A few months back, one awesome woman walked every block of Manhattan to assemble a comprehensive photo series dedicated to, what else, bodegas! 

Photographer Gail Victoria Braddock Quagliata was inspired to undertake the undoubtedly exhausting photo challenge when she noticed the rate of our bodegas' disappearing (turns out she's right, as we're down 75 alone this year).  

Much like an ecological conservationist of urban landscape species, Quagliata sought Manhattan's bodegas as a quest to document their dwindling numbers, with no bodega left behind. 

Having amassed around 10,000 images-- and an ankle injury in the process-- Quagliata eventually narrowed it down to 4,000. 

Then, she "... decided to narrow her focus to independent, mom-and-pop stores-- some that she had thought were independent turned out to be small chains. 

"'I had to be really specific about what qualified as a bodega,' the 34-year-old says. 'My criteria was that it had to sell newspapers, cigarettes, and snacks. Beyond that I was pretty open, but some people had very concrete ideas about what a bodega is, and that surprised me, because I don't know why that's a thing to get angry about.'"

We wouldn't say it's a thing to get angry about, but it is definitely a hot topic of debate, and an issue we've covered before. 

So now we're pumped that there's more of a plethora of visuals to accompany the discussion! Check out her Tumblr page with all the pics right here.

Check out Yep, Bodega Cats of Instagram Is Officially a Thing in NYC.