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Chelsea

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Crown Heights

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Bed Stuy

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Ivy (Prospect Heights)

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Handball (Park Slope)

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Sunset in Chelsea

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Henri Cartier-Bresson Retrospective at MOMA

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The photographer who took some of the most influential photographs of the 20th Century (and made the word Leica a household name) is having a giant posthumous retrospective at MOMA. This photo, taken in April of 1945, though less artful and more strictly photojournalistic, is one which has always resonated with me. Besides the explosive emotion, there’s a novel’s worth of content which can be extrapolated from the scene. For those of us who were schooled in the decisive moment street photography aesthetic, HCB is a god. His genius was not only in his timing, but in his distance. Asked once about what inspired him to trip the shutter when he did, he said, I’m paraphrasing, “La géometrie.” True, but like Bach who pretended that all his compositions were nothing more than mathematical variations, form is clearly married to passion throughout HCB’s work. What makes the show, which opens Sunday, a real treat is that many never before seen photos will be on view, some of which are included on the HCB, The Modern Century’s web preview.
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Women on Broadway (Flatiron)

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The Kiss (Dean Street, Crown Heights)

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This amorous couple actually shouted at me to come take their picture. A rare event. Of course I complied.
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Dog (Crown Heights)

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Graffiti Art (Crown Heights)

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Cars on the Street (Prospect Heights)

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Used Car Dealership (Prospect Heights)

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Books on the Street (Park Slope)

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Glove on Cab Seat (SoHo)

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Highline (Chelsea)

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A rainy day makes for an empty Highline, except for a few couples.
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Noon Flare (3rd Ave & 57th)

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Birds at Costco (Santa Maria)

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Chelsea Windows

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Dead Flowers (Washington Square)

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Bicyclist Memorial (Fort Greene)

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Composition vs. Meaning

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The above photo was taken in 1991 in the Bronx by New York Times staff reporter Angel Franco. Composed with the urban blight in the background, this Halloween picture of Guisette Muniz, then 6, elicited an outpouring of Times' readers emotions (and gifts). Readers interpreted Muniz's expression to be sad, vulnerable, and worthy of pity, when in reality she was scared--not of the desolate neighborhood--but of her uncle who was inside the apartment in a frightening Chuckie costume. Read more about this photo in the Times here. This also fits nicely with Errol Morris' series in the Op-Ed webpages on propaganda and photography, a fascinating read here. The subject of how photographers compose, put frames around what they see, is worthy of many books of essays. Context is everything.
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Morning Sweep (Prospect Heights)

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Shopping Cart (Prospect Heights)

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Upper East Side

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Church (NSB)

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Arrow (NSB)

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Maytag Man (NSB)

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Superhero (NSB)

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Night, Sunset Drive (NSB)

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Flags at Sunset (NSB)

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A Tale of Two Businesses (NSB)

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Lawn Jockey (NSB)

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Sweeping the Driveway (NSB)

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Man and Nature (NSB)

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Laundry (NSB)

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Bike Week (NSB)

Thousands of Harleys descended on Daytona to celebrate Bike Week.
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By the Beach Where the Living Is Easy (New Smyrna Beach)

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Biking around the streets near ACA, I felt like I'd entered a William Eggleston documentary.
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The Kiss (Union Square)

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A Sad Sight (Port Morris)

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A stray cat drinking from a street puddle on Locust Street.
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More of Industrial Port Morris (Bronx)

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Jazz Dancing (Governors Island)

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Port Morris (Bronx)

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Nary a tree grows in Port Morris, this industrial neighborhood of the Bronx near Hunts Point. Here it's all warehouses, autobody, construction, storage, oil refining, and potholed streets.
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A Tale of Two Legs (Prospect Heights)

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New Suburban Geometries Images (Santa Maria)

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34th Street

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Construction Site (Prospect Heights)

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Homage to Hemingway

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Union Square Station, N Platform

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LuLu as a Newsboy on 14th Street

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Union Square

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Bloomingdales Windows

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Con Ed Steam Pipes (57th Street)

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Union Square

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Penn Station

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Skirt (42nd Street)

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St. Patrick's Cathedral

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Fifth Ave., Midtown

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Penn Station

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Handball (Chelsea)

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Upper East Side

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Subway Stairs (59th St.)

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Hanks Saloon, Borem Hill

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Rainy Empire State Views

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Union Square Station

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First Snow (from Bergen Stn. Stairs)

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Vinegar Hill Seagulls

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Dumbo

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Fulton Mall at 7:30 AM

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Pomeranians

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New Asphalt on Carroll Street

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Halloween

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Forget Joe the Plumber...

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Walk and Talk (Chelsea)

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Around Penn Station Near Sunset

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Crown Heights

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Wall Street Wide Angles

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Near the WTC

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Saxophonist in Fulton Subway Station

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Near the WTC Site

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More Wall Street from the Hip

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Lunch Hour, Wall Street

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More From the Hip (Wall Street)

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More Wallstreet from the Hip

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Wallstreet Strollers

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Happy 4th of July, Tourists!

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In Praise of Shadows (and Women)

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In Praise of Redheads

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Chelsea Hot Summer Afternoon

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iPod, UPod, WePod

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Canal Street Bargain Hunters

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Hailing a Cab in the Rain (Upper East Side)

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Two Dinners: Whole Foods + KFC

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The Americans Turns 50!

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Bowling Green Station Shadows

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Statue of Liberty: Two Frames

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Uniqlo Devil Woman

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Greek-American Flagraising at Bowling Green

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Stock Exchange Flags

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Montgomery Mall (Hommage to Ragubir Singh)

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Framing—what else is street photography about? Windows within windows. Rectangles within rectangles. A grid of views. A bento box of subjects.
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Raghubir Singh, who took the above picture, is my favorite Indian photographer. He made a great book of pictures called A Way into India, which featured the Ambassador, India's ubiquitous version of the VW, as object and frame for his peregrinations through his colorful homeland. Check out some of his pictures here.
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The Bull

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St. Theresa Church at Night

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Mummers Parade, Philly

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