Drone portraits of New Yorkers in quarantine but still together

In a series of drone portraits, New Yorkers show how while being quarantined they can still be together. Johnny Cirillo flew his drone over parts of Greenpoint and captured the following photos.

About the photo series, drone photographer, Johnny Cirillo said:

“It is an attempt to unify the neighborhood.”

According to Curbed NY, Cirillo contacted people he knows in areas such as Greenpoint, Bushwick, and Ridgewood to shoot portraits with his drone of New Yorkers in quarantine, because of the Coronavirus.

“It's an attempt to unify the neighborhood in a way that says, we're all in this together,” Cirillo says. “I thought it would show that in these dark times, we're all separate, but we're still together.”

The result is a series of Drone Photos that show residents of New York lounging in their windows, chilling on fire escapes or smiling through open windows.

“I like the intimacy of portraits, but this turned into an intimate scene too,” says Cirillo. “I had everyone on speaker saying, ‘Can you hang a leg out the window? Can you lean on your elbows? Step into the light a little more.' It kind of felt like they were right there.”

Unfortunately, Cirillo lost his drone for unknown reasons as he was taking a photo of three brothers in Bushwick. However, he has already ordered a new drone and hopes to continue taking photos soon. He specifically would like to take photos around 7 p.m. when people cheer on the healthcare workers that fight the coronavirus outbreak across the city.

Cirillo hopes that his drone photos of New Yorkers help to give people a sense of solidarity.

“I hope that this would show people, my neighbors are doing this and I should be too,” says Cirillo. “We all need to walk this road together.”

A word of caution about shooting drone portraits in New York

Word of caution, even though the photos are great it is officially not allowed to take off or land a drone in New York City, which includes the five boroughs. There are only five designated parks where you can officially and legally fly a drone. So, please do your homework before you decide to send you DJI Mavic 2 Pro up in the air. This guy, for instance, flew his DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise in Manhattan and is now being investigated by the FAA.

The drone portraits appear to have been taken with a DJI Mavic drone. If you look closely you can see the reflection of the unmanned aircraft in the photo below. Great shot btw!

Photo credits: Johnny Cirillo