FDR drive lock down.
On Day 3: Venturing over the 59th street bridge approaching the manhattan side, I looked down to find a sight that left me feeling very uneasy, the FDR drive was completely shut down and empty. Definitely looked like a scene from the Stand.
even flo
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
-”Nothing Gold Can Stay”
Frost
VJ DAY redux
Gotta say, this is pretty awesome. Its always a good thing to be living in a city that embraces street art, but the real treat is when you stumble across something great and unexpected. The artist’s choice of explosive vibrant color is a great contrast to the bleak columns of brick and mortar that populate the west side, especially 10th avenue. All in all, a great interpretation of one of the most iconic photographs from WWII taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt for LIFE magazine in Times Square on V-J Day back in 1945.
portrait of structure
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.
– From “The Rain Day” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Adox Chs 50 B&W film
Large format 4×5
the park dwellers
nikon fe
kodak portra 400
another perfect sunset
nothing more to say really…except best viewed large!?, click on the original size image to get up close and personal.
4×5 large format
kodak portra 160
under the bridge downtown
Under thy shadow by the piers I waited;
Only in darkness is thy shadow clear.
The City’s fiery parcels all undone,
Already snow submerges an iron year . . .
– excerpt from Hart Crane’s epic poem, “The Bridge”
4×5 large format
adox chs 25 black and white film.
taking the plunge
the wave
silvercowboy
down on the dock
electric teal
altea I
spanish sunrise
red vespa
gateway
shipwreck beach
So I know it has been quite some time since my last post, my apologies to keep you all in suspense 
I have been emerged in a massive scanning bender the likes of which no scanner has ever seen. Thusly, as I spoke with my mother across the pond this past sunday to wish her a joyous Mother’s Day, it occurred to me she is in Spain, enjoying the warm balmy weather, beaches and sampling many culinary delights…no doubt where I wish to be. So I present to you a random collection of memoirs from last year’s journey.
leica m2
kodak portra 400
the guardians of Notre Dame De Bon Secours
the guardians of Notre Dame De Bon Secours
St. Lawrence
pierre-ducalvet
Rues vides
menu du jour
The Chapel of Brother André
a moment of reflection
All of this rain over the past few days really put the kibosh on the most awesome of plans resulting in an epic fail, but they did bring back some very welcome memories of a quaint little city known as Montreal. I first went there with my family around thanksgiving 2009 and loved it. There’s just something about the blatantly gorgeous architecture, the beautiful french people and/or history of it that really embeds itself within your subconscious, so much so that whenever it does rain here in New York, in that moment of clarity I immediately think of Montreal and wonder why I am not there . Sad but true as the metallica song goes.
And so, I leave you with some of those memories from that dreary, occasionally rain soaked weekend in classic black and white. enjoy.
mamiya 7ii
kodak tri-x 400
The High Line Park has become of the most popular green spaces in all of New York and one of my personal favorite spots to visit. The High Line was built in the 1930s, as part of a massive public-private infrastructure project called the West Side Improvement. It lifted freight traffic 30 feet in the air, removing dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan’s largest industrial district. No trains have run on the High Line since 1980. Friends of the High Line, a community-based non-profit group, formed in 1999 when the historic structure was under threat of demolition. Friends of the High Line works in partnership with the City of New York to preserve and maintain the structure as an elevated public park. The first section of the park which starts at Gansevoort street and ends at 20th opened to the public in the summer of 2009. The second section which ends at 30th street opened up just last summer. The third and final section is currently undergoing its renovation.
This is a compilation of shots that I took over numerous visits this winter. As most places in New York, it is a tourist trap, so I love to walk through it early morning during the week when there are only a handful of tourists, but I have to say the best time to stroll through is late afternoon if you like to bask in the sun…and I think that you do. So if you haven’t visited, I highly recommend it as it is an awesome experience.
