ammo + fire = bad news

Got a call to do a quick shot of a local gun shop on fire but it was put out quickly and I only got to take pics of its post fire condition. Even with my official NYPD press pass, I was told that I. had to stay outside the police line for my safety. Come to think of it, I wonder if the ammo stored here exacerbated the fire situation? But I got nowhere trying to get info from the cops and the firemen at the firehouse which was only one block away!

Now that I can reflect on this, there were guns that were being removed from the shop and police gear that they wanted to be sure no civilian got their hands on I bet.

I'm curious what started the fire. I'll let the reporters find out what I couldn't.

Fire + ammo + guns = bad news.

toddlers demand shutter priority

Every shoot I do, I forget to do something and I learn something in the process. When my photo editor sent me my assignment, I was told there would be no children. "That's odd. It's storytelling hour at a local library. Who do they tell the stories to?"

And then they came - a bustling, rambunctious horde of little cuties. And I was in aperture priority since I was shooting indoors and wanted to avoid using my flash. Considering the amount of motion going on with these little ones, I am surprised I captured these few in relative moments of serenity.

Next time - shutter priority and let that expensive camera figure out everything else during the flux of eternal motion that characterizes little people.

Little people deserve better!

we don't really see what we see

Like my therapist said, "we really don't know anything". It's what we perceive to see and know. Very subjective but very real for us as individuals.

What you see here are multiple exposures or photographic composites. Just like the movies using CGI to make the unreal look very real, our world is somewhat like that.

I have coined a phrase for this. I call it epistemological dissonance. How exactly do we know what we know? And how much does it bother us to realize that we have been disillusioned especially after the pleasant experience of being willfully disillusioned?

So, I ask, what do you know for sure?

I'm a "camerista" - if this was 1842

Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my daughter who wanted to see two exhibitions:

Photography in the Civil War

Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity

The "camerista" designation comes from an article posted in the "London Times" in 1842 about American culture. I kind of like this title.

Along the way we both took photographs of the same things and compared our results. Here are some I'm most proud of:

I knew something didn't feel right . . .

See these guys. They're crooked. The Belyansky brothers and Mr. Tsimerman were indicted today by the NY Attorney's office for the following:

Governmental bribery

Notice how they're NOT smiling. I took this shot on 3/7/13 (about a month ago) at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a really nice adult daycare center in the S. Bronx. These guys own the place and you would've thought they would be happy guys?

As I walked around and talked to them and others, I couldn't figure out why they looked so edgy and nervous. Now I know. First I simply thought to myself, "white guys in a Latino neighborhood and in suits?"

NY politics isn't looking good.

we're a "gunsick" nation

Just finished an assignment covering a gun violence forum at a local hospital. The trauma surgeon is talking about his plans for treating gun violence as a public health issue and the gentleman below leads out an injury prevention center.

Listening to them speak was truly interesting and moving. Sadly the NRA thinks the solution for the problem is more guns. And public awareness and funding is not up to the task of supporting groups like "Guns Down, Life Up" that works on multiple levels to reduce violence among mainly minority young people.

We're a "lovesick" nation in love with our guns = a truly "gunsick" nation.

a little crazy but boy can they ride!

"Line of Sight"