Moving to NYC
‘We shall find a way or make one’
It was around this time last year that an idea swept over us and steadily crept its way into our minds. An idea that required an all or nothing, now or never kind of approach. So we continued our year as we had intended with some long awaited traveling, photographing a few beautiful weddings and then, at the beginning of November, we started driving north. No real plan, no real money, just an unreasonable amount of optimism, hope and the thought that at least we’ve got each other.
That’s the superficial story. Below that lay the many layers of thought, intention, risk assessment and calculated luck that permeate our hearts and minds. We’ve got some money, some skills and most importantly, we have friends in the city that we have been so incredibly lucky to lean on during this time.
Driving up north felt like a step off of a cliff. I was filled with fear, anxiety and uncertainty. Out of all the major moves I’ve attempted in my adult life, including the move to the US, this felt like the absolute worst version of all of those experiences. Are people going to be mean? How long until we run out of money? Where are we going to live? How are we supposed to find an apartment with no jobs?
Then there we were, driving through the Holland tunnel, making our way across Manhattan and into Brooklyn. No going back now, all eyes on the future.
We rolled into Brooklyn in my precious, reliable and beautiful Prius, our friend greeted us at the door and for the first time in weeks I felt that maybe it was going to be okay. I’d never been to Brooklyn, but the feeling of following Google Maps to a random apartment on a random street in a strange city 14 hours away and then finding a picture of yourself on the fridge is a feeling I will treasure forever.
Fast forward five weeks, it’s Friday before Christmas. I’m writing this from our tiny studio in Chelsea, Chris is at work downstairs at the coffee shop and I’m preparing for my dream job starting in January. I have never been more grateful towards friends that took us in and supported us, strangers looking out for us, hiring us, helping us find a spot to live, being nice to us on the street. It has been the sunniest December I’ve ever experienced.
For months I braced for a hard impact, accepting that we’re about to attempt a huge, risky, uncomfortable move. The possibility of failure is so very obvious, this could go wrong in a million different ways. And yet, here we are.
It’s been exhausting and frightening, but the impact was softened by friends and strangers in a way that I truly did not anticipate and that I will always be grateful for.
Thank you for sharing your homes with us, giving us tips and resources, words of encouragement and your ongoing support in our creative pursuits. We’re looking forward to sharing meaningful work and maybe finally a bit more consistency.
Happy Holidays!
- Lotta
Chris and I took these photos on our 35mm cameras (Pentax Spotmatic and an Olympus infinity) as well as a medium format camera (Mamiya 6) on either Kodak Gold 200 or Portra 400. If you’d like to try out shooting film, please watch this video I made about my favorite film camera for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QvgVpZRPXk&t=26s
