In the last few calm hours before Sandy smacks Manhattan across the arse i stumbled upon the most epic League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

It was like the Purple X Men , the Protectors of the Realm .

These guys were roped .

Purple Avengers , Prince's Bodyguards. Each of their faces told a zillion stories

I couldnt tell at first if this was a parade or a funeral but the mood was very serious.

Then everything went horribly wrong .................

I made my biggest mistake so far with shooting film. Everyday i go out into the city with all available pockets crammed with film and both cameras around my neck. I get sidetracked like a puppy at the dog park in seconds and in the eyeball sensory overload that New York City is , i accidentally used some rolls of film twice. Double exposing images and rare moments that i have waited for so many days to develop. I was heartbroken and weeks later i'm still sore at myself for making such an amatur mistake. The show must go on so here's the photos in all their glorious confusion.

(roll of film first time around )The parade was incredibley haunting. ancient old women wearing veils swung incense while chanting and wailing. The faces reminded me of the indians of the old west. Their mouths were so serious but their eyes were sparkly and black as coal.

(roll of film second time around and upside down cos the other camera is a bastardo) The ghost image was taken from next day during the fury of the hurricane that destroyed most of the East Coast. Its hard to see but this red car is severed in two by a fallen tree

Hundreds of solemn faces cloaked in purple follow the singing ladies through the streets of Hells Kitchen while in upsidedown mistakeland another tree chops some poor buggers car into mincemeat.

As the lads shuffle slowly , carrying a huge alter covered in flowers , candles and live white doves , people from the crowd would run up and present their babies to be blessed at the alter.

The hidden image is the entire face of a building in Chelsea that crumbled off during the storms onslaught. The building collapsed into the avenue exposing the entire apartment inside like a giant doll house. I could see everything in these peoples rooms. It was crazy. Some of the bed posts were inches away from the open wall gaping into the street below. Sock drawers were ajar in the bedrooms as i stared into what looked like a giant art installation. The police started to lose tempers as they struggled in the street to contain the scene so i pressed onwards into the deserted streets through the storm.

I caught this lady sobbing in the middle of so many people. I wished to god i'd put this roll of film in a different pocket. Meanwhile on the other side , Manhattan has plunged into darkness. No power or sign of life for days. but more on that coming up next.

I learned a hard lesson in so many ways while wandering around this incredible scene of destruction that may only happen once every 100 years. Being prepared and organised in every which way possible keeps ringing in my head still to this day.