Playography

Images on PhotoShelter

2011-06-14T21:41:00.001-05:00

February 9, 2010

2010-04-24T02:59:00.001-05:00

A walk after work on a chilly Friday night yielded me these:

William Eggleston's pic used to promote a show at the Radio City Music Hall, Sixth Avenue at West 50th Street.

Man fixing his coat collar. Sixth Avenue at West 51st Street.

A redhead viewing Jackson Pollock's "One: Number 31, 1950" at the Museum of Modern Art.

Closing time. Sixth Avenue at West 49th Street.

September 20, 2009

2010-04-24T02:58:00.002-05:00

Esse Aficionado street performers doing their "Jackie O" bit in front of the Met.

Lucida Building cafeteria on a Sunday afternoon. Lexington Avenue at East 85th Street.

September 3, 2009

2010-04-24T02:58:00.001-05:00

Bowery near East 4th Street.

August 7, 2009

2009-08-07T20:11:00.002-05:00

The "Obama note" and Michael Jackson watch. Broadway near West 29th Street.

July 17, 2009

2009-07-17T04:02:00.008-05:00

This image depicts the heat of summer, but it was shot in late spring two years ago on East Ninth Street near Fifth Avenue.

June 29, 2009

2009-06-29T02:31:00.016-05:00

Springtime scene, Union Square. April 24, 2009

Waiting for a cab. Fifth Avenue at 28th Street. April 24, 2009

Woman outside Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Fifth Avenue at 50th Street. April 24, 2009

Stilt walker on Union Square. June 26, 2009

March 20, 2009

2009-03-20T03:44:00.006-05:00

'Tis springtime, finally. This photo was shot three years ago at Bryant Park.

February 17, 2009

2009-02-18T17:38:00.001-05:00

Fashion week entrance. Sixth Avenue at Bryant Park.

February 13, 2009

2009-02-14T00:14:00.005-05:00

Photographer. Fifth Avenue at 51st Street.

February 4, 2009

2009-02-04T17:10:00.004-05:00

Fountain lion (on a moving truck). East 17th Street at Union Square.

Images on PhotoShelter

2009-02-04T09:07:00.005-05:00

January 29, 2009

2009-01-30T00:30:00.005-05:00

Both of these were shot on the Upper West Side not far from the Lincoln Center.

January 20, 2009

2009-01-21T12:10:00.001-05:00

Window display at an optical shop. Madison Avenue at East 46th Street

January 20, 2009, Times Square

2009-01-20T19:01:00.012-05:00

Times Square scenes during the Obama inauguration rites.

January 16, 2009

2009-01-16T18:47:00.002-05:00

Broadway at Bleecker Street.

December 30, 2008

2008-12-30T18:15:00.004-05:00

Smoker on Park Avenue at East 34th Street. This will be my last New York picture in 2008. I'm happy that this terrible year will be history after tomorrow.

December 16, 2008

2008-12-17T10:05:00.005-05:00

East 14th Street near Fifth Avenue.

November 23, 2008

2008-11-24T08:50:00.006-05:00

Crosswalk on Lexington Avenue at East 43rd Street.

November 12, 2008

2008-11-13T09:06:00.007-05:00

A poster at the back of a newstand on Union Square.

November 9, 2008

2008-11-10T09:11:00.006-05:00

Artist Corin Hewitt in "Seed Stage," a blend of performance art, photography, and installation at the Whitney Museum. My wife and I visited the Whitney mainly to look up the William Eggleston retrospective, where picture-taking is not allowed. But not at Hewitt's area on the first floor. It would have been nice if we came away with photos from the Eggleston exhibit instead.

August 13, 2008

2008-08-14T09:06:00.002-05:00

Brooklyn Bridge entrance from Brooklyn.

August 8, 2008

2008-08-08T10:16:00.005-05:00

My new book, published through Blurb.com, is out.

July 10, 2008

2008-07-11T06:39:00.004-05:00

Union Square.

June 25, 2008

2008-06-25T11:44:00.006-05:00

My first self-published book is now available at Blurb.com. At 160 pages long, it shows 114 of my best images from a three-year project.

June 3, 2008

2008-06-04T07:51:00.006-05:00

This is my wife Reena having fun with the wolves at the Guggenheim Museum. The installation is by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang.

June 1, 2008

2008-06-02T10:09:00.006-05:00

Staten Island Ferry passenger. For a leisurely Sunday stroll with my wife in Battery Park and a ride on the Staten Island Ferry, I brought the little point-and-shoot instead of my usual heavy gear. Had I known that I will come across something like this, I would have suffered the large camera.

May 23, 2008

2008-05-27T10:58:00.011-05:00

Two blah pictures from the four that I shot today: Fifth Avenue at 14th Street and at Columbus Circle.

May 6, 2008

2008-05-06T23:01:00.003-05:00

Woman waiting for the bus. Ninth Avenue at West 27th Street.

April 17, 2008

2008-04-18T04:51:00.001-05:00

Man engrossed with his Blackberry. Park Avenue at East 27th Street.

March 17, 2008

2008-03-18T11:19:00.017-05:00

I discovered a few weeks ago that light on the Upper East Side is best all day around this time of the year. But I stuck to my usual route walking north through Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen and coming home with nothing good. That many of those days were gloomy didn't help at all. So I checked out the Upper East Side again, and for the past couple of ventures I got several for-keeps pictures, four to be exact. Nothing really spectacular, just simple scene pictures that New Yorkers of year 2058 might study with some nostalgia.

The picture on top was shot on Saint Patrick's Day, and I got the other one on March 14, both on Madison Avenue at East 75th and 66th Streets.

February 26, 2008

2008-02-26T20:45:00.011-05:00

I went out to do my usual thing in Manhattan, starting at the World Trade Center intending to walk north up to wherever I get tired and start homeward. Reaching Chinatown, I happened upon a police raid of what the media now calls the "Counterfeit Triangle," which is a small block bounded by Canal, Centre, and Walker Streets. At first I just looked around, wondering what was going on (as the moniker implies, stores and sidewalk-level stalls in the building peddle an assortment of counterfeit products).

The whole building was surrounded with steel barricades and with so many cops both plainclothes and uniformed. I saw a number of photographers and TV cameramen doing their jobs as well, and thought, what the heck, I'm here I might as well take pictures also. It occured to me that this might interest the NYT, and so after getting my fill of pictures and got the info for the captions I called the Metro picture desk, and indeed they want me to send them my pictures. I said for them to wait two hours which is about how long it would take me to get back home to my apartment in Jersey City by PATH train and by bus. I got home sweating under layers of winter clothing, processed five of the best ones immediately, was able to email them around 3:50pm.

The Metro picture desk later told me they did not use any of my pictures because another editor had sent someone to cover the press conference with Mayor Bloomberg. But she said had that not been the case, she would definitely have gone with mine, which depicted the actual raid itself and not the city's head politico holding up an orange sign with the word "Closed" on it. I guess the NYT is just saving money since mine are bona fide action pictures, not propaganda.

February 22, 2008

2008-02-22T23:41:00.009-05:00

I was able to record Jeff Wall's talk at Strand in Manhattan on Friday evening. The audio is a 54-minute, 61.8MB mp3 file. Get it here. The male voice with an accent that to my ear is slightly British is Michael Newman, at the right of the picture, author of Jeff Wall Works and Collected Writings which was promoted at the event. I didn't get the name of the lady who spoke first.

February 21, 2008

2008-02-21T23:05:00.008-05:00

Waiting shed. East 14th Street near University Place.

February 14, 2008

2008-02-15T01:41:00.014-05:00

These two were shot minutes apart and both on the Lexington Avenue side of the busy Grand Central Terminal area. Red is the color of the day, supposedly, that's why I picked these two to post from the five pictures that I brought home today. All were made in the area. And unlike most of my recent pictures, these were shot with my left eye peeking through the viewfinder.

February 12, 2008

2008-02-12T23:59:00.005-05:00

Let it snow. West 23rd Street at Eighth Avenue.

February 8, 2008

2008-02-08T20:56:00.002-05:00

The MoMA sculpture garden shot through the window glass (which is lined with white stripes) on the third floor right outside the Edward Steichen photo galleries.

February 5, 2008

2008-02-05T23:59:00.003-05:00

I was in Lower Manhattan today intending to do my usual street photography stuff, the difference this time was that there are 10,000 times more people than on a usual Tuesday on account of the NY Giants victory parade. There was one particularly rowdy incident where I happened to be; a group of young men were jumping on the roof of a parked taxicab and destroyed it and police moved in and made some arrests. Of course, I switched into my old news photographer mode (which I really really missed, btw) and shot quite a few frames. But then there were hundreds of other “citizen photojournalists” documenting the car-stomping along with me and I felt a little useless, redundant. Everyone had their cellphones and P&S out and was even more aggressive than I was in getting the picture.

On the other hand, I got some decent shots that was worth offering to NYT, and so they did use one on their website and maybe on tomorrow’s paper as well. I think I’m one of the few (I saw a number of youngish people with red-ringed Canon lenses), if not the only person, who got the shot who thought of doing that. Them citizen journalists shoot mainly for fun, for Flickr and YouTube, and for free.

January 31, 2008

2008-01-31T23:29:00.001-05:00

I would often do my walks on Fridays so that at the end of the day I could treat myself to a visit at MoMA which does not charge admission starting at 4pm on Fridays. However, the weather forecast said it will be sunny Thursday and rainy with some sleet on Friday, and I naturally want to take advantage of the sun.

I walked a total of 120 blocks starting from the 14th Street PATH station to Union Square to East 84th Street and back down to the 34th Street subway station. I haven't walked this much in a long time. At the end my heels hurt, though not as much as they did in my summertime hikes. I brought home six pictures. None of them spectacular, but good enough for me to consider including them in my portfolio. The top photo was shot on Eighth Avenue at West 40th Street. And I happened upon a fashion shoot at Central Park's Belvedere Fountain, which is indeed a good place to do such a thing since it is pretty much bereft of people during these months.

January 29, 2008

2008-01-30T00:26:00.002-05:00

Bowery at Bayard Street, Chinatown.

January 25, 2008

2008-01-25T22:10:00.001-05:00

Construction worker yawning. Broadway at West 72nd Street.

January 23, 2008

2008-01-24T20:50:00.001-05:00

Heath Ledger died the night before, and this was the scene I found outside his SoHo apartment. Top photo is of the media camped in front of his apartment building on 421 Broome Street a couple of blocks east of Broadway. The second picture is of a gay couple who stayed a minute to mourn the 28-year old actor who took his star turn playing closet gay Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain."

January 17, 2008

2008-01-17T23:00:00.001-05:00

Finally, a picture. This isn't much, but it's better than nothing. I'm no Erwitt, photographing dogs is not my thing. On the other hand, it's undeniable that dogs are very much part of New York City streetscape no less than pigeons or taxicabs are. I came across this toy-whatever-it-is walking several steps ahead of its human caretaker on Union Square this afternoon.

January 7, 2008

2008-01-07T02:16:00.001-05:00

I haven't had any luck during the past few walks in NYC. I'm having a bad run this winter, unlike the year before. I'm blaming the gloomy days which we have more of than nice sunny days when the light is warm and crisp and photo opportunities are plenty.

However, last month a guy by the name of Ch'ng Yaohong reviewed my online portfolio, particularly my personal work, on his Asian Photography Blog. It made my December.

(Sorry for the late post. I'm racking my brain for something to put out here, and I suddenly remembered Yaohong's blog.)

December 9, 2007

2007-12-10T13:26:00.001-05:00

Beggar eating. East 14th Street at Union Square, again. This is the first shot (from the hip, no cropping necessary) that I made walking from the Sixth Avenue PATH station to Strand on a gloomy day. I generally avoid taking pictures of beggars (though they are part of the landscape of the streets), and I don't know why at this instance I did. This might be a perfectly lame picture that will win me no awards whatsoever, but there's something about it that nails my eyes to it. By experience I learned to trust my instincts as I will this time and decide to keep it.

November 27, 2007

2007-11-27T23:00:00.002-05:00

This fellow is a sidewalk vendor who, for a minute or two, stood away from his table brimming with cheapo cellphone accessories. I shot this on Union Square, which happens to be my favorite spot in entire Manhattan. Why? Because of Strand Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, a great pizza resto whose name escapes me, and the outfitter shop Paragon Sports, all of which are in the vicinity, not to mention the mid-week farmers' market. And the place just throbs with life. I'll pick this postage stamp of a park over Central Park or any other park any day.

November 14, 2007

2007-11-15T01:01:00.001-05:00

As you might have guessed, I shot the top picture in Chinatown, on Grand near Elizabeth Street to be exact. The second pic I got on Union Square. Like last week, the only time I can shoot this week happened to be a gloomy day. When I got up this morning there was fog, which would have made things more interesting (though I'm in Jersey City and I don't know whether Manhattan is as soupy). It was warmish like a radio jock described it, and I even had to take off my jacket around 5pm when I was already up Fifth Avenue because my thermal top is already feeling clammy.

November 9, 2007

2007-11-10T01:21:00.002-05:00

Broadway near Thomas Street. I know this isn't much, but the only time I can shoot in Manhattan this week was not at all conducive for photography; the skies were heavily overcast and it later rained. I'm in a long dry spell here, so I'll have to make do with this one, which might or might not later make it to my final collection.

November 2, 2007

2007-11-02T22:24:00.001-05:00

Lloyd, who claims to be an unemployed actor, begs on Sixth Avenue between West 12th and 13th Streets. I shot this on January 13, 2006. The reason I posted this is because the people in charge of selecting images to be included in the PhotoShelter Collection, a virtual agency that will launch in a few days, rejected it. I believe this is one of my most beautiful street portraits, and so what I'm saying is they made a mistake.

Lloyd caught my attention when I saw the discrepancy between his attire and what he was doing on one side of the sidewalk. He had this paper cup, white to match his get-up, out for change that people can spare. Note that he tries to hide his begging cup, and I think it there's a fair chance that people seeing this picture for the first time without caption will think Lloyd simply is in some neat costume and make-up and it's Halloween.

I approached him and asked how much he would like from me so I can take his picture. He said ten bucks but I haggled it down to two. I know that's bit mean, but at the time I was jobless which accounts for the fact that I was able to go around Manhattan twice a week at least.

Anyway, with his permission secured, I took a few steps away from him and under a smallish tree which I calculated as the best angle for a shot. I think I've already shot several frames, in rapid succession, before I got this one with a passerby caught in a blur that contrasts with the serenity of Lloyd as well as his mendicancy.

I saw Lloyd at least twice on the same stretch of sidewalk on Sixth Avenue, his attire the same but not as clean, still begging. He seemed to have lost weight also. I should have said hello on one of those ocassions, for we made eye contact and I sensed that he remembers me.

October 12, 2007

2007-10-12T08:39:00.001-05:00

For lack of something new to present, I pulled one from my archives. I hope I won't appear immodest in saying the following: Study this picture closely and you will be rewarded with the pleasure of discovery (that is, unless you're hawk-eyed and saw it immediately). I shot this from the hip while walking up Seventh Avenue at West 41st Street on July 14, 2006. I cropped a bit from the left and bottom. Good luck.

October 5, 2007

2007-10-05T00:17:00.001-05:00

Today this picture turns one. Happy birthday, "Fruit vendor. Seventh Avenue at West 30th Street"!

September 27, 2007

2007-09-27T08:21:00.001-05:00

I've been busy lately and couldn't venture out in Manhattan at least once a week as I used to. So here's a picture I probably would have made this time as well, what with the summery ickiness at the start of autumn. I shot this shade-bathing man at a handball court on East 29th Street near Second Avenue on July 28, 2006.

September 13, 2007

2007-09-14T09:45:00.001-05:00

Having shot these pictures, I inadvertently proved that Canon's "highlight tone priority" feature, which subtly dampens highlights, works. I was camera-less for a couple of weeks when my Canon 20D was in repair; then the Nikon D200 that I borrowed from my wife which was responsible for the August 14 photo, also broke down. Talk about things happening in twos.

A couple of walks with my repaired 20D yielded no good photos. Then my Canon 40D was delivered on Monday, but it was only on Thursday that I was able to indulge in my favorite past time. I raked Seventh Avenue from the low 20's up to Central Park. The top photo was shot near West 29th Street and the second at West 34th Street. It's autumn, and the light gets very interesting in this part of the world. Since the sun is getting low on the horizon, it's like having honeyed 4pm light all day long, even at high noon.

August 14, 2007

2007-08-14T18:34:00.001-05:00

Mr. Bean movie poster. Broadway near Prince Street, SoHo.

August 9, 2007

2007-08-10T09:32:00.001-05:00

Sunbathing man filing his nails. Central Park.

July 30, 2007

2007-07-31T09:57:00.002-05:00

I wouldn't have made the image on the right if I were not looking for the location of the bottom picture, which I shot last year, on June 20 to be exact, and, as I discovered, at Sixth Avenue and West 21st Street. I neglected to note the place because I never thought much of the picture when I first saw it on my Canon 20D's LCD screen. But I changed my mind after processing the image on the computer. I thought there's something sweet and human about the picture, and that suffices to overcome its technical faults.

As for the man in the middle of Sixth Avenue, I got it as I was myself crossing to get to a Barnes & Noble bookstore. He started backpedaling accross the street as he talked in a loud voice to another man on the west sidewalk. I caught this as he turned to continue walking to the other side of Sixth Avenue. I shot this from the hip, as I almost always do. I cropped a bit from the left and bottom. Nowadays, my eyes are good only to judge the merits of the image after (and not before) I pressed the shutter button and how I may improve it in post-prod, if called for.

July 24, 2007

2007-07-24T18:24:00.001-05:00

I made three today, but I will post only two. The first pic was shot on Sixth Avenue at West 13th Street. I made the second on West 12th Street at Fifth Avenue as a group of old women who looked like tourists googli-gooed at the infant and the father smiled broadly.

Have you noticed something in the first picture? That's me in action reflected on the pane of glass at right, shooting from the hip. Like my subjects, I'm a pedestrian. I differ only in that I'm lugging around a camera with an intent to record anything interesting that I happen by.

July 22, 2007

2007-07-22T21:02:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure if this one would make it into the collection of my best works, but it'll do if only to update this blog, mere proof that I worked on this day. Shot outside the MoMA right after I got out of the gift shop where I browsed a few books, including Mark Cohen's latest, True Color. I wanted to buy a copy, but at $45 I'm afraid my wife wouldn't be pleased.

July 17, 2007

2007-07-17T16:55:00.002-05:00

Some fool declared this day as "World Non-Photography Day." So here's my non-photograph not made on Broadway at East 12th Street.

July 11, 2007

2007-07-11T22:18:00.001-05:00

Crouching boy. Columbus Circle.

July 5, 2007

2007-07-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

I just realized that this journal is a year old now. To sort of celebrate, here's a year old picture: Barricades. Fourth Avenue near East 10th Street, East Village. March 9, 2006.

June 24, 2007

2007-06-24T20:36:00.001-05:00

Atop the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park and the Upper West Side in the background.

June 11, 2007

2007-06-11T21:54:00.001-05:00

Man with a cane and fedora. Times Square.

June 10, 2007

2007-06-10T19:32:00.000-05:00

Botticelli's Venus, in black from behind. Prince and Wooster corner, SoHo.

June 5, 2007

2007-06-05T18:18:00.001-05:00

Eight for One. Broadway at Great Jones Street.

May 22, 2007

2007-05-22T22:15:00.000-05:00

Man waiting for the bus on Fifth Avenue at West 55th Street.

May 17, 2007

2007-05-20T23:03:00.000-05:00

If I will ever pair some of my photos to make diptyches, these two would definitely be included. The top one was shot at Church corner Barclay Streets downtown and the second was from Seventh Avenue at West 28th Street, both on the same day.

May 10, 2007

2007-05-10T22:01:00.000-05:00

Lopped off head? Mark Cohen has been doing it before I was born. Finally bought his book, Grim Street, at Strand's this afternoon. Didn't plan to, I went there to get Martin Parr's Think of England when I spotted perhaps their last copy of Grim Street from a high shelf.

This pic was made on East 36th Street at Park Avenue on April 13, 2006, that glorious day. I just thought of putting it up here just so I can mention that I now have Cohen's monograph in my so far tiny collection of photo books, still lightyears away from the size of Parr's library.

May 3, 2007

2007-05-03T22:18:00.000-05:00

Finally, a good day. Took home five keepers, and here you see the first and the last I made today. Both, by the way, are hail-mary's, shot without composing through the viewfinder, only with a lot of prayer. (My god? Photography.) As a matter of fact, four out of the five were made that way. It has become a habit so much so that I often I have to force myself to raise the camera to my eye, and whenever I do, it feels strangely odd. Weird, no?

I got the first not long after I got out of the subway station. I found this man on East Ninth Street near Fifth Avenue. Instantly I decided it might make a good picture, and I held the camera from the bottom vertical grip and facing left, where he will be as I pass him by. I looked the opposite way as I often do to throw off suspicion that I'm about to take somebody's picture. I only realized that the man was taking a slug from his soda bottle when I saw the image on my 20D's LCD screen. Perfectly framed, not by my eye but by my hands.

The second picture was shot on Ninth Avenue at West 59th Street which is within an area of Manhattan known as Hell's Kitchen. Same method, subject on my left, looked the other way as I pressed the shutter button in midstride. Got the pic, no cropping necessary.

Along the way I bought two books at Strand's Bookstore. My plan was to hike as many as 21 blocks south of where I usually end my walk, at the 33rd Street PATH station. My heels, especially the left, are starting to complain and it was getting chilly, excuses I needed to take the PATH train, get off at the 14th Street station and walk a relatively short three (avenue) blocks to Strand's. I could have taken the subway to Union Square but it would have cost me an extra dollar. Besides, there could be pictures to be made on that three-block walk and back, I thought.

On the books: One is Public Relations by Garry Winogrand and the other is a Taschen monograph on Picasso. Each costs less than $10, a great bargain considering that they're brand new, factory shrink-wrapped even. Tod Papageorge wrote the intro for Winogrand's slim volume which happens to include one of the best bloody demonstration pictures I've seen. I was midway through the intro (after leafing through the pictures, of course) when my wife ceased working on the computer and went to bed, and I won't be until about 2am. When I'm on the computer all other activities are on hold. And I will be on this laptop screensucking until I get sleepy.

April 30, 2007

2007-05-01T21:35:00.000-05:00

For the handful of you who keep checking into this little journal of mine and get disappointed more often than not because I'm slow to update it, it's because I have been busy lately and couldn't enjoy my favorite past time as much as I used to. Though I did on the date that is the title of this post, nothing came of it. This happens more often that I would like to. Half the time, I estimate, maybe worse. I walk all day until my feet hurt and have nothing to show for it. I'm either too blinded by familiarity at this point or I'm too strict and throw away even passable pictures or whatever it is, it's just that if there's nothing that clicked with me, there's nothing to show.

However, I have a bunch of pictures that remains hidden. They're like money in the bank which I draw from when I'm in a tight situation. Like the situation now. So here's one from around this time last year.

Made on April 13, 2006 at Bryant Park, this is the second of the seven keepers I produced in a day which is a record for me, really. I shot this with the 70-200 f/2.8 (except for the strobe, I used to bring all my gear during my street hikes; now I travel lighter with only the wide and medium zooms).

I was reminded of this picture when on my way home yesterday I happened to pass by Bryant Park, where people were hanging out or lying about, on the same large lawn over which they build the ice skating rink in Winter, to soak up on the cool Spring sunshine. Only when this photo was taken, the lawn was still off limits. Maybe they're letting the grass grow out some more in order for it to bear much trampling. Anyway, the man found a nice-enough place to sit and offer his face to the sun, and dream.

(Note: I just realized that the colors on this blog are a bit on the muddy side. The green of the grass, for example, is a lot more alive in my archived photo than you see here.)

April 22, 2007

2007-04-22T23:02:00.000-05:00

Suit in a phone booth.
Seventh Avenue at West 22nd Street.

April 8, 2007

2007-04-09T00:07:00.000-05:00

Improbable taxicabs at the New York International Auto Show.

April 5, 2007

2007-04-06T10:47:00.000-05:00

This is Josef Koudelka at the Aperture Gallery in Chelsea. He was there to promote his retrospective simply titled, Koudelka. The book features the most lushly reproduced photos by the 70-year old icon that I've seen. It cost us $65 and had it signed by the man like dozens of others who attended his talk, which is rare since he doesn't fancy lecturing to or teaching people, loving his privacy.

Before heading to Aperture and while waiting for my wife at Herald Square, I tried to score a pic of the crowd crossing the street. I shot pretty much randomly without composing through the viewfinder, leaning on pure luck. I was looking for some logic or geometry in the images that may make one worth keeping. I got nothing. Will surely try again. I know it will happen someday.

Incidentally, Koudelka said that many of his photos were shot without him looking through the viewfinder, including that famous one of a black dog in the snow, and a number from his gypsies essay.

I thought this technique, if you will, became prevalent after the advent of instant-feedback digital cameras, but I guess I was wrong. He said, "The eye is more important than to look through the camera." That you can make the picture shooting with the camera away from your eye when you've seen what you want to shoot. He also said that though he respects his late friend Henri Cartier-Bresson, both the man and his work, he never learned anything from him. In other words, HCB wasn't at all an influence.

Here's an mp3 of his 74-minute talk.

March 28, 2007

2007-03-30T14:26:00.000-05:00

This pic is obviously not made in Manhattan, whose minor canyons have cleaner edges. Shot during a sidetrip from a vacation in Las Vegas, Nevada. It takes the whole day to get there and back by tour bus, but only a total of no more than two hours for one to try and take in all the grandness of the Canyon. (We were able to enjoy a bit more of it from the plane hauling us back to Jersey, though.)

March 20, 2007

2007-03-20T23:59:00.000-05:00

Lunch at Union Square.

It's awfully hard to get a clean shot of anyone on Union Square at noontime in the Spring. But this is one of the instances when the human element (which to me is the most important factor) overcomes formal and technical considerations. I would have trashed this if that lamp post were a tad to the left and appears to be growing out of the man's pate. Or maybe not. Anyway, it is where it is, and it's okay by me. He looks somewhat like a Martian with a bent antenna and missing the other one. Yes, I see things; I'm nuts.

March 16, 2007

2007-03-16T22:59:00.000-05:00

Herald Square.

A covered face. What could be more mysterious?

March 14, 2007

2007-03-16T13:10:00.000-05:00

Eighth Avenue at West 33rd Street.

March 5, 2007

2007-03-06T11:26:00.001-05:00

Ninth Avenue at West 48th Street.

February 23, 2007

2007-02-25T23:11:00.000-05:00

Lexington Avenue at East 33rd Street.

I finally have a shot of the Chrysler Building, or a portion thereof. For those unfamiliar with Manhattan skyscape, that's the structure with a shiny conical top on the upper left peeking behind the brick building. These seniors strolling on Lexington Avenue are probably as old as the iconic building itself, which was completed in 1930. But no doubt about it, they're every bit as elegant.

February 14, 2007

2007-02-15T00:04:00.000-05:00

Fifth Avenue at 13th Street.

He's thinking of his Honey, of her (or his) surprised smile on Saint Valentine's Day morning. He waded through a raging snowstorm just to buy breakfast --- and roses.

February 10, 2007

2007-02-13T11:37:00.000-05:00

Seventh Avenue at West 35th Street.

January 30, 2007

2007-02-13T00:09:00.000-05:00

Diamond District (47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues).

January 17, 2007

2007-02-13T00:07:00.000-05:00

Fifth Avenue at 17th Street.

December 19, 2006

2007-02-13T00:03:00.000-05:00

Lafayette Street near Astor Place.

A man dreams of the rocking horse of his childhood.... That business permit sticker on the bottom right kicks it back to reality. It's a gallery window display of an art-totemic rocking horse made for a giant toddler.

November 10, 2006

2007-02-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

West 63rd Street at Broadway (Lincoln Square).

October 31, 2006

2007-02-12T23:58:00.000-05:00

Seventh Avenue at West 23rd Street.

August 10, 2006

2007-02-12T23:43:00.000-05:00

Madison Avenue at East 42nd Street.

Vertigo at pavement level. Probably from too much coffee.

July 12, 2006

2006-08-04T15:04:00.000-05:00

This month I made 26 pictures. Walked 100 miles (or something like that) around Manhattan between Ground Zero and Central Park, visited and revisited my favorite haunts especially at the Lower West Side, where the stupid gentrification thing hasn't cleaned the streets up enough and kept New York City's characteristic characters around and gritty and photographable.

Eighth Avenue at West 30th Street.

July 14, 2006

2006-08-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

Guard at the Museum of Modern Art.

That black triangle on the bottom right corner will complete the lopped off corners of the white bench on both ends.

July 28, 2006

2006-08-04T14:45:00.000-05:00

Eighth Avenue at West 51st Street.

April 13, 2006: Three Women

2006-07-05T15:40:00.000-05:00

Sixth Avenue opposite Bryant Park.

May 23, 2006

2006-07-05T15:34:00.000-05:00

Fifth Avenue at 33rd Street.

June 30, 2006

2006-07-05T15:22:00.000-05:00

Broadway at West 48th Street (Times Square).

July 4 Fireworks

2006-07-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

Photo by Reena Rose Sibayan

The Quick Brown Fox Keeps It Real

2006-07-05T09:22:00.000-05:00

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Test. Test. Test. Keep it real deal feel wheel eel kill. Keep it real.