The series by James Leynse was selected by Jonas Cuénin, Editor in Chief of Camera Magazine, American Correspondent, L’Oeil de la Photographie, during portfolios reviews organized by The New York Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP NY) on February 18th, 2015, in New York.
James Leynse is a New Jersey based architectural and corporate photographer. He works regularly for Nike, Eastdil Secured, SBFI, as well as with architects and designers. Publications he has worked with include Newsweek, Time, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, Metropolis, and Le Point. He has traveled extensively through Europe, America and Asia, where he undertook a long-term personal project documenting the changing face of China.
Leynse holds a bachelors degree in political science from Cornell University and a masters in journalism from Columbia University. He speaks fluent French and lived for three years in France, where he worked for the French agency REA. Leynse was a member of the SABA Press Photos agency for nine years (from 1993-2002). He currently works directly with editorial and corporate clients and licenses stock photographs through Corbis.
North and West of the City
This is a personal project documenting the architecture and the sense-of-place found in Bergen County, NJ, an area just north and west of Manhattan. Growing up in New York, it was common to hear weather reports end with the caveat that things would be worse “north and west of the city.” In fact, it was common knowledge to most New Yorkers that everything was worse once you ventured west of Manhattan. To my great surprise, I found myself years later living in the very area I had come to fear. What I found was a mostly middle class refuge surrounded by pockets of extreme wealth and poverty: a diverse community living in aging but well maintained homes next to modest apartment towers. In other words, a way of life that used to be pervasive throughout the metropolitan area but, thanks to rapid gentrification, is fading fast. These photos are my attempt to document this way of life.
