The Singular Loneliness of New York City
Loneliness is New York’s leitmotif. This feeling is palpable everywhere in the city—a place filled with 8 million people, many of whom are immigrants and transplants. There are different shades of it: the loneliness of an Uber driver who fled Venezuela, leaving his family behind, sighing with relief when I quickly switch to Spanish; the loneliness of the middle-aged Ukrainian woman at a local supermarket, who tells me in Ukrainian that I remind her of her son, who she left behind in a war-torn country and who she hasn’t seen in two years; the loneliness of someone who doesn’t believe in a god, someone who is slowly starting to come to terms with the fundamental randomness and uncertainty in our world. All of these people exist on the margins of the fast-paced world that is New York.
There are so many crowds in New York, and there are also so many lonely people. This is not only because there are many of us here who are newcomers without family or friends nearby; the technology that has slowly taken over our lives, separating us from one another, also plays a part. Ironically, despite New York’s density, it is not hard to feel alone. So many people here are focused on money or their careers. It often feels like no one has any energy left for emotional conversation, for relationships. Although it isn’t difficult to find company, many of the interactions we have with each other are empty and meaningless. It’s easy to be lonely and anonymous in a city like this. It’s easy to get lost. – Luc Kordas
Luc Kordas (1984, Poland) is a photographer traveling the world who, after having lived in ten different cities and six countries, is currently based in Brooklyn. His work has been exhibited in London, Barcelona, Warsaw, Los Angeles, and New York. The Village Voice featured his street photos on a weekly basis before the newspaper went paperless in late 2017.
Curated by Anne Patsch