New York State of Mind

New York is famed not only for its shopping, architecture and yellow taxis. It is the city’s ability to inspire that also sees tourists returning again and again. And Stellenbosch local, George Dalla Cia’s, upcoming New York State of Mind photographic exhibition proves just this.

George discovered his passion for photography while walking the streets of The Big Apple in May 2006. Armed with a Leica D-Lux 2 he was driven to capture the essence of the city by photographing a diverse selection of architectural landscapes from ground level.

“The words of Thomas Wolfe soon became tangible for me whilst walking the streets: ‘One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years’, and it was this truth that I wanted to capture and share,” says George.

Through a selection of predominantly black-and-white shots, New York State of Mind presents an aesthetic symmetry of the city, reflecting the vibrant street life and melting pot of cultures and styles.

“What I found most striking within the context of New York pop culture were the many architectural parallels to Cape Town – from Art Deco to Dutch and Modernism. I set out to show the rich cultural harmony and simplicity in the midst of diversity through my street-view perspective; in essence to illustrate how less is more,” George explains.

The chosen venue for the exhibition, the Red Black & White Gallery at Piér Rabe’s semi-industrial Antique Warehouse, creates a striking backdrop for George’s work. The raw brick interiors and elaborate roof trusses of the renovated early twentieth-century building are the perfect complement to the architecture in the photographs on display.

The exhibition will run from 29 July–29 August at the Red Black & White Gallery at Piér Rabe’s Antique Warehouse in Stellenbosch.

More information: +27 21 886 6281