I moved to Syracuse, New York in June 2026 and I wasn’t expecting to resume my photography career immediately. I had other things in mind, but it turns out that when Airbnb got wind of my new location they started sending me assignments for fresh photos of hosted properties in and around the Central New York area. The last time I did official assignments for them was in 2023, across an ocean and in another world, so this was a very pleasant surprise.

It was on a bright Thursday that I found myself driving to a charming neighbourhood in Syracuse to undertake my first paid photography gig in the USA. I met the host of the property and set about helping them remove a few Halloween decorations so that the photos would be neutral in terms of decor for year round bookings. This property was a two story but there are separate addresses for the downstairs and upstairs sections. The downstairs is what I was shooting.

Coming from South Africa where it is impossible to simply walk up to a person’s front door and knock, finding out that this is the normal way of doing things around these parts of New York has been something of another very pleasant surprise. The only properties you might find with fences around them are where big dogs live. Sometimes even those don’t have fences but the dogs are kept on the properties by using electronic collars. If they move beyond a certain point in the yard they get a zap in the neck. Ouch. Anyway, as I am still mostly in South Africa mode I thought I would call the host before simply walking up to the front door and knocking. They were quite surprised and asked me to come right in.

The interior of the property reminded me a lot of the older houses I used to photograph in Glenwood, where I lived for the better part of nearly 20 years. Hardwood floors and lots of charm. The New York scale is a little smaller though. This home was restored from fire damage by the current owners and the results of their work are pretty special. Downstairs is an open plan, two bedroom, one bathroom place that is in a nice, walkable neighbourhood.

There are some lovely elements to this home that make it feel like a home and not your typical hotel. The hosts have laid out the property in an open plan manner, so you can see through to the front of the house from the kitchen. I particularly like the black painted brick fireplace, which gives it a kind of modern industrial feel. It has everything you would need to enjoy a home away from home.

Here are some of my favourite shots from the shoot. Airbnb do their own editing (which I have yet to see) but these are my own edits following my usual style.