Endless Complexity of Being and Witness

Welcome back to my blog,. this is DUMBO.

Shots like these, I never know if there is a right answer to the question of which one do I prefer. But since it is my blog I can be redundant.

Here’s shteyn. Putting a face to those internet identities I’ve known over the years is one of those special highlights that I love about having the opportunity to travel.

And all the time I was in New York I was keeping my eye out for some real Brooklyn pizza. Well shteyn brought me here and we found our sweet satisfaction. Of course, we had to be patient. The lineup went down the block and it took a while to get in, but we had a great time.

That’s solid proof that it was good, right?

Afterwards we went to the local socialist cafe for some coffee and had the chance to enjoy some live music.

Later that night in the metro.

Randy and I decided to go up for a midnight view from the Empire State Building. Word.

Getting a bit wankish.

It was pretty chill up there, great time to go, especially since we did the top of the rock during the daytime.

Pretty sure that was 1/2s. Took a while to calm my nerves for that one but I wanted it desperately.

Peeping the lobby after returning to Earth.

Looking straight up just outside the main entrance.

Randy was real excited to find Derek Jeter in the metro, although I didn’t know who that guy was.

So on the last day in New York we returned to the cathedral where we didn’t miss the vertical tour this time.

I made this shot inside the roof. Basically, between the ceiling of the cathedral and the true roof. And to keep that old structure in tact they have implemented some quite elaborate engineering but you’d never know it from the main interior or even the exterior of the cathedral.

Some signs of the interesting themes that are found throughout the cathedral.

Scoping some dudes as we headed back to the hotel to grab our items and check out.

Yeah that’s on the negative so shut up. HI MY NAME IS NIKON I’M GOING TO MANUFACTURER A DEDICATED 35MM FILM SCANNER THAT CAN’T SEE THE WHOLE FRAME, HEHE OKEY 8D

Sometimes you just have to do some construction on your subway.

Sookie. Bill. Vampire Bill. SOOKIE.

Who’s that guy? Dunno.

At this point I remembered to make a photo of these steel curbs. I guess that’s better than laying new concrete all the time. Did you know that the invention of concrete allowed Roman engineers to accomplish the construction of the Colloseum?

New York was a shock to my senses, I could only imagine what it would be like to visit when I was a little guy.

For our last meal in New York we decided to go to Times Square and eat at McDonalds. We had actually eaten quite well for most of the time that we were in town, so we thought why the fuck not. Well, then we realized that we had to spent the next few hours on an airplane and we were no longer so proud of our great idea.

Here I am peering through the golden arches out on Broadway.

Once again, I was amazed by the efforts of the folks who work to keep New York clean.

One interesting performer who was actually asleep until I walked up.

When in New York please keep in mind that you have a chance to win $10,000 if you’re lucky and witness a cop being shot.

We ended up taking different flights home because Randy checked his luggage. Our flight was delayed over and over and I was able to transfer to a different flight because I was carrying my bags. Actually it was quite fortunate for me because Randy was forced to stay an extra night in an airport hotel. If I’d been stuck as well I would not have made the cute photos that you’ll see in my next post.

It’s Wednesday, March 9th. That means (you guessed it) it’s time for another serving of New York photographs.

One day I was walking across the street and a motorcycle with a movie camera came around the corner.

Sometimes you just have to sit on a milk crate in the street.

While marveling at the texture of the street a taxi passed by. (surprise)

Inside MoMA. A security guard texting and nobody notices! Save the Leica.

That’s actually a view from one of the windows in MoMA. Loved that facade.

If you don’t already know what this is you probably don’t care. But on the left is the “companion” piece to Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times which gets my thumbs up.

Possibly my favourite piece at MoMA. Incredibly happy that I rangefindered the framing appropriately.

Nothing original but might as well.

An extremely rare specimen of Homo Photographicus. I was very lucky to spot this one amidst its hunt.

I think that was near Adorama. It was nice to buy some trix for a decent price.

Later I went to visit Strand and was fortunate to have Olivia’s help to find some rare books that I’d been looking for. Unfortunately I couldn’t find Ben.

Making metro art.

That art, courtesy of Central Park.

I was on my way to the Met to get grenades dropped on me from the second level in a room without an exit.

It’s Kodak Ektar 100 by the way.

Artemis.

Dionysus.

Young Hercules.

Neopagan.

Death of Socrates.

I may have been aiming for the most nonsense in one frame.

pod hotel where we stayed. Good place to do NY on the cheap.

Roof of the hotel.. just about the same view as one of the night shots from my last post.

Heading to Brooklyn.

Walking through the streets as the sun set.

Looking back.

Perch Cafe. There’s Kyle in the background. You may have known him from dA or perhaps he made you famous.

Being in the hot metro.

Being impressed by the metro’s abundant advertising.

We didn’t do too much shopping but that was one of my favourite stores in NYC.

Maybe subtle.

She was a real beauty.

Well, that’s almost everything. I have a couple more rolls to go through which feature more cute photography. Then I’ll have a good reason to develop the rest of the film in my fridge that I shot since NY. As always, thank you and please come again.

I’ve been stuck at this turnstile for some time, but it’s finally time to pass through. Back in New York, this was the familiar sight to the end of each night as I left the metro. And for the longest time it’s been the familiar sight every time I load up Lightroom and remember the mess of files that I needed to organize in order to continue with this blog. Some things happened. I lost my job after I got back from my trip, and then I found a new job but throughout that experience I never fully gained back the motivation and energy to focus on my photographs.

And then I started receiving some spam from a venue in Brooklyn that I went to while I was there and I started to miss NY a lot. So for you and I, here’s a further taste.

One thing I loved about this hotel was the open access to the roof which had a beautiful view of the city in each direction. A great place to unwind after the long days of ‘vacationing.’ In a place like New York you’re trying to do everything you can each day.

On Tuesday morning I ate my breakfast from this window while I watched the day in progress.

Plans for today were a) to meet a contact from craigslist to purchase some of these things. I’d been watching out for more of these things for years since Kevin gave me one of the two that he found on eBay back in the day. So while I was in New York I somehow fluked out and came across a craigslist ad for them by mistake. His name was Frank. Filmcase Frank to be exact. And for $10 I had 2 more x-ray proof cases to protect my films on the way back home. So I bought more film. And b) Museum of Natural History. c) Perhaps spend some time in Central Park.

It seemed ridiculous to photograph fake animals but they were too photogenic to ignore, really.

Action shot.

He was a nice man.

MoNH was amazing but I don’t see how it’s possible to see or absorb everything there in one day.

We strolled through the park a bit after the museum. She’s trying to lean out of the frame on the right.

There was a photographer behind me shooting a Hasselblad who captured me capturing this. I tried to search the net for it afterwards but never came up with anything. I bet his blog is way behind too.

Some folks were helping children make giant soap bubbles. I really enjoyed observing their amazement.

Some creative aerobics in the park. One thing I missed photographing was the incredible number of people exercising in Central Park. The roads in there are dominated by joggers but I never felt like there was a good shot to make for some reason.

I was pretty tired that day, so I went back to the hotel and rested for a bit while my travel mate Randy went out for dinner.

I brought my ipod up to the roof.

Eventually I left and I wandered around Manhattan for the rest of the night.I secured some pizza to eat and eventually I found myself in Washington Square near the university.

There were a lot of people there to enjoy the fountain which seemed like a decent idea.

They were talking to each other.

I found a bench to sit at and then I read for a while. Gravity’s Rainbow.

Came across this scene on St. Marks. As a victim of bedbugs what I find most disturbing about this display is that they actually managed to depict an artistic yet convincing bed bug. And yeah, so I guess I don’t want to think about that anymore.

Nice marmot.

Well thanks for coming back to my blog. I bet you never thought that would happen. In the next update, I’ll take you to MOMA. And maybe if I remember what ISO I shot all my film at since the summer I’ll develop and scan more images.

After the patio lounging episode on Sunday we made our way back to Manhattan and brought ourselves to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Top of the Rock.

Now that you’re looking at this web page I think that you deserve advanced notice. In this entry I will visit the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. I arted the shit out of that place. Just so you’re aware… just so when it happens you won’t be able to say you were not warned. There’s some serious art up ahead. It is not the standard product I push, but trust me when I say that you’ll be back for more.

Weather was great. Still hot and humid, but smoggy.

Switched to some 125px.

Sure why not.

70 stories above New York. To the north you can see most of Central Park. To the south is the Empire State Building and further south is downtown and the financial district.

Back on the ground I got more interested in what I had been on top of.

We’d spent a long time up there and become hungry again so we went searching for a good place to eat. Passed up the M&M store…

125px was starting to get a bit slow.

How about that?

After wandering in circles for ever we managed to find a Thai restaurant that was cheap and delicious. Then we wandered back towards the Times Square area to take in the beauty.

When I saw these guys pull up to the light I was thinking I might have a great photo in front of me so I bent my elbows and waited for something interesting on the massive screen across the street. It seemed totally irrelevant, even ugly, and discouragingly I lowered my camera. At the same moment they all noticed me and got excited. Click. There’s no evidence on the negative that the girl was wearing anything at all on her feet. Interesting choice.

That was at Starbucks.

Such is the value of space.

On Monday morning my first stop was at the post office to send some post cards home.

Monday was forecast as being dodgy weather wise. A bit of a storm passed through in the morning but it cleared up quickly and so we decided to head for Liberty/Ellis island in hopes that it would be a little less busy that day.

When I got to Battery Park, that was happening.

I guess that’s something horrific meant to inspire hatred of unknowable foreign enemies and encourage a patriotic support for war. The Statue of Liberty on the far left and Ellis Island mid-frame.

What I wanted to capture was the degree that the boat suddenly leaned the moment we were within proximity of the statue as everyone rushed to that side of the boat. But I couldn’t seem to get a good frame of it at the time.

Yeah.

That’s totally what it looks like when you put the sun behind her torch.

Here is the icon of freedom in America, complete with black helicopter.

A group of boy scouts pass through the Registry room at Ellis Island. Between 1892 and 1954 twelve million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island. Most of them passed through this room.

Off to the side of that room was a room of tiny bunks where children slept. The room seemed creepy and rather claustrophobic. The bunks are smaller and tighter than they look here. I thought of how scary it might have been to spend nights there as a child in a foreign place, but for many it must have been such a comfort compared to the journey that lead them here.

For some reason the crank to operate the windows was fascinating.

That was a long day out in the heat of the sun through the queue to the ferries, the ferries and the islands. We went to do some more shopping on Broadway that evening and then found a place to have some greasy food. I had a bacon cheeseburger and Randy enjoyed a Reuben while we listened in to a conversation between the waiter and this fat kid who was sitting at the bar with his dad. The kid’s like “ey! Amigo! How about that chocolate deep fudge cake and I want a raspberry sauce on the side.” I almost spat out my beer and I’m like Randy did you hear that?

When we paid our bill and walked past to exit, father was asking him how he liked that dessert with the raspberry sauce and encouraging him to finish all that, and in a fabulous New York accent that I hadn’t heard too much of. Priceless experience.