Locations: Top 7 Photography Locations in New York City

New York City is a cultural mecca home to instantly recognisable locations due to its many appearances in pop culture. While street photographers especially will enjoy shooting around the city, NYC offers hotspots so diverse that all photographers and videographers can secure the perfect shot. We teamed up with Go City to spotlight some of the best spots to explore.

Washington Square Park

A cultural hub within New York’s Greenwich Village neighbourhood, this park serves as a gathering space for people from all walks of life, making it the quintessential people-watching spot. This sunny 9.75-acre park offers an endless supply of subjects year-round.

The MPB team took an informative tour and photoshoot in this iconic New York City park with a Canon EOS R5, a Sony SLT-A99 II and a Leica SL Typ 601.

With so much happening in every corner of the park, consider packing a zoom lens in your kit bag to quickly adjust your setup on the fly—you could switch from shooting a portrait of a street performer to an architectural shot within a few moments.

The park features the Washington Arch (named after the first President George Washington), which was inspired by Paris’s Arc de Triomphe. The arch offers not just a grand northern entrance to the park, but a perfect framework and backdrop to any composition.

Chinatown

Immerse yourself in another culture within the heart of NYC. This neighbourhood is filled to the brim with bright colours, unique signs, street markets and small alleyways that allow you to create countless engaging compositions.

There’s no shortage of excellent photo ops throughout Chinatown. From the Lin Zexu statue in Chatham Square to the art activations of Doyers Street, lovely surprises are found around every corner. The vast Asian food options make Chinatown a must for food photographers (and foodies looking to feast rather than photograph).

SoHo

Nestled between Houston and Canal streets, tourists flock to SoHo for its world-famous shopping, but photographers love the unique architecture of the neighbourhood. 

Historic cast-iron building facades can be found throughout SoHo, noted by arched iron metal frames and large windows. Since these historic buildings are shorter than those found in Midtown Manhattan, the neighbourhood gets bathed in natural light—especially beautiful during golden hour.

Grand Central

Grand Central Station—the backdrop behind countless movies and a bustling commuter hub. Look up to capture the beautiful architecture of the building and look around to capture images of the thousands of people in the station. We suggest playing around with your camera settings as long exposures are especially fun and showcase the hustle and bustle of the space.

Pro tip: try going on a bright sunny day, especially in the morning hours, to ensure you have lots of natural light to work with when shooting.

Central Park

We could make an entire article on Central Park alone. The iconic park sits between the Upper East and Upper West sides and spans a whopping 843 acres, serving as one of the most visited parks in the United States. With so much sheer space, every photographer will find something that draws them in. 

Here are a few of the can’t-miss spots within the park:

Bow Bridge: Get up early if you want to beat the crowds and get the bridge to yourself. Wander around the nearby pond to catch some reflections and other angles of the bridge. 

Bethesda Fountain & Bethesda Terrace: This part of the park gets exceptionally busy, but the crowds provide perfect opportunities for people-watching. The area is even more alive in the summer as street performers and people in row boats are always out.

The Mall: This tree-lined promenade is beautiful all year. Try visiting consistently throughout the year to capture the changes in the seasons.

Need more spots to shoot? Here are some extra locations to check out:

• Belvedere Castle

• Gapstow Bridge

• The Great Lawn

• The Ramble

• The Reservoir

• Strawberry Fields

• Wollman Rink and Lookout

DUMBO/Brooklyn Bridge Park

Head over to Brooklyn for the best view of the lower Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Short for 'Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass,' Dumbo features the iconic photo spot shown above. Packed with people trying to snap this shot themselves, this area is best to photograph on rainy days and weekday mornings.

High Line

On the west side of Manhattan sits Chelsea, and within the neighbourhood lies the High Line. A once-elevated railway-turned-public park, the High Line offers a winding trail of nature with beautiful views of New York City streets and buildings. 

Photographing the High Line is easiest early in the day. While the High Line hosts many photo opportunities, many points are exceptionally narrow and crowded. We suggest arriving right when the park opens at 7 a.m. on a weekday to not only beat the crowds but capitalise on the beautiful morning light.

We could spend all the time in the world shooting around New York City and it still would be impossible to capture it all. That being said, there are countless shots waiting to be snapped throughout the city. So grab your gear, get outside and let your creativity run wild. (And, of course, gear up with MPB.)

Looking for more travel photography content?

This article is part of the MPB Guide to Travel Photography, our comprehensive look at the travel photography genre with advice, recommended camera equipment and interviews with some of the most exciting travel photographers today.