at keko cafe...
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Showing posts with label midtown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midtown. Show all posts
monochrome class: the nypl
went to the new york public library (my new favorite neighborhood haunt) to check out a tight little collection of portraits they've assembled for the "recollection" exhibit. frame after frame of big name photographers, though the ones i'm recalling now are eugène atget, berenice abbbott, brassai, helen leavitt, walker evans, robert frank, cindy sherman, joel meyerowitz, david wojnarowicz and (a really cute) william wegman (i'm not usually a fan). i also really liked two from photographers i'd never heard of before: a self portrait by louis faurer and a trude fleishmann early portrait of a hedy lamarr, as an ingenue, and these:
from margaret bourke-white "raymundo, coffee worker, brazil." gelatin silver print, 1931, which was transferred to the collection in 1986.
edward schwartz, "mexico." gelatin silver print, 1954, which he donated to the library in 2000
the gorgeous haya harareet, photographed by eve arnold in the 1950s, which was transferred to the collection in 2006.
the exhibition will be on view through january 2, 2011. if you're in the bryant park neighborhood and would like a break from the frenzy that surrounds the area, thanks to the lord and taylor flagship, the citipond (hooray, actually) and the holiday market, you could take a quiet stroll through. expect quite a few camera hounds (tourists and me), but still, it will be nice.
here's my practice from the day:
apparently i caught the eye of a tourist from san francisco, a lean, older japanese man, with a ponytail and a cap and a nice compact camera. i could tell that he'd been watching me as i worked my way up, down and around a particular stairwell, crouching, leaning. he smiled at me once, not in a leering way, just sort of as an acknowledgement of what i was trying to do. eventually he came over to chat with me and give me a few tips. i must really have looked like i needed some? one i tried right away--in a low-light situation, in order to minimize "hand shake," set the 2-second timer. it worked pretty well.
all photos (unless otherwise noted, i.e., the really good portraits ) © anita aguilar
november 6, 2010
on library way...
...bohumil hrabal (1914-1997), "too loud a solitude."
41st street, between 5th/madison
november 6, 2010
pretty city: wedding day
i'm not big on weddings or wedding photography, but this was a sort of delightful encounter.
i walked alongside this couple for a block or two. they seemed a little unnerved by all the attention and the strangers like me who snapped unofficial wedding portraits. but if you decide to have your photos taken on fifth avenue near rockefeller center on a saturday afternoon, you're kind of asking for it.
in any case, when the real cameras went up, they put on their best, happy faces.
i wish you could see this bride's shoes...navy blue wedges. very cool.
i've not seen this move before--"the claw."
the photographer held his hand up for a while and made like he was squeezing one of those foam stress balls.
absurd, but he got them to laugh.
the shadow of the trees makes the photo work, for me.
and then he got them to make a heart with their arms.
if i ever get married, i hope i won't be so out of my mind that i'll agree to play simon sez with the photographer.
it's cute on these two, though.
and the city was bright
in the night-time, like day...*
(or rather, nice and just bright enough. july 9, 2010)
*"the prodigal son" by james weldon johnson
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