Behind the Scenes with Vayable is a series that spotlights our best experiences- from the most popular to the new and noteworthy. We’re here to give you an in-depth look into what makes them so awesome. This weekend, we met up with Jean-François of Citifari for his New York by Night photo experience.
“You don’t capture an image, you create it” - Jean-François, Vayable Insider
I’ll be honest. I had bought a DSLR to “up” my photography game, but I hadn’t committed to learning much about how to use it. You can imagine my embarrassment when I showed up for the night photography lesson not knowing how to 1. adjust the aperture (okay, I didn’t know what the aperture was until I got there) 2. or the shutter speed 3. or set up my tripod (did I mention it was the first night where temps in the city reached below 40?). Wasn’t sure what I had signed myself up for…
To my relief, Jean-François made it all possible. After about an hour, I had taken photographs I thought would only be doable with a VSCOcam filter and a high dose of contrast. In addition to the education on photography, I got to practice mon français and was happily surprised at how much I had stepped outside my comfort zone.
If you were to tell me I’d be spending a Friday evening in mid-town walking around the iconic buildings and streets of Grand Central, I would have probably said something along the lines of “cannot”. But that was the best part. I wasn’t walking these iconic streets like the rest of the “I’m too busy for anything” NYers or tourists taking endless amounts of smartphone selfies (and I’ve been both of the aforementioned many times). I was a photographer. I was looking to create an image. To create art. The hustle and bustle of NY wasn’t inconveniencing my life, it was handing me a beautiful canvas to work with.
Learning about Jean-François’s days in fashion and, the time Tom (the other practicing photographer hailing from Belgium) had spent studying in the city ten years ago, was an added bonus. Usually, meeting people from different parts of the world whilst exploring a new activity is something that happens to me while traveling. It was refreshing to get this experience in the city I currently call home.
