How were you welcomed upon your arrival? Did you feel lost in the beginning or was everything organised?

May: The day I arrived in New York (31 August 2007) my plane flew all down the coastline of Long Island. I had so many thoughts in my mind. I had never been to the States before and I still hadn't realised that the city below me would be my home for quite a while. I had my life packed in two suitcases and it felt quite extraordinary at the time. The ITS#SIX finals seemed like yesterday and now here I was, only a couple miles away from NY after leaving my apartment in the Netherlands only two weeks before.When I landed in JFK Airport all worries were suddenly gone. I took a cab and had a funny conversation with the taxi driver. Then the cab drove through the heart of Manhattan and brought me to Lexington and 23rd, the address that Kaori Uchisaka - a very kind lady from the SVA student office - had given me. We had been in touch almost daily before my arrival to handle the VISA documents. In the beginning it all went super-fast. It felt like a crazy speed date with New York city!

Where did you stay in New York? Did you like the place?

I had a room on the 5th floor of the George Washington Residency of SVA in midtown. Of course I felt a little bit lost in the beginning, buying new furniture and finding my way in the neighbourhood. The building I lived in was a hotel before that, and quite scary in a way, but when I entered my room at the end of the hall it was just fine. I had a pleasant view and from my bath I had a view of the street! It was a small apartment, but I only had two suitcases of stuff and I was in New York! I know it might sound cliché but I connected my computer to the internet and showed my view on Gramercy Park to a good friend of mine in the Netherlands...

Can you briefly describe the program of the "Photoglobal" photography course?

During my time at SVA, Thursday mornings with Marc Joseph were the best moments. We went to all kinds of organisations and artists from the New York art community and had wonderful one-to-one conversations that helped me a lot to develop my work. For example meeting Eva Respini - MoMa curator - made me more conscious about my visual language and I really enjoyed her thesis class. And I also met a lot of BFA and MFA students who were open-minded and technically very professional. It was very different from the art academy where I studied in the Netherlands. One of the best things was that SVA gives its photography students the possibility to try out almost any kind of camera you can think of, so I tried out as many as I could. On Tuesday I would attend a critic class with Stephen Frailey and Charles Traube (heads of the BFA and MFA Departments) together with BFA, MFA and Photoglobal students. During this class I had the chance to meet with Italian Artist Silvio Wolf, who gave a very interesting insight into contemporary photography.

Have you made important friendships? And what about contacts for your work in the future?

When I first went to SVA, I met with Stephen Frailey, our seminar leader Marc Joseph and of course the other photographers & artists attending the course, Martin Adolfsson from Stockholm, Somaye Bardai from Dubai and Antonio Ibarra from Mexico City. It felt good to be with all these professionals and talk about each other's background. I have remained in touch with them ever since! And at the end of October we will have our first group show at the Visual Arts Gallery in Chelsea (so I?m flying back to New York again...). Everyone please feel welcome to join us at the opening on 28 October! You can check my website for updated info about it.
Later during the year I took a studio course with Marc Joseph and met lots of people through him. He lives in the East Village and I love that neighbourhood. I would go to lots of galleries, museums, jazz clubs and meet interesting people there... I could finally see my favourite bands live and I enjoyed the low dollar exchange rate!

What is the most important thing you learned regarding photography during your course at SVA?

I learned that there is "photography photography" and "photography". It sounds strange but there are artists who work with the photographic medium, artists who work with photographers and of course everything in between. At School of Visual Arts I learned to find my own position in this huge photography scene that is New York. I sometimes even created my personal "island" to develop personal concepts. Another very important lesson I learned is that as long as you are making new work you are running to become the next big thing in photography. I also learned to enjoy and not be too serious about my work.

How do you feel now that it's over? How much was it worth?

One thing is sure: I definitely miss New York and my friends there, and I am really glad I decided to pack my stuff and attend the "Photoglobal" course. It has made me stronger and I really miss all of the great facilities and advisors at SVA. Of course I had hard times as well and I won't forget when my camera was stolen in my room the day before Thanksgiving... But that's part of New York anyway and I would love to go back in a while. For now I live and work between Amsterdam and New York and it's great! In less than two weeks I'm flying to New York again for the exhibition and hope to meet most of my friends there. Thanks ITS and thanks to the School of Visual Arts!

Together with a couple of pictures of May in New York, we have also included some shots of the projects she carried out while she was there and that will be showcased in the Visual Arts Gallery in Chelsea, NY on 28 October.