his time and didn’t have any distribution mechanism to reinforce his efforts. (No social media or blogs yet.) The furthest he went was to blow up a few of his favorite photos to frame for our apartment.

He seemed satisfied with this ceiling for his hobby.

Photo Echoes Between Generations
I’ve been digitizing these photos as part of my ongoing family archiving project, and I’ve recently come across an unexpected phenomenon. I’ve found echoes of my own photo work showing up in some of my father’s photography.

It shouldn’t really be a surprise. New York City has certain iconic photo opportunities that a million others have also snapped. So, the fact that my father and I captured the same shot decades apart is hardly a revelation.

But it’s still made an impact on me.

Same Shot – Decades Apart
I had the opportunity recently to take a few photos on the water around Manhattan near the Statue of Liberty. After I returned home and reviewed them, I felt a déjà vu like I’d seen these before. Yes, of course… my father’s photos. He’d been on the New York Bay too (multiple times, in fact).

Take a look:

Here’s the southern tip of Manhattan in 1988 and in 2025. (My father’s photo benefited from all the picturesque boats in the harbor. Of course, lots of other differences, including the Twin Towers.)

And here’s the Stature of Liberty, again in 1988 vs 2025.
(I really like that giant American flag in my dad’s shot.)

These are hardly unique photos, But their similarities are striking for me, because they come from two generations of Lesters. And I find that meaningful.

My Father’s Legacy
I’m still trying to understand my father. I had a complicated relationship with him.

No, he didn’t really bond with me through his photography and share his hobby as a father would with his son.

But he did buy me a nice Ricoh camera when I was in my early teens. So, it wasn’t as if he entirely missed the connection. (And it’s not lost on me that my own passion for photography still found its roots during this time in my life.)

Decades later, the fact that we gravitated to some of the same photo moments has made me feel a little closer to him. I understand I’ve got a little magical thinking going on. Still, I think there was more to my father that met the eye (or at least I want to think).

And that’s made me consider his legacy a little differently.

What Will I Learn from the Next Photo?
My father’s photos are breadcrumbs that lead to a truth I’ll never completely understand. But they help me soften the rough edges to the story of our lives together.

And that’s part of what drives me to continue archiving his photos.

November 27, 2022

How to Improve your Street Photography by Ignoring the Details

Usually there’s not enough time to focus on setup when capturing a photographic moment. So don’t. Here’s what to do instead.

When you walk about in the city, do you sometimes see moments that would make for a perfect photo, if only you had a camera in your hand? Yes, me too. In fact… all of the time.

Sure, my iPhone is always right there in my pocket as I move throughout New York City, and I often grab for it to capture a fleeting image right in front of me. It’s all about how fast you can get off a couple shots before the scene shifts and the opportunity evaporates. I can’t tell you how many photos I’ve missed over the years that were taken just a few seconds too late.

Use a Camera Strap to Speed Up your Response
Wearing your camera around your neck can trim away critical seconds, as you don’t have pull out your camera.

I recently bought a strap made by Peak Design (Slide Lite) for my Panasonic Lumix LX10. I got it for my family’s trip to Grand Canyon and the famous mule ride we took along the rim.

The strap was originally a one-use purchase. Why would I ever want to ruin the small form factor of my compact camera by attaching a bulky strap to it? But then I tried an experiment and wore the camera during one of my trips into New York City. And I quickly realized that strap was my ticket to better street photography.

Be Ready for the Photo
Discarding the concern that I would look like a tourist, I’ve now worn my camera several times walking uptown from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to visit my father. And let me tell you, having my camera right there near my hand is a game changer.

If you wonder why you may see any number of people walking about the city with cameras in their hands or about their necks, I think they’re all waiting for the next photo to appear. And they intend to be ready!

Point and Press
In my ongoing exploration of street photography, I’ve also been trying out an alternate shooting strategy. It’s simply to proactively point my camera at a potential scene as I walk by. Before I actually see anything worth capturing, I press the shutter a few times, move on and hope for the best. It’s all about playing the odds that the camera captured an image I didn’t have time to spot and process.

It’s about meeting a moment and reviewing it later to see if there’s actually any visual interest in it.

Happily, this technique has yielded unexpected success.

Photo Finish at the Track
My father likes to tell a story from the 1970’s when he practiced his own amateur photography with his old SLR camera. He was at Yonkers Raceway and had a seat up close near the finish line. As the horses crossed by in a flash, he simply squeezed his shutter button to burst through his 36-photo film roll.

Later, when he picked up his developed pictures from the photo store, he quickly sifted through the group. He saw a bunch of useless mushy blurs… all except for the last photo. It was perfect. It was like a shot you’d see on the sports page of the New York Post.
My father met the moment, pointed in the right direction, and his camera did the rest.

Your Speed Factor
Whether you see a moment or anticipate one, snapping your photo as quickly as possible is the key factor to better street photography. Plus, it really doesn’t matter what you see. It’s what your camera captures.

So, you might want to ignore more of the details and focus most of your attention on getting your camera going and its general position. Keep it simple. There’s often not more time for much else. You probably won’t know if you got ‘the shot’ until you review it later.

I’m still very much a student of this art form. That said, here are a few examples from my recent walks in Manhattan.

November 7, 2021

Slowing Down in New York City on a Sunday

Moving through Manhattan doesn’t always have to be a huge rush. If you take a moment to slow down while you walk the streets, you can actually take in some relaxed weekend energies. Here are a few New York moments I spotted.

When I visit my father on a Sunday afternoon for lunch, I’ve gotten used to walking from Grand Central Terminal to the Upper East Side. Of course, taking the Lexington Avenue subway is faster, but during the pandemic I’ve preferred outdoor spaces. I usually do a power walk to minimize the extra time required for my two-mile trek. But more recently, I’ve tried something new…

I just don’t walk so fast, and I pay more attention to my immediate surroundings. And I keep my Panasonic Lumix LX-10 camera in my right hand as I go.

Don’t Look Away
I know it’s not a revolutionary idea, but having grown up in Manhattan and spent many adult years walking its streets as part of my commute, I’ve learned to tune out much of the dynamic and sometimes chaotic environment.

But on a Sunday, life on the streets of New York is a bit less intense. And there’s more of an opportunity to enjoy the moment. Everyone seems to have slowed down, if just a bit.

So, I recently traded in my speed-walking strategy for the opportunity to stroll to the Upper East Side and look around for moments that might be interesting to photograph.

Here are a few that I spotted.

Sunday Joy
Beyond my little photographic exercise, I think some might say that I was also being more ‘present’ in my surroundings. It felt good.