Bibi Borthwick's Streets of New York

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The BQE
The BQEPhotography by Bibi Cornejo Borthwick

Photographer Bibi Cornejo Borthwick takes us on a visual tour of her favourite spots in New York

"I’ve shot this series in quite an abstract way, looking at the sidewalks outside of the places I love and the nature around them rather than photographing the location," explains Bibi Borthwick. "What I love about New York is the streets: there are so many different walks of life that live in the city, but we all walk on the same streets. It’s a humble thing, and there’s no division there. So, the photographs are about that: the cracks in the sidewalk outside of my favourite restaurant, the tree outside of my favourite gallery, or the little details like the tiles on the floor.”

"There are so many different walks of life that live in the city, but we all walk on the same streets" — Bibi Cornejo Borthwick

Here, as part of Coach's collaboration with AnOther and Bibi, we bring you a visual tour of some of her favourite places, from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – "it's one of the most remote places to shoot, and it's the bridge I always passed when I was learning to drive" – to Coney Island, where she spent her teenage years, and the odd beauty of the pavement cracks outside her home. Shot in monochromatic abstraction, her New York tour is an atmospheric journey of the places that she loves, seen through the details.

The BQE (Above)
"I love driving on the BQE. It's a highway in NY that connects Brooklyn and Queens, but you can pass through the whole of both neighbourhoods on it and you're able to see so much of New York which I love."

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge 
"It's my favourite bridge in New York, it's so beautiful and the length is vast. I also love shooting along the water here."

The street outside my house
"I'm such a homebody that I spend a lot of time in my neighbourhood, especially walking around with my dog, and these small cracks in the street are something I noticed on my walks. They are small things I appreciate."

Chinatown
"I spent a few years living in this neighbourhood and the culture is so dense, I find it completely fascinating. The Chinatown park is one of the best places for shooting portraits. The elderly all gather here and play these games together, it's really incredible to watch how they all interact."

Coney Island
"It's another one of my favourite places. I love how old it feels in a sense and how it's remained the same for years. I love coming here in the winter when it's covered in snow and completely desolate – it's really beautiful."

Basketball Hoops
"I shot these in a park close to my house, I'm fascinated by sports fields and the design of them, I love taking pictures here."

La Esquina 
"This has always been one of my favourite quick restaurants. I grew up going here, and it has some of the best tacos and horchata in in the city."

Brooklyn Bridge
"I love to run across the Brooklyn Bridge, and there is also something extremely calming about crossing it after working in the city all day."

The High Line 
"Another attraction built not too long ago, the High Line is so beautiful to go and walk along in the colder months when there are less tourists. The light at the end of the day is incredible."

Bibi Cornejo Borthwick is exploring New York as the AnOther Coach woman. See the rest of her Coach collaboration here