Even the most jaded, seen-it-all New Yorkers will be charmed by New York Snapshots (teNeues, $40), a new cocktail-table book by photographer Carter Berg. Though Berg has shot editorials and ad campaigns for the Wall Street Journal, a handful of glossy magazines, and Ralph Lauren, the images in this collection are markedly casual.

Many look hastily captured, as if, on the way to his next assignment, Berg barely had time to turn, take the photo, and move on. A shot of the Dakota and San Remo buildings thus gives these famed residences a new charm. Rather than a carefully staged image with high production value, Berg’s snap is washed out, the frame's edges hazy. It’s not necessary to know the intimate history of these buildings, all of the celebrities who once called the Dakota or San Remo home; rather, Berg just wants to re-create the rush of encountering gorgeous buildings in the city for the first time.

Few of the images have identifying notes to tell readers which buildings or neighborhoods are shown. Carter Berg breezes through New York, and his audience breezes with him.

Click here to tour New York as Carter Berg sees it.

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