Prayer-Midwood, Brooklyn

I have been rooted in New York City for the past few years, unable to travel to far flung places. This year, I renewed my media credentials for the United Nations early, to cover the General Assembly, mostly to squeeze into a booth, to get a few minutes photographing the Pope. While at the UN, I also decided to photograph as many Presidents, (and in some cases Prime Ministers) as I could on the 27th and 38th floors of the UN Headquarters building. After being searched, and having our equipment placed along a wall and sniffed by bomb sniffing dogs, the group is escorted by UN security via elevator and stairs to the room for the designated photo opportunity. I became interested in what took place in the background of these "sets": the painting and plants, the emergence of a head of state from behind the blue curtain. Also, the shifting parade of flags, and the precision with which they are placed by two UN protocol assistants. Photographing Presidents from Tajikistan to Nigeria, Guyana to Gabon shaking hands with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and jostling for position among the traveling press corps, accompanying each President, fulfilled a vicarious, transitory feeling of travel.