Imageine: Rajeev Manikoth’s blind date with Manhattan

After graduating from design school, I set off with curiosity as my compass — and a camera never far from reach. Over the past four decades, I’ve lived and worked across many places, and cultures. Wherever I landed, I found myself drawn to the quiet patterns of daily life — the way people live, move, connect, worship, celebrate, survive. Photography became my way of making sense of it all.

Each frame was a pause — a moment to notice the common threads that run through us, no matter where we are. Sure, every place had its own vibe, its own shifting energy. But beneath the surface, the stories were always human. And through the lens, I learned to see both the sameness and the difference — not as contradictions, but as layers of the same beautiful tale.

I first photographed Manhattan in 199