Thursday, October 31, 2013

the future mayor of NYC





What you see here is a coronation of sorts - an ordination, a blessing, an approval by spiritual leaders on a man who for them represents hope, fairness and justice = Bill DiBlasio.

This was the NYC Interfaith Clergy breakfast held in the Manhattan SDA church in the West Village in Manhattan.

On face value, this looks like a good thing but is he too liberal, too much of an opposite to the way things have been done politically for close to two decades in NYC? Are the rich and Wall Street looking on with a degree of trepidation? There's a lot of money in NYC and they aren't very happy about being taxed more just because they have lots of money.

Hmm . . . guess we'll all have to wait and see?

But like they say, if God is on your side, how can things go wrong?

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

great sports photography

3 words: Peter Read Miller

Check him out.

Olympics, World/Cup, Super/Bowl

Action, Emotions, Creativity


Banksy in the Bronx



This topic begs the question: "What is art?"

Banksy is known for his street art or graffiti or _________? Why is his stuff so valued, so important, so famous? Is it in someway based on the mysterious nature of the artist himself/herself? How about the social commentaries that his art speaks to? Is it his unique painting style which I see as a photographer with his use of shadows and light?

Finally, why so much drama in NYC about his month long project here? Are all the other "artists" just jealous about his fame? Is NYC (especially da Bronx) insulted by his message which you can see for yourself in the photos above, that stereotype a neighborhood that is rapidly trying to improve its image?

As one of my Facebook friends said: "I don't get it."

Saturday, October 19, 2013

TED comes to the MET







"The opposite of depression isn't happiness. It is vitality."  Andrew Solomon  (the dude with the double-breasted suit)


Andrew Solomon is a writer and lecturer on politics, culture, and psychology. His latest book, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity (2012), won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and eleven other national awards. Far From the Tree tells the stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so. Solomon's previous book, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression (2001), won the 2001 National Book Award for Nonfiction and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize.
Solomon is a lecturer in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College

Here's a full list of the speakers:

What a great all day event at the MET. This TED event was everything I thought it would be. Now I know why they are so popular. All I can tell you is that you have to go to one to see for yourself.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

shooting for breast cancer




What better reason can a guy have to take photographs than to support the fight against breast cancer! If you're a guy, you love breasts and the women they belong to. This was a great event for me since it included basketball, music and interesting subjects to shoot.

See that little guy? After his father told him to pose for the cameraman, this is what he gave me. I like it. Do you?

And those eyes - we photographers love to catch those eyes. She started it, then looked away and I reposed it.

Want to do something good and feel good too? Support the American Cancer Society.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

"National Geographic" - Your Shot

National Geographic

It's not quite the same as being hired by NG to do an assignment but just getting one of my photographs in there was a surprise for me. Since I think that my work isn't better than thousands of others who do landscape photography, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my photograph.

It's a little thing but one which makes me proud.

I can deal with that.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

I made it to the WSJ (online)

My shoot at Central Park


Isn't it interesting to see how easily ones work spreads through the internet! These photos I took 3+ months age in Central Park for myself and then sent a link to the Central Park Conservancy. They obviously liked them and used them but no one told me until I stumbled across them just by accident.

At least I got photo credit and since I work as a freelancer for the newspaper group which the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is part of, getting paid is not an issue.

Bottom line = it feels good to see your work in a prestigious news journal.

I'll always take that as a compliment!

Here's another:

A musical shoot

Saturday, October 5, 2013

meet Joe Forte (artiste extraordinaire)



 Joe Forte


I was doing street photography in the West Village (Manhattan) today and I came across a line of drawings on the sidewalk that caught my attention for their precision like pen strokes to replicate neighborhood structures.

The artist had a Santa Claus beard and a face with that weathered look that begs stories to be told. He told me that his art just came to him, not learned or copied or studied. It began when he was 3 years old. His older brother drew but both didn't inherit "artist genes" from the hard working parents.

It's a God-given gift and he's using it to please others and to satisfy his calling. What I found interesting was that the precision ink sketches which were the favorites of most who walked by were not his. his favorites were what looked like abstracts to me but which he titled "high realism spirit" paintings.

Check out the link I left above and then tell me if you aren't as amazed by his artistry as I was.