I received the Sotheby's catalog that included the picture of the Berlin Wall that I previously wrote about. I really didn't understand why they wanted the picture. It was cleared up when I received their splendid catalog of 20th Century Italian Art. These include works of art that are up for auction. My photo was included as atmosphere for a painting by Italian artist, Mimmo Rotello, of the Wall (titled "Il Muro di Berlino"). This is the London Sotheby's so all prices are in British Pounds but it works out that the original would cost at least $150,000. (My photo was available to them for considerably less).
I was extremely impressed by the quality of the book. High quality glossy paper stock, well written descriptions, and the surrounding material makes it an interesting work of art in itself. It makes me almost want to buy one of the paintings in the book. I guess that's the idea.
The conditions are not always the best to take pictures in the rain, but the resulting shots are far more interesting than when on dry land. Street lights, traffic lights, car taillights, neon lights all pop. The water reflection on the pavement creates a doubling and surrealistic effect. Umbrellas provide colorful elements that are a nice accessory. When it's raining, frequently I will go out and try to find a dry perch to that can give me a view of the street activity.
The problem is that its wet outside when it rains. It's a bit harder to take a picture when you're holding an umbrella. The lens gets wet. It can be cold. But, it's worth it.
I often turn color pictures into black and white to create mood. Classic street photography has this dreamlike sense and takes on another world feeling when it lacks color.
However, sometimes a color photograph can be absent of color as well. Usually it is a dark day, or a winter day with long shadows. The gray streets with white highlights and dark figures can look like a natural black and white picture. Sometimes just a trace of color can be noticed.
It was a rainy morning when this silhouetted figure passed by below my perch on the front porch of a church watching the umbrellas pass.
With the darkness of evening coming earlier in the day now, there is much less light during the prime street time when I typically take my photos. Less light, generally means a slower shutter speed which makes it a little harder to rattle off a quick shot at the right moment.
But, I also appreciate some of the impressionistic photos that can come when the movement is blurred by the longer time needed for the shutter to close. The movement of people over time leads to a blur or a ghost image.
I found a similar situation in the dim light of Grand Central terminal with a series I did on my website.
Bye bye, Yankee Stadium. I first went to the big Ballpark when I was 10 years old and then became a regular. Through Bat and Old Timers Days, and many many regular games, I was there (and I guess Billy Crystal was there).
My father once saw Babe Ruth hit a home run there to right field. I saw Mickey Mantle hit a grand slam home run into the same right field stands. Yeah, my father saw that one also. Once I took a tour and got a chance to take a shot from the Yankee's dugout (left).
I took the picture to the right at the Old Timer's Game in 2001, right as Yogi Berra was being introduced. You can see his name on the scoreboard if you look close enough, although I'm not sure which dot on the field he is.
My most memorable time at the "old stadium" was during a Sunday doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians in June 1970. There was a potpourri of events (or is it there were a potpourri?).
Most notable, spread across the two games, Bobby Murcer hit four home runs in consecutive at bats (right field, again). Also, Murcer chased down a ball deep in centerfield, when the monuments were still on the playing field, and went between the monuments to find the ball rather than around them. (I saw a replay of this on the recent Old Timer's Day telecast and it really didn't make much sense, but it a pretty cool thing to see).
A bit later, there was a bench clearing brawl between pitcher Stan Bahnsen and Indians star Vada Pinson. Baseball brawls are very exciting.
Still later, a cherry bomb was thrown from the upper deck and exploded near Indian catcher Ray Fosse. From baseballlibrary.com, "There was an odd incident in 1970: A cherry bomb thrown from the stands blew up by his foot, badly burning the arch of (Fosse's) foot and causing a shock. Always tough and determined, he stayed in the game, limping, was hit by a pitch, but played the next day."
And, finally Steve Hamilton, who had an softball-height hesitation loft pitch came in as a relief pitcher. And, he threw this rarely used pitch, which was called the "Folly Floater", to Tony Horton. Horton popped it foul, and dared Hamilton to throw another one. Hamilton accommodated him and Horton then popped out to catcher Thurman Munson. Embarassed, Horton then crawled back to the dugout.
I doubted my memory about the crawling part of the event, so I googled Tony Horton. Not only did I find the event mentioned in Wikipedia, I found a video clip below on YouTube of the actual event (I am in the stands somewhere behind the dugout). So, I guess it was true. Who needs memories when you've got YouTube.
During a visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum, there was a gallery discussion in which the artists' techniques were presented. His characterizations were created by specifically posing his models with the positioning and expressions that he wanted to portray. During the modeling sessions, he would take hundreds of photos of the characters and then paint from the photos.
His pictures are so realistic, and detailed that they are a bit like photographs, except far more perfect than you could hope to capture in a candid picture. Here are some examples, I can't put any here directly due to copyright issues.
His studio (roof of the building pictured) was relocated intact from downtown Stockbridge to the grounds of the museum outside of the Massachusetts town. The inside was left just as it was when he last used it. And, in the basement of the museum were 100s of covers from the Saturday Evening Post that he did over the year. The original art was on display, and I was surprised by how large the paintings were (perhaps 4-5 feet high). This was so there would be room for all the details that he wanted to include.
Seeing all of the personality in the works, it made me want to take it as inspiration for some of my street photography and I will be trying to focus on special moments if I can. Looking through pictures I've taken previously, these are the ones that I think are most like a Norman Rockwell painting.
This is a historical landmark, but I will not go into the specifics of what it is. I think it's more interesting to think of it more in the generic. A woman author from the early 1900s designs and builds a summer home where she can write. She keeps the home up for 10 years or so, and then moves on due to family circumstances (husband cheating on her). The home is sold, but proves too expensive to keep up over the years and is ultimately abandoned.
After years of neglect, the interior is partially restored and is opened to visitors. The grounds and gardens are returned to their original glory. Looking at the mansion today, makes one think of what it once was. Part of the building is restored, most of it, like the picture of the window here, is barren and reflects it's genre. The contrast of elegance and neglect is intriguing.
I discovered an alley I never noticed before. It might actually be a street. I decided to cut through and found a number of sites that homeless people had setup. There was a lot of character and a few people wandering around. It struck me as strange that on either end of the alley, life went on as usual. But, passing through this cut through was more like going through a 3rd world country.
The town of Harrison, New Jersey (located just across the river from Newark) is being completely redesigned. Harrison is an old factory town. Most of the old industrial buildings have now been abandoned. Broken windows, graffiti, weeds.
Harrison's claim to fame now is that it is a "park and ride" location for commuters who take the PATH train into Manhattan. It is a relatively painless 20 minute ride. And, the grounds of the factories have been used as parking lots for the travelers.
About four months ago, many of the parkers were displaced and had to move to lots 5-6 blocks further from the train. And, virtually all of the surrounding blocks were completely razed. There are now blocks and blocks of empty space. Starting to emerge is a new condo complex along the river and they will be building a new soccer stadium that will home of the Red Bulls professional team that now plays at Giants Stadium.
The first photo shows one large land mass that will be occupied by a complex that includes 30,000 square feet of retail stores. And, the giant pipe that the worker is standing on bring some sort of liquid to site (water?). This picture shows the pipe being buried, to be hidden for generations. I like the orange areas in the picture and the dirt falling behind the guy.
The second picture shows what used to be here. Ultimately the mile of land surrounding the train station will be built up with a new glistening town. I suspect then the commuters will have lots of company and will need to find a better place to use as a base.
There are three different sets of people in this photo. I was initially attracted to the man with his arm on the pillar. I took about 6 pictures of him as he put his arm up and down. Finally he got into a position that worked.
I didn't notice the girls approaching from the right when I took the shot. Their matching outfits work well in black and white. And, I didn't notice the guy with the pizzas who slipped in on the left. He doesn't look like a delivery guy, he looks more like a guy who has a big appetite.
The whole thing seems kind of European to me, although I'm not sure about pizza being delivered like this in Europe... and there is a US mailbox in there.
There is a lot of infrastructure construction happening on lower Broadway. Centers of streets are torn up and construction workers are digging holes and laying huge pipes. To separate this dangerous work from the average Joe, plastic barriers are constructed, sometimes with green mesh behind. The plastic is in bright yellow, green and orange colors. Holes let you see through (it's probably cheaper also as holes are free).
This photograph shows a spot where two of the colored plastic strips come together. This guy's arm and his striped shirt turned out to be a great compositional element. I like this on its standalone art value, it really means nothing so I would consider it an "abstract".
The traffic cop stands for hours at a time. He get ignored, passed by, and sometimes respected. Some are bored, aloof, or relaxed. I think this guy has all three of those traits.
The two shots here are the same guy. I originally thought they were taken from the same source photo. But, now that I have them up, you can see they were different shots (the other legs don't match). But, it is definitely the same guy.
I originally called this picture "Podiatry Man", but then as I started look at it further, I realized that it reminded me of a famous YouTube video called "Dramatic Look".
See the original video below. (Make sure your sound is turned on).
It's not quite clear to me why, but I've noticed that the most popular pictures that I've posted on the Flickr site are related to women smoking cigarettes. Yes, there is a style and personality related to these women, but most of these are found by direct search by putting in searches for "Woman" and "Smoking", so they are being specifically sought out. These pictures jump statistically in the "view" statistics, and they have style but they are not necessarily more remarkable than other less "popular" photos.
Click the sideshow and see the ones that have gotten the most attention:
The park at Liberty Plaza is now a gathering ground and showplace for the annual September 11th ceremony. The park is just opposite from the World Trade Center site, and last year's activities for the families were held here. (This year, I think, the pit of the site is a little bit more prepared for visitors and they will be doing some or all of it down there). At any rate, last year, before the ceremonies a team of workers came to work on maintenance of the embedded lights that are part of the park's floor.
I noticed that the workers have returned, which reminded me that we are coming close to another 9/11 anniversary and another ceremony. Last year I emerged from the PATH train while the ceremony was in process and had this direct observation.
I was contacted by the Sotheby's auction house in London.
They wanted to buy this picture of the Berlin Wall that they found on my website. They are going to put it in some 20th Century Italian Sale catalogue, which is sent to their clients worldwide.
I'm not quite sure what their intention is, but they will send me a copy of the final book. They said it was for a "comparable".
As it was taken 25 years ago, and they wanted a high quality version of it, I had to go on a scavenger hunt through my old old negatives to find the original. And, I found it within 5 minutes, imagine that.
This shot wasn't really of the wall, it was really showing the space in between the "wall", as there were actually two walls and this gap between.
I had a rather creepy feel when I first approached the wall. But, it was nice that they had a platform constructed to be able to look across from West Berlin, to the East Berlin side. I later did make the trip across and did have a rather creepy day.
A rainy day around 6pm. I went up some side streets looking for something to shoot and I saw this woman walking purposely. As she walked, she did a full arm swing with her cigarette in hand. I rattled off about ten shots and this one was my favorite. I like the balance between the various levels of umbrellas and the woman looking on (probably looking at me).
Below is a color version of this which is a little less standard.
I was on my cell phone talking to a relative about a family health issue (solved) as I walked along the street. With my camera at my belt I was reflexively taking pictures whenever something seemed of interest. I typically have the camera pre-set for street photography.... fast shutter, higher ISO, smaller aperture for extended focus, etc. Sometimes I put it on sports mode. Anyway, I saw these dogs in a flash and took one quick shot.
I saw this guy casually standing in front of an office building around 6pm. I rattled off three shots at the cigarette as I approached from behind and this one isolated it best. There was very little color to it, so it worked best in black and white. I worked a little bit on the cigarette itself to make it a little clearer.
This truck caught my eye. Kind of looked like a hot rod of sorts. It was there to help with some asphalting, which was why the cones were there. I liked the orange cones and the angle it was parked at on a crooked street. It's kind of strange that the mirror on the left is almost at the same level as the one on the right, even thought the truck is crooked.
Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 12:07AM 
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