So, this may be the last of the random posts. I started using my calendar , so I’ve been doing a lot more sort of structured activities; show up, do something, take some pictures, and go home. Usually with drinking. It would be thoroughly impossible to get done all the stuff I’ve done in the past month without it. A toolbox for my time, wherein I get organized and can do more. And ignore it when I need to.
The photos: starting with a lunch walk int and out of North Beach (where we sometimes go for pizza). Hipshot and then not. That last one, the “I want to believe in myself” patch, I want that patch. Then, a woman walking away from the montgomery bart, walking in front of the waste ground that used to be a parking lot. It may be again, some day. Then there are the photos of Adam’s birthday, him and Annie and then Adam and a friend in the second frame. And then a wall of flowers that I found somewhere. Some day, I’ll figure out how to make captions work here, and all of these little descriptions will just go next to the photos. until that day.
Posted on 2016-09-15T20:17:46Z GMT
So, the last thing that happened that day, after the museums, after a nice dinner of Thai food, I walked back to my hotel through Times Square. I was tired enough at this point that half of the things that were happening didn’t even register. I shot just sort of habitually, automatically, but I’m glad I did.
Then, I plodded back to the hotel, slept, and spent two days at a hacker conference that didn’t have much to offer me. There was a nice 2-hour interlude at the Met Breuer, to see the Diane Arbus exhibit, which was super interesting. There was a clear delineation between the early and the late work. Like, you could see pieces, themes, motifs that would coalesce in the later work, but it wasn’t there. Then, suddenly, something clicked, and the pictures went from really good to better than anyone else ever. (My pet theory is she got a medium format camera and a light meter, but I have no evidence apart from the aspect ratios and grain structure of the different periods).
After the conference, I took the ferry to Brooklyn to grab brunch with a friend, and then went to the airport to catch my flight. The flight was over clouds until roughly Utah, which was too hazy to really see anything. Then, just as we were circling, there was a break in the clouds, and I could see the whole bay below me, welcoming me home.
Posted on 2016-09-04T05:00:05Z GMT
Still the same day, still walking. I sort of wandered by the Stonewall, which, if you don’t know, go educate yourself. I’d already had my ration of beer, so I didn’t stop in, but it’s a capsule of what a lot of NYC was like: little pockets of history and deep meaning, layered with new growth.
Then I hit the whitney, which had a good exhibit of photos from a photographer who’s name I’m forgetting. I was pretty tired by this point in the day, but I soldiered on, to the Highline, which was pretty rad. Weird sculptures, buildings, a lemonade stand, somewhere in the middle. I was seriously flagging by the time I got down; luckily there was a coffee shop there, and cold brew saved me. I got in a Lyft and headed to the Design Museum to meet up with my friend Christa, her BF Gabe, and Sandra, who turned out to know a ton of inside info on the artist in the main exhibit from her day job. It was really nice to meet and see them.
I think I have ~2 more of these posts, and then it’s on to newer photos. I’m back to being at least a month behind on photos, but I haven’t been shooting a ton, so maybe I’ll catch up? We’ll see.
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Posted on 2016-08-31T18:20:06Z GMT
This was another walk, the one that separated ICP from the Whitney, which I got to with about an hour and a half before they closed. I didn’t take many pictures inside, pictures of museums all look the same to me. The street, though, the street is always moving, always changing. In New York, there wasn’t just a feeling of newness, but this feeling of many layers of history built up over time. That feeling of deeper history was one of the things I really liked. Another thing I liked: not everybody works in tech. Like, apart from the conference I was at, I didn’t meet a single engineer the whole time. Legit.
Yeah these are just street photos. Yeah a lot of them are shot from the hip. I’ve decided I’m OK with that. There’s just no time to stop and ask on the street. Sometimes I’m also shooting as I bring the camera up to my eye. Sometimes, it’s things that would be gone in the time it takes to bring the camera to your eye. There’s this great video, where Jay Maisel espouses the opposite approach, which I’ve been trying lately with some success. That is: walk slower. No, Stop. Wait. Something will happen. Take the picture that happens in front of the camera, not the one you’re looking for. We’ll see where it takes us.
Posted on 2016-08-15T04:33:11Z GMT
