June 2012
Times Square
If you’re not a tourist, you almost never go to Times Square. I was very surprised at how packed it was on a hot summer Thursday night. Marketing was everywhere—on neon, on billboards, and on foot, in the guise of TV characters, especially Elmo. And just about everyone was taking pictures, including me.
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A Visit to Glen Spey
I took the bus up to Port Jervis to visit my friend Marcy Pesner, the legend behind Beagle & Potts Woodworking. She now owns no less than 5 vehicles, some soon to be mobile homes (including the Blue Bird school bus above), a few dogs, and lots of lumber waiting for her next project. Marcy is now working on her Buddhist practice, teaching locals the art of woodworking, building toaster lamps, and starting up a tiny house construction teaching workshop.
Max
Max being read his latest obsession: Ghostopolis, a graphic novel more suited to kids 10 years older. Below, at the playground. Both shot with the D800E.
Mannequins (Gowanus)
27.06.12 | 22:17 • Filed in: Brooklyn:Architecture
While visiting the neighborhood Lowe’s, I wandered into Roy Vaccaro’s Salvage Yard, which is under the elevated F train at the 9th Street Station. A fantastic place for the brownstone fixer-upper. Lots of old irons stuff and more: radiators, bathtubs, sinks, gates, tin ceilings, gates, etc. I was much more interested in the mannequin parts, placed and dumped everywhere.
Gowanus
Just received my Nikon D800E body and am testing the quality. So far it hasn’t disappointed. Great sharpness, lots of pixels, and a great dynamic range.
Gowanus Canal Panorama
The parking lot behind Lowe’s has a great view of the Gowanus Canal, framed by the BQE and the elevated F train. Click the image for a bigger view.
Chocolate Face
Max after eating one of The Chocolate Room’s delicious chocolate cupcakes. (He thinks he’s a T-Rex rather than a 3.5 year old boy.)
That Damn Leica!
21.06.12 | 14:51 • Filed in: Photography:History
Photo by David Burnett, 1972
There’s an interesting article in the Washington Post Magazine by veteran photographer David Burnett about how he missed capturing one of the most famous photographs of the 20th Century. That image--you may recognize the boy who’s in it as wel,l on the right above--was taken by Nick Ut. Turns out, Burnett was struggling to load his Leica, which if you are familiar with Leicas is not at all like loading a Nikon with a motor drive. Nick Ut’s Leica was ready and he got thePulitzer Prize-winning shot of Kim Phuc and her brothers before hustling the burned kids into a car for medical attention.
New Studio Wall
In preparation for a new studio roommate, my former studiomate from Pacific Street, Matthew Northridge, and I put up a 20ft wall with metal studs.
Coca Cola Adds Life
A few of my favorite photographs seen through a pair of Mexican coke bottles. Above, a Garry Winogrand. Below: Bill Brandt and two by Carlo Molino.
Art and Guavas (FDR)
While snarled in traffic on the FDR, I saw this season from the passenger seat of our Prius. A kind of Saul Steinberg conceptual piece next to what looks like the remains of partially eaten guavas and watermelons.
Beekeeping on the Roof (Crown Heights)
The owners of the Monti Building, where my studio is located, have a trio of beehives that actually produce a small crop of honey each fall.
Panorama from the Monti Building (NYC + Crown Heights)
The view from the fourth-floor terrace outside my studio. From the Empire State Building to the S train. Click on the photo for a bigger image.
War Photography by Armchair
It looks like a Matthew Brady image from the Civil War, but it’s acutally an entirely fictional landscape captured by Irish photographer Karl Burke. What he’s done is converted color screenshots from inside the multiplayer video game Battlefield 2 (altered by Project Reality) and converted them into tintypes. The landscapes with burning tanks and wasted corpses are reminiscent of scenes from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, only the dead in these are virtual. It’s a very interesting project, linking the history of war photography with new meta-experiences of violence. The romantic, static quality of the images removes us from the adrenaline rush and horror of real war. It underscores how war, too, has become just another aesthetic product to be consumed by both civilians and veterans alike. The original story appeared in the NYT’s Lens Blog here.
Barclays Center Cometh (Prospect Heights)
Mr. Rathner’s British bank named arena is now about 3.5 months from completion. Across the street, at a Modell’s sporting good store (also on the Atlantic Yards footprint), sits a giant inflated t-shirt welcoming the team (owned by a Russian billionaire) and introducing the latest logos and Adidas t-shirts already available at the “official sporting goods retailer of the Brooklyn Nets.” Never a supporter of this vast and ill-thought project, I can’t say I’m eager to see how traffic and life in Prospect Heights will change come opening night, which will feature Jay-Z, a part owner of the Nets.
