Friday, September 30, 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

5th Ave: A Special Hunting Ground for Street Photographers

Part of a conversation between Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz (*, *) about the latter's memories of his own early days as a street photographer in New York in the 1960s and his association with Robert Frank (*), Garry Winogrand (*), Diane Arbus (*), Lee Friedlander (*), and others.
Colin Westerbeck: Did Fifth always seem such a special hunting ground for you street photographers?
 
Joel Meyerowitz: Oh yeah. Because Fifth Avenue was the most exciting, and it had the most light.

I think Madison was too dark, Park was too wide, Third still had the El in the early sixties, or they were beginning to tear it down anyway, Third was creepy. Sixth Avenue didn't have much on it.
 
We certainly made some circuits around there, but really Fifth Avenue had the pulse of lie, the most vigor, the most beautiful women, the heaviest business action. The mix was best on Fifth.
 
I  mean, you got it all, from high fashion to messengers.
 
It just was everything. pushcarts, pretzel vendors, and limousines.
 
It had the contradictions of life in a big city, and that kind of counterpoint was the stuff of commentary.
 
That's what you could mock, that's what you could wait for, because it was more exciting to see those combinations there.

An extract from Still Going from Bystander: A History of Street Photography (*) by Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz.
 
I really like the Lunch Series (*) by Gus Powell (*) and In Color (*) by Richard Bram (*).

I can definitely relate to what is said here. Would have influenced me a lot if I had read this before I went to New York recently. Meyerowitz's photos all just have that something extra when you look at them closely. Inspiring work for sure,

Red and Yellow (1 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

Red and Yellow (2 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

My Mom Totally Rocks - Green - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Intersection - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Intersection - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Intersection - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

My Mom Totally Rocks - Green - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

My Mom Totally Rocks - Green - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Love the way the long shadows (*) run up 5th Ave (*) and split the scene this time of day. The S95 does a nice job of capturing the range of light and shadow. It is fantastic camera for travel.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Red and Yellow (2 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Red and Yellow (2 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

What If Art Ruled the World - Street Peaches - Mont Royal / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

What If Art Ruled the World - Street Peaches - Mont Royal / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

I see him as a Sid Viscous (*) kind of character. Has Rebel with a Cause inscribed on his chest.

Added inscription in black texta on lower right of the poster ...
Be a Rebel,
Today_CREAte
Something Beautiful!
I FREAKIN'
Luv You u!!

Windows - Toronto (Tue 30 Aug 2011)

Windows - Toronto (Tue 30 Aug 2011)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tracks - Subway - Queens / New York (Sun 14 Aug 2011)

Tracks - Subway - Queens / New York (Sun 14 Aug 2011)

Always see photos like this when traveling. Have a whole series of them from Europe 2005 (*) which I will put here (*) one day.

Bruce York and Sandy Edwards - Sydney Life 2011 (Fri 23 Sep 2011)

Sandy Edwards and Bruce York - Sydney Life 2011 (Fri 23 Sep 2011)

Attended the opening of Sydney Life 2011 (*) with Michelle, Billy and Jacob last Friday night.

Here Bruce York, who is a full-time photographer with the State Library of NSW, talks about his photo - George and Hay, shown below in better detail.

Sandy liked the centered hand of the Lady, so of course I then tried to wait until Bruce's hands were in the right place. Used my iPhone as I did not have my S95 with me that day.

George and Hay - Bruce York - Sydney Life 2011 (Fri 23 Sep 2011)

Hand Detail - George and Hay - Bruce York - Sydney Life 2011 (Fri 23 Sep 2011)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Umbrella's / United Colors of Benetton - Toronto (Wed 31 Aug 2011)

Umbrellas / United Colors of Benetton - Toronto (Wed 31 Aug 2011)

Red and Yellow (1 of 2) - 5th Ave - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

Red and Yellow (1 of 2) - 5th Ave - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

She just stood out from the crowd and the other red handbag does not even compete.

Stepped sideways to the right just a little to get the orange and white safety pole across the intersection. Maybe it is a bit like this (*) or this (*) a couple of hours later. Definitely, one of my favourite photos from the trip - a very typical New York Street photo.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Australian Grand Masters - Tampa 2011 (Sun 31 Jul 2011)

Australian Grand Masters - Tampa 2011 (Sun 31 Jul 2011)

Row7 (L-R): Lorraine Islaub (NSW), Kaizer Austin (NSW), Blair Gamble (QLD/Division Coach), Paul Boucher (VIC/Sweep), Ann Hubbard (QLD/Division Manager)
Row6 (L-R): Jen Reilly (VIC/Sweep), Yih-Fye Freeman (NSW/Drummer), Michele Moroney (ACT), Eugenia Raftos (NSW), Desma Smith (VIC), David Newham (NSW)
Row5 (L-R): Gordon Waycott (WA), Paul Langley (QLD), Maria Hegarty (ACT), Ruth Gallant (VIC), Robyne Kellett (ACT/Sweep), Sandra Chamberlain (ACT), Hilary Lamb (NSW), Sue Beith (QLD/Division Asst Manager), Kevin Taylor (ACT)
Row4 (L-R): Sergio Pineiro (NSW), David Brugioni (SA), Valerie Field (ACT), Janette Feakes (WA), Greg Bell (NSW), Alfred Pawlicki (ACT), Ewen McDonald (QLD), Lindy Chester (NSW)
Row3 (L-R): Lorraine Bayliss (ACT), Kim Cameron (ACT), Liz Draper (ACT), Micah Roberts (QLD), Marcel Kucmierz (SA), Rosie O’Donnell (NSW/Drummer), Ian Vivian (QLD), Gordon Tribbick (VIC), Trevor Maloney (NSW), Emiliia McDonald (QLD), Clare Finnigan (NSW)
Row2 (L-R): Gary Kerr (QLD), Paul Boler (NSW), Diane Peglas (QLD), Stewart Tempest (WA), Martin Hirst (NSW), Ernie Panucci (NSW), Norbert Gaulton (QLD), Judi Row (QLD), Elizabeth Thomas (SA)
Row1 (L-R): Tim Batt (NSW), Eleanor Keller (NSW), Brett Bartholomew (NSW), Thomas Jaeger (SA), Jill Hicks (VIC), Mike Wall (NSW), Di Long (QLD), Denise Sundercombe (NSW), Peri Liddell (NSW), Geoff Eldridge (NSW)

Just over 12 months ago (*), I decided to commit to the Aurora's Tampa 2011 IDBF World Dragon Boat Championship Campaign. I was always going to do the campaign, but it was at that time I realised I needed a goal/aim in my life and I likened the journey to a Climb (*) right from the very start.

Been back a few weeks now and had plenty of time to reflect on the Tampa (*) Climb (*). I learnt much about myself and I am thankful for the experience.

Congratulations and a BIG THANK YOU to everyone - it was an amazing time. I was grateful and happy to have shared it with an amazing group of people (*).

May Budapest 2013 (*) be on your horizon.

Paradise - Coldplay - Letterman (Tue 20 Sep 2011)

Paradise (*) - Coldplay (*) - Late Show with David Letterman (*) (Tue 20 Sep 2011)

Woke up on the lounge just as the song was ending. Just thought I would watch it to see what I had missed ..

Always find I hear the bass in most songs before anything else. So I enjoy the fact that the bass player, Guy Berryman (*), features prominently on the stage and I can see him doing his thing with the bass.

Paradise Lyrics

Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo.
Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo.

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
So she ran away in her sleep
And dreamed of para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Every time she closed her eyes.

Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo.
Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo.

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
And the bullets catch in her teeth

Life goes on, gets so heavy,
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear a waterfall
In the night, the stormy night
She close her eyes,
In the night, the stormy night
Away she flied
And dreamed of para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

She dreamed of para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

La-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la.

So lying underneath the stormy skies.
She said oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.
I know the sun's set to rise.

This could be para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

This could be para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

Oh, oh. Oo-oo-oo-oo-oo.

This could be para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise,
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-ooo, oo-oo-oo
Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-ooo, oo-oo-oo
Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-ooo, oo-oo-oo
Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-ooo...

Scaffold - New York (Aug 2011) / Truro (Sep 2009)

Scaffolding - New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)

Scaffolding - Truro / Cornwall / UK (Sep 2009)

Friday, September 23, 2011

Buildings - Blue Sky - Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Buildings - Blue Sky - Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Like the abstract and concertina effects that we can get by isolating big city buildings. Made a slight step (*) to get the nice blue sliver between the two buildings.

Car Park (1 of 3) - W 17th Street - New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Car Park (1 of 3) - W 17th Street - New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Musical Mural (2 of 2) - Boulevard de Maisonneuve Est / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Musical Mural (2 of 2) - Boulevard de Maisonneuve Est / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

New York Mets / Metro - World Trade Center / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)

New York Mets / Metro - World Trade Center / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)

The mid afternoon sun, shadows and reflected light is what caught my eye here. Probably explains the headless couple.

Musical Mural (1 of 2) - Boulevard de Maisonneuve Est / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Musical Mural (1 of 2) - Boulevard de Maisonneuve Est / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Just missed the guy, in the foreground carrying the violin (you have to look close), coming out of the door. Would have been nice to have isolated there, but just was not fast enough. Saw it but did not react fast enough (*).

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tables and Chairs - Byrant Park - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Tables and Chairs - Bryant Park - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

There is even seats for the little people.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Bank of America - Red, White and Blue- 42nd St / New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Bank of America - Red, White and Blue- 42nd Street / New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

I think he was trying to get a photo of her with the Chrysler Building (*) in the background. Just liked the colours and I had been trying to photograph pairs of people (*) - just visual game while traveling.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Untitled - somewhere in mid-Manhattan (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Untitled - somewhere in mid-Manhattan (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

The shadows from the fire stairs always caught my attention in New York. Not used to seeing such long shadows in the middle part of the day. Being so far away from the equator compared to Sydney no doubt explains it all. Just like the colour and composition of the buildings in the background and busy road in the foreground. A little bit of blue sky seems to be the little element that makes the photo really work for me. Always take lots of photos like this when traveling - case in point is here (shown below) ..

Riomaggiore - Cinque Terre/Italy - 12 Aug 2005

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Contact Sheets (picasa) - New York City - Lower East (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Picasa Contact Sheets (1 of 6) - East Village / Brooklyn (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Picasa Contact Sheets (2 of 6) - East Village / Brooklyn (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Picasa Contact Sheets (3 of 5) - East Village / Brooklyn (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Picasa Contact Sheets (4 of 6) - East Village / Brooklyn (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Picasa Contact Sheets (5 of 6) - East Village / Brooklyn (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Picasa Contact Sheets (6 of 6) - East Village / Brooklyn (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

187 Photos - all in an afternoons wanderings.

Contact Sheets of the photos I took on the afternoon of Wed 17 Aug 2011.

Later that evening after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (*) for the second time, I remember sitting on a train on the subway on my way from the Bridge to 80th Street on the west side of Central Park. I just sat quietly on my seat and decided to review my photos on the back of the camera in slideshow mode. I was tired from a long day wandering around and I went into a daze and a kind of trance as the subway stations passed by and the photos scrolled by on the rear screen on the back of my little Canon S95.

At one of the subway stops well up the line, the young lady sitting next to me, as she got up to exit the train, touched me on the forearm and said they are really nice photos. I was touched (*) by the compliment and said thanks. Such a small gesture from a stranger so far away from home - put a smile on my face and inflated my confidence (*). Probably one of the nicest moments on the whole trip.

Stuck in a Moment performnd by The Edge and Bono - Letterman (18 Jul 2011)

Stuck in a Moment (more) performed by The Edge and Bono - Letterman (18 Jul 2011)

Saw this on the TV when I was in New York. It was shown in a repeat episode while the show was on a summer break. Thought to myself at the time I would put it here when I get back. Here it is. The music starts at around the 2m:20s mark. The interview before this is worth listening to BTW.

Stuck in a Moment Lyrics

I'm not afraid
Of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me
That I haven't already heard
I'm just trying to find
A decent melody
A song that I can sing
In my own company

I never thought you were a fool
But darling, look at you. Ooh.
You gotta stand up straight, carry your own weight
'Cause tears are going nowhere baby

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it

I will not forsake
The colors that you bring
The nights you filled with fireworks
They left you with nothing
I am still enchanted
By the light you brought to me
I listen through your ears
Through your eyes I can see

You are such a fool
To worry like you do.. Oh
I know it's tough
And you can never get enough
Of what you don't really need now
My, oh my

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Oh love, look at you now
You've got yourself stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Oh lord look at you now
You've got yourself stuck in a moment
And you cant get out of it

I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm 'til you discover how deep
I wasn't jumping, for me it was a fall
It's a long way down to nothing at all

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it

And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if your way should falter
Along this stony pass

It's just a moment
This time will pass

Intersection - Red, Yellow and Green (2 of 2) - Greenwich Village / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)

Intersection - Red, Yellow and Green (2 of 2)- Greenwich Village / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)

Could not help myself after this one.

Intersection - Red, Yellow and Green (1 of 2) - Greenwich Village / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)

Intersection - Red, Yellow and Green (1 of 2) - Greenwich Village / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)


Seems related to this one.

Intersection - Yellow (3 of 3) - Houston Street / New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Intersection - Yellow (3 of 3) - Houston Street / New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Friday, September 16, 2011

Intersection - Yellow (2 of 3) - Houston Street / New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Intersection - Yellow (2 of 3) - Houston Street / New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Intersection - Yellow (1 of 3) - Houston Street / New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Intersection - Yellow (1 of 3) - Houston Street / New York (Wed 17 Aug 2011)

Yellow Cab - Greenwich Village / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)

Yellow Cab - Greenwich Village / New York (Fri 12 Aug 2011)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Intersection - 42nd Street - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Intersection - 42nd Street - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Met - Mao (2 of 2) - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

The Met - Mao (2 of 2) - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

The Met - Mao (1 of 2) - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

The Met - Mao (1 of 2) - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

Just noticed my yellow cardiganed muse is in frame. She again compliments the portrait - this time Mao's yellow face. She also gives a sense of scale to the portrait. As always, I enjoy the late afternoon shadows of the glass topped pavilion projecting onto the scene.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Met - Jackson Pollock - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

The Met - Jackson Pollock - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)