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Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Photography Culture

Intersection: Navid Baraty’s Study of Urban Geometry

Chris Gampat
No Comments
06/01/2016
3 Mins read
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All images by Navid Baraty. Used with permission.

Photographer Navid Baratay is now based in Seattle, Washington. But he’s the mastermind behind a series called “Intersections.” The series observes the way that cities look from way up in the sky. So to do this, Navid often takes to rooftops, reaches out and over the ledge, shoots, continues, etc.

Artistically speaking, what he comes away with is quite interesting.

Looking down at a geometric street scene on a rainy business day in the Ginza district of Tokyo, Japan. I took this by leaning out the window of a skyscraper.
Looking down at a geometric street scene on a rainy business day in the Ginza district of Tokyo, Japan. I took this by leaning out the window of a skyscraper.

Phoblographer: Talk to us about how you got into photography.

Navid: My interest in photography began in a class in Junior High where we walked around the playground taking photos and then developed our photographs in the school darkroom. I went on to get my degree in electrical engineering and worked as an engineer for about three years before deciding to switch gears and pursue my artistic passion. In my three years of working as an engineer, I dreaded every day of work and always found myself shooting in my spare time. I felt so much happier and creative when I was behind the lens. I decided to get more serious with my work, started doing editorial assignments for publications and eventually made the leap to becoming a professional photographer.

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– What made you get into doing urban geometry work like you do in the Intersections project? Where did the inspiration for doing projects like this come from?

Navid: The idea for my Intersection series first came to me after lunch one afternoon in 2009 in a Tokyo skyscraper. I looked down at the street below and noticed an amazing scene of geometric patterns dotted with umbrella-wielding pedestrians. I really couldn’t believe how geometric it all looked from above. It was almost as if someone designed the Tokyo street with my vantage point in mind.

I realized that all the perfectly parallel lines, precise angles and thoughtful proportions were really a reflection of Japanese culture and its meticulous attention to detail and artistic presentation.
When I moved to NYC in 2010, I wanted to continue this series and see what New York looked like from above. Everyone walks around Manhattan looking up at the city, but very few get to look down. When you watch NYC from above, you really get a sense of the energy and flow of the city–the constant stream of yellow taxis lining the avenues, the waves of pedestrians hurriedly crossing at the change of traffic signals, little figures disappearing into the subway stations, the chorus of honking horns and sirens. It’s all so rhythmic.

Phoblographer: What makes you choose a specific area to photograph and how do you usually go about doing this?

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Navid: There’s been lots of wild speculation as to how I create these photos. Some people think I have a side job as a helicopter pilot or window washer. One website assumed I was walking around Manhattan with a camera attached to a kite. Some have even called me Spiderman. I actually just take all of these from building rooftops and lean over the edge. A lot of times I have to very securely wrap the camera strap around my arms and extend my arms way over the edge to get the overhead angle that I’m looking for. I’m never concerned for my own personal safety, but do have a huge fear of dropping my camera or a lens over the edge.

Phoblographer: Talk to us about the gear that you use.

Navid: I shoot with a Nikon D800 and 5 main lenses: Nikkor 14-24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 135mm, and 70-200mm.

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A sea of blankets in Bryant Park as spectators wait for a movie night to begin on a summer evening in NYC. I photographed this image from the rooftop of a 42-story building directly across the street from Bryant Park.
A sea of blankets in Bryant Park as spectators wait for a movie night to begin on a summer evening in NYC.
I photographed this image from the rooftop of a 42-story building directly across the street from Bryant Park.

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Intersection Navid Baraty urban geometry
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Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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