36 Hours in New York

With so much to see, the trick is to edit out the visual distractions — just as with any good photograph.

THINK of New York City as photography's oyster. As a subject, photographers have been endlessly attracted to its streets (Lee Friedlander), night life (Weegee), world-famous skyline (Berenice Abbott) and all the refracted angles in between. As a place to view great works, it offers possibilities that are endless, from museums and galleries devoted to the art form, to restaurants and bars that hang rarified works. The city is the world's media capital, so photography not only attracts artists and shutterbugs alike, but it's also a big business, fueling everything from advertising and modeling agencies to retouching labs and frame shops. With so much to see, the trick is to edit out the visual distractions — just as with any good photograph.

Friday

4 p.m.
1) NOT YOUR LOCAL FOTOMAT
A photo lab may not sound like a romantic start, but for serious artists like Tina Barney and Robert Polidori, Laumont (333 West 52nd Street, 212-245-2113; www.laumont.com) is the place to go for exhibition-quality prints. Perhaps you have a favorite photo that needs to be digitally retouched or restored. Or maybe you want to print a prized image. Laumont offers a wide spectrum of options, from 8- by-10-inch C-prints ($55), to 72-by-140-inch iris or pigment prints ($1,460). If nothing else, it's an excuse to spend time with the major players in the field: you never know who might walk through the door.

5 p.m.
2) ON THE WALLS

If you go to just one museum, make it the International Center of Photography, a requisite stop for any self-respecting photo maven (1133 Avenue of the Americas, 212-857-0000; www.icp.org; $12). Two important exhibits this summer exemplify its mission to present a diverse range of photography and offer serious scholarship. “Let Your Motto Be Resistance” offers portraits of influential African-Americans of the 20th century, taken by well-known photographers. Downstairs is a Stephen Shore retrospective; his supersize color images and small snapshots offer a time capsule of 1970s America. Give yourself time to linger in the bookstore, an assemblage of the best photography books in print. Try this exercise: compare the new book by Mr. Shore, “The Nature of Photographs,” and the recently republished “Looking at Photographs,” written by John Szakowski in 1973. Their selections of photographs offer an illuminating contrast between photographic styles and approaches. Before you leave, pick up a $5 copy of “Photograph,” an exhaustive guide on the city's gallery offerings.

7 p.m.
3) THE BIG PICTURE

One block west is Times Square. Like every tourist who walks through, you might be tempted to whip out your camera and snap away at the huge electronic billboards that boggle the eye. But that's not the goal here. Watch the news pictures of the day from Reuters that appear intermittently every hour on the jumbo billboard that wraps around the corner of its building at 3 Times Square (at West 43rd Street). It's worth contrasting these still images with the moving advertising images all around you. Imagine what this optical barrage would do to Robert Capa's nervous system.

8:30 p.m.
4) STEAK FRITES WITH BRASSAï

In a city with eight million restaurants, why make reservations for Café Loup in Greenwich Village (105 West 13th Street, 212-255-4746)? For starters, this loosely French restaurant is a true comfort zone and draws a well-heeled, lively downtown crowd. Let your eyes wander around the room: the walls are covered with crisply framed photographs by Berenice Abbott, Brassaï and Irving Penn, lending the restaurant a salon-like flair. So does the food: try the salad lyonnaise with Belgian endives ($12), followed by the hanger steak frites ($19.50) or tuna carpaccio over Asian slaw ($18.50).

11 p.m.
5) BOîTE NOIR

On the soigné side, the Bowery Bar (40 East Fourth Street, 212-475-2220; www.bbarandgrill.com) is a perfect spot for a martini before hitting the late-night bars on the Lower East Side. Walk into the back-room lounge where Nan Goldin's pictures of the 1980s premier art club, Area, hang on the walls. As you do, reflect on the fact that she chronicled her friends and acquaintances in the East Village living the bohemian life — and the ballad of sexual dependency — only a few blocks away.

Saturday

10 a.m.
6) PRE-GALLERY BRUNCH

Chelsea may have the highest concentration of art galleries in the world, so before jumping in, fuel up at the Half King (505 West 23rd Street, 212-462-4300; www.thehalfking.com), a pub-style restaurant owned in part by the writer Sebastian Junger. Beware the portions: the Irish breakfast is large enough for two people ($13). While waiting for your mimosa, check out the photographs on the walls. The exhibitions, which change every two months, tend toward reportage; the current show by Paolo Pellegrin, an Italian photographer, documents last year's Lebanon war.

11:30 a.m.
7) CHELSEA CIRCUIT

Venturing to more than five galleries in one stretch can lead to eye fatigue, so here are a few sure bets. The Aperture Foundation (547 West 27th Street, 212-505-5555; www.aperture.org), which publishes Aperture quarterly and some of the finest photography books, has a spacious gallery that shouldn't be missed. Two shows this summer feature Civil Rights-era pictures by Bruce Davidson and Stephen Shames. Events are held frequently; on a recent visit, the British artists Gilbert and George were on hand to sign their mammoth new book. Other worthwhile places include Danziger Projects (521 West 26th Street, 212-629-6778; www.danzigerprojects.com), which shows new as well as historical work, often in collaboration with other galleries; Yossi Milo, the gallery that introduced Loretta Lux and continues to show cutting-edge work (525 West 25th Street, 212-414-0370; www.yossimilogallery.com); Matthew Marks, the blue-chip gallery that represents brand-name artists like Andreas Gursky (two galleries: 523 West 24th Street and 522 West 22nd Street, 212-243-0200; www.matthewmarks.com); and Yancey Richardson and Julie Saul galleries (both at 535 West 22nd Street), which specialize in photographers more familiar to art insiders.

4 p.m.
8) DUMBO IN BROOKLYN

That's Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, where you'll find the Powerhouse Arena (37 Main Street, 718-666-3049; www.powerhousearena.com), a multipurpose gallery, boutique and all-around hangout. But it's best known as a publisher of arguably subversive art books. For urban culture, flip through “Slide Show: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt” and “Disco Years,” with photographs by the infamous Ron Galella. You'll most likely discover other titles and zines you've never seen before. Afterward, walk to the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park at the water's edge. Put your camera down and enjoy the postcard-perfect view: the Lower Manhattan skyline framed between the arches of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. O.K., maybe the view is worth at least one picture.

6 p.m.
9) ON ASSIGNMENT
The Flatiron building (Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street) is one of Manhattan's great landmarks and an architectural gateway to an area once known as the Photo District. The area is still home to many studios and labs, though their numbers have dwindled. For your own slice of photo history, stand at the north end of Madison Park and try recreating the way Edward Steichen shot the building at night or Alfred Stieglitz captured it in the snow — both more than a 100 years ago. Modern technology may have changed the look of photographs, but not their potential for poetry. Afterward, walk by 291 Fifth Avenue, near 31st Street, where Steichen and Stieglitz founded the Photo-Secession gallery — later called 291 — in 1905. This is where Stieglitz began his impassioned advocacy for treating photography as fine art.

p.m.
10) MODERN TAPAS

Sample new flavors at Boqueria (53 West 19th Street, 212-255-4160; www.boquerianyc.com), a tapas restaurant where the seats are the height of bar stools and the crowd doesn't mind being packed in. Dinner tapas like squid salad, patatas bravas or chilled almond soup range from $7 to $14; entrees are $19 to $29. There's a nice a selection of Spanish wines, though you won't regret ordering one of the four sangrias.

10 p.m.
11) URBAN STILLS

Still looking for that great street life photo? Walk down to Union Square, a historic center of social activism that remains a popular gathering place for countercultural New Yorkers. Even at night, the area is bursting with visual activity. There are skateboarders practicing tricks on the wide steps, hip-hoppers testing new rhymes, students parading around in funky fashions and night strollers stealing a kiss. Keep your camera armed and ready.

Sunday

11 a.m.
12) PHOTO SHOP

Need more memory? You'll find that and much more at B & H (420 Ninth Avenue, 800-606-6969; www.bhphotovideo.com), the photography superstore of choice for professionals and hobbyists alike. The store, which is now in its third decade, carries everything from $12,000 Hasselblads and $120 Canons to $8,000 strobe lights and $2 film developing trays. The used department upstairs has good bargains. The store may seem intimidating at first, but the largely Hasidic sales staff members are exceedingly helpful and knowledgeable. Just check your credit limit before upgrading your camera system.

VISITOR INFORMATION

The Gramercy Park Hotel (2 Lexington Avenue, 212-920-3300; www.gramercyparkhotel.com) is the latest in the Ian Schrager empire. Not only was the lobby designed by Julian Schnabel, but the rooms have Magnum photographs on the wall. Rooms start at $595.

The Hotel Chelsea (222 West 23rd Street, 212-243-3700; www.hotelchelsea.com) retains the feel of its demimonde past — which included photographers like Inge Morath and Robert Mapplethorpe. Even Henri Cartier-Bresson, who lived in Paris, kept a pied-a-terre there for years. Rooms start at $250.