ASTORIA — The writer. The actress. The indie-folk rockers.
New York City has long been a landing place for the artistic set, and a Queens photographer who turned her lens on the city's creative types will showcase her work in an exhibit that opens next week in Astoria.
Last spring, shutterbug Lizabeth Nieves started photographing and interviewing what she calls "everyday creatives" — the people she met in Astoria and across the city who were steadfast in pursuing their creative passions, many while holding down unrelated 9 to 5 jobs.
"I know a lot of creative people," said Nieves, also an organizer behind the annual Astoria Art Festival. "I started to notice how much they had to work with different jobs, drudgery jobs, to support their artistic habits."
Nieves thought it would be "interesting and inspiring," to tell the stories of people successfully creating their craft in a city where high rents and high competition can make doing so difficult.
"We constantly read blogs and magazine articles that show how very famous people have done it," she said. "But your everyday friends and neighbors doing it — I think it's sort of fascinating."
Nieves said she's photographed and interviewed 27 people for the series, who are featured on a website called "glitter and doom," and she has also compiled a book.
Her subjects include many local faces from Queens, such as Long Island City-based writer Audrey Dimola, Astoria dancer and choreographer Michelle Amara Micca and the members of The Green Gallows, a folk rock band also based in Astoria.
Nieves' photos will be on display at Astoria Park Wine and Spirits at 28-07 24th Ave. from Feb. 7 to April 3. An opening party will be held Feb. 7 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
