As 2016 was drawing to a close, I reflected on how to pay tribute to a year that, for many Americans, was more somber than most. Something just didn't feel right about creating a VAST photo culminating 2016 in the heart of the Times Square New Years Eve celebration as many New York photographers are wont to do. Furthermore, the Times Square festivities have become commercialized to the point of being repulsive in recent years. So, I decided to do something different.

After days of researching and scouting for a location that would provide a pensive, quiet, and reflective atmosphere, I found a rooftop in Long Island City, Queens. This elevated location provided a narrow view across the East River into the heart of midtown Manhattan and the Times Square ball drop. However, its distance from the commotion allowed for the majority of the photo's composition to be filled with the peaceful windows of ordinary New Yorkers commemorating the close of 2016 in their own unique ways.

A few hours before midnight on New Years Eve, my assistant and I ascended to the empty roof and began exposing the 189 individual photos that would eventually comprise this VAST photo. The quietness of the scene was only broken by the swirling wind and the gentle sounds of the distant city that were carried by it.

As midnight approached, the low-hanging cloud bank above Times Square glowed brightly from the festivities' pyrotechnics. A chorus of revelers counting down the last remaining seconds of the year could be heard in the distance. We kept shooting the long exposures used for this photo as the new years moment passed, the window lights began to turn off, and a light sprinkle of rain began to fall.

The world fell into an unusually still silence as we completed our shoot and the clock passed 2am. Most of the city had now gone to bed, putting to rest 2016 and awaiting the hopeful 2017 that would greet them in the morning.

The photo is available in four versions: color, cropped color, black & white, and cropped black & white. Click on the version you like best below: