Tuesday April 30, 2013

Tuesday April 30, 2013 4.7/5 (93%) 3 votes

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear me, Happy Birthday to me.

With that out of the way we can move on to pictures. I spent the day walking around New York in lovely spring light. What better birthday present could one ask for.

All images with my Leica Monochrom and 24mm Summilux lens. The first is from the “No Limits” installation by Alexandre Arrechea on the Park Avenue islands.

Wiggly building

Wiggly building

Central Park

Central Park

Light on the street

Light on the street

On this day last year: The Ranble in Central Park. Oddly, last year on my birthday I did roughly the same think that I did this year.

The Ramble Central Park

The Ramble Central Park

Tuesday July 24, 2012

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GLENS FALLS and SARATOGA SPRINGS NEW YORK – In Utah the 24th of July is a state holiday, celebrated sort of as a second Fourth of July. It commemorates the date on which Brigham Young arrived at the mouth of Immigration Canyon and said “This is the place”.

But we’re in upstate New York, not Utah, so no fireworks. We drove up to Glens Falls today to vist a lovely museum, the Hyde Collection. This is an excellent small collection of important European art assembled by two sisters in the early part of the 20th Century, and a terrific collection of Tiffany Glass. Apologies for the long post but this was an interesting day.

Here’s the central space in the collection captured with my Leica M9 and 24mm Summicron lens; two frames stitched in PTGui Pro.

Hyde Collection

Hyde Collection

The collection (which by itself was worth a drive up here) includes a current show by an artist named Stephen Knapp who does light painting creating colors with precisely shaped and oriented pieces of polarized glass. Taken with the same rig.

Stephen Knapp

Stephen Knapp

Back in Saratoga Springs I had some fun with my iPhone. Here’s a quilt in the Victorian pile of lumber that calls itself the Adelphi Hotel. It’s interesting because it is very similar to a quilt that we have in Connecticut – a quilt that we bought a church rummage sale and then spent a year and a fairly serious amount of money having restored. I’ll shoot it in Connecticut when we’re there next weekend and you’ll see the resemblance.

Quilt

Quilt

More fun with the iPhone in Saratoga:

Wandering Cowboy

Wandering Cowboy

Here’s a sculpture in Broadway (the main street) in Saratoga – I took this with my iPhone to be my screen backdrop in my iPhone – I got bored with gray.

iPhone screen

iPhone screen

As I said – this was a long day. Toward the end of the day I spent some time in Saratoga Spa State Park. In the 1930s the space facility was rebuilt on a grand scale (the scale of the complex reminds me of a Mayan temple complex at Monte Alban near Oaxaca). Good Depression era public works, but the scale is far larger than current demand so much of it appears to be in good condition but disused. Maria took a treatment, so I took some pictures with my ever-present Leica M9 and 24mm Summilux lens.

The Baths at Saratoga

The Baths at Saratoga

Moe of the same:

The Baths at Saratoga

The Baths at Saratoga

Enough of July 24 2012. On July 24, 2011: Hogmead. No kidding on the name. An inn in Nairobi.

Hogmead

Hogmead

Friday July 6, 2012

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MILAN ITALY – One last day of tourism in Italy. Maria has finished her meetings so she was able to join me visiting Villa Necchi, Pinacoteca di Brera and shopping on Via Spiga and Via Montenapoleone. One this is clear: these Milanese do design and retail like no one else.

So here are my captures for the day, tank with my Leica M9 and 24mm Lummilux lens.

Villa Necchi

Villa Necchi

Villa Necchi

Villa Necchi

Maria sees the big picture

Maria sees the big picture

On this day one year ago: a sick day. I’ve cropped this to be one of my favorite headers for this site.

Chinese porcelain

Chinese porcelainChinese procelain

Wednesday March 28, 2012

Wednesday March 28, 2012 4/5 (80%) 1 vote

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Where is Caravaggio? I’ve been asking myself this question recently. How will people judge us in 400 years (Caravaggio died in Porto Ercole in 1610)? How will they know who we are?

We got an insider’s tour of the Biennial at the Whitney Museum today. Many of the works are ephemeral – accurately reflecting the state of play in the art world today. None of this work will exist in 400 years, so how will people be able to judge us from our art? I’m an effing troglodyte to ask this question but so be it.

I had my Sony Nex-7 in hand with a 50mm Leica Summilux lens.

From a video by Werner Hertzog of works by Hercules Segers and of Ernst Reijseger playing the Cello.

Biennial I

Biennial I

Others:

Biennial III

Biennial III

On this day one year ago: weird angle on the New Preston cemetery.

New Preston

New Preston

Sunday January 29, 2012

Sunday January 29, 2012 4/5 (80%) 2 votes

KENT CONNECTICUT – I dropped by to see my friend Greg at RT Facts here, picking up a side table and a fixed stand for our fire pit. Greg is an antique dealer specializing in architectural debris, much of it very large. I got a new camera body: a Sony Nex-7, a very compact little item with 24 megs of resolution from a sensor that’s about 2/3 the size of a standard 35mm frame. The idea is that I would use it with my Leica lenses. (A lot of people think like this – this is why Leica lenses are currently sold out at every dealer in the world.) This is with the Nex-7 and 24mm Summilux lens – these look like they were removed on the demolition of a 1930′s Federal building.

RT Facts

RT Facts

On this day one year ago: Mustique sky – three frames stitched.

Grenadines morning

Grenadines morning

Thursday November 17, 2011

Thursday November 17, 2011 4/5 (80%) 1 vote

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Back home. I carried my little Ricoh GRD IV through the day, catching autumn foliage ending up on the sidewalk, and a new installation at Lever House, a salt water aquarium and plants by Paula Hayes. Very cool. Worth a look.

November 17, 2011

Streets of New York

November 17, 2011

Weird Science

On this day last year: on the Acela.

From the Acela at high speed

Thursday October 13, 2011

Thursday October 13, 2011 4/5 (80%) 1 vote

NEW YORK NEW YORK – This is the second day of the annual James Beard Foundation food policy conference, held (as noted yesterday) this year at Hearst’s offices in New York. I spent the breaks giving myself a tour of the very good art collection on the floor where we held the conference. Here’s a view of a Chuck Close self-portrait and of a conference room both taken with my Leica. The Close work is important to me – a while back I appropriated it in one of my 24 hours projects – I posted a typical image from that project below.

Chuck Close

Chuck Close

Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping

On this day last year: West Village.

West 12th Street

Here’s my homage to Chuck Close, one of 24 similar images of myself taken hourly over 24 hours (with an 8×10 Arca Swiss view camera):

Thursday September 22, 2011

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SHANGHAI – We managed to tuck a trip to Spin, a shop that sells porcelain made using classic Chinese techniques but with a slight Japanese fusion feel. The artist-owner, Gary Wang, is actually based in Connecticut. Taken with my trusty Panasonic GH2.

Spin

Spin

On this day one year ago: a dullish exterior of Grand Central Terminal. What the hell – every image can’t be interesting – this is a daily photo project after all.

Grand Central Terminal

Tuesday September 6, 2011

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I dropped by the Matthew Marks Gallery to catch up with a show on landscape called La Carte d’aprês Nature. It caught my attention because it included a dozen or so images by Luigi Ghirri, who we collect. Interesting show. I was there with my Leica M9 and 28mm Summicron lens.

Matthew Marks Gallery

Matthew Marks Gallery

From the street walking back from the gallery.

West 22nd Street

West 22nd Street

On this day one year ago: New Milford Connecticut. I said that this is a crap town a year ago and I’m sticking with my story.

Rugs & Carpets Simmons Bedding Fine Furniture

Friday April 22, 2011

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BEIJING – We spent the morning in the 798 Art District. It started out ten years ago in a gallery in disused factory that had previously been used by the military to manufacture electronic components – 798 was the number on the building. It has expanded to 300 or so exhibition spaces, all privately owned, in an eclectic jumble. The streets were packed with artists, patrons, tourists, wannabes and so on. Wedding frequently take place there. The vibe is similar to New York’s SoHo and the prices are the same – there is apparently a truly global art market. There are major spaces operated by major players. Pace is there, for example, in a monumental space that featured works by and about Diane Von Furstenberg

The following two images were taken with my Leica M9 and a 35mm Summilux lens.

798 art district, Beijing

798 art district, Beijing

798 art district Beijing

798 art district Beijing

Two images with my 24mm Summilux lens.

Kendall Geers at Galeria Continua in 798 Art District

Kendall Geers at Galeria Continua in 798 Art District

Marie

Marie

Finally, back in central Beijing taken with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summilux lens – this is two frames stitched.

The Apple Store, Beijing

The Apple Store, Beijing

On this day one year ago: my blog crashes.

My blog crashes!

Wednesday March 2, 2011

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NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spent this evening at the Armory Show, a major annual art show held here in New York. It was held this year on Piers 92 and 94 on the Hudson River. Pier 92 was focused primarily on modern – I spent most of my time there. Why is it called the “Armory Show”? I guess because it used to be held in the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue, but has clearly outgrown that space. It was a nice chance to catch up with my old friends James Barron, an art dealer based in Rome and Kent Connecticut, and Jeanette Montgomery Barron, a prominent photographer.

There was a lot that was of interest, but nothing new or radical. Here’s my picture for the day, captured with my Panasonic GH2 and a 20mm pancake lens:

Mature guys and nuke

Mature guys and nuke

On this day one year ago: Cholla, Joshua Tree National Park.

Cholla

More images from the Armory Show picking up on some of the themes. As I said, nothing really new.

Decorative

Decorative

60s Redux

60s Redux

Retinal

Retinal

Transgressive

Transgressive

Appropriated

Appropriated

Pop

Pop

Monday February 21, 2011

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KENT CONNECTICUT – This is Presidents Day so we spent the day in Connecticut. We drove over to Kent, a good-sized village that’s a 20 minute or so drive from Warren. The name “Kent” is an example of the lack of imagination of the English settlers in this area. Not even “New Kent”. Perhaps “Kent-On-The-Tundra” would have been better, recognizing the colder climate here.

My sister in law, Francesca Barra, was with me and I wanted to show her Belgique, a remarkable chocolate and pastry shop owned by a former White House chef and his wife. We bought chocolate truffles and chocolate covered candied ginger. I have no idea of why or how this guy ended up here; his work is world class; he would be highly popular in New York or even Paris.

I took a lot of pictures in the village – this is my favorite for the day. It’s a caboose that houses an art gallery called, fittingly, the Kent Caboose Gallery. It was previously called the Paris-New-York-Kent Gallery (1984 – 2006), a rather grand name given its lilliputian size. I suspect that it was intended ironically. It was the first gallery in Kent. Photographed with my Alpa TC, a 35mm APO Schneider lens and a 60 meg Hasselblad digital back.

Kent Caboose Gallery

Kent Caboose Callery

On this day one year ago: A doll house sized arts center near Milford PA. Photographed in infrared with my Leica M8.2.

Walpack New Jersey

Tuesday December 7, 2010

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I spent the morning visiting galleries in Chelsea. There was a terrific Hiroshi Sugimoto installation at the Pace. Pictures of “lighting” manufactured by a telsa coil and a few of his much earlier “beyond infinity” seascapes, shown below. My largest regret in life is that I didn’t buy one of these images years ago when they were first offered at $3,500 each (well it seemed like a lot of money at the time). Here’s a link to Sugimoto’s seascapes.

Sugimoto at the Pace

I also spent some time with Elizabeth Kabler, a friend of my daughter’s and now a friend of mine, at her gallery Skylight Projects.

From this day one year ago: Approach to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Brooklyn Bridge

Thursday November 18, 2010

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I had lunch at Columbia today. This is an Henry Moore sculpture on the bridge that crosses Amsterdam Avenue from the Law School, an otherwise bare and uninviting space. The Moore is actually too small for the site and is located on a spot where there is no reason to walk past it.

Henry Moore

November 19, 2010

On this day one year ago: Boston sunrise.

Boston

Saturday September 18, 2010

Saturday September 18, 2010 5/5 (100%) 1 vote

LONDON, ENGLAND – We spent the day dodging the Pope who is here on a historical state visit (but if I want to see the Pope I’ll go to Rome and security measures here snarled up traffic). We spent the day on foot, starting at the sensational Eadweard Muybridge show at the Tate Britain; catching a street food lunch in Chelsea near the Saatchi Gallery; a few well-spent hours in the Saatchi Gallery; and finally tea at the V&A. I had difficulty selecting so I’ve posted three images – I may winnow a bit further with a future edit. All images are with a Leica M9 and 30-year old 35mm Summicron lens.

Victoria and Albert Museum

Saatchi Gallery, London

Saatchi Gallery, London

Wednesday July 21, 2010

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Today was packed with activities. Meetings in the morning, a business lunch and cooking all afternoon for a dinner party at home. I was planning on getting my picture for the day at dinner, but realized after the last guest had left that I had gotten so involved in conversations that I hadn’t picked up a camera. 11:00 PM and no picture. I’ve vowed never to post a picture of our dog, so that’s out. I tried shooting out the window at the dark city scape without much success. Finally I shot a pair of images on our wall by Penny Umbrico – blown up images from a curtain catalogue. Here’s a link to Penny’s work: Penelope Umbrico

Curtain catalogues

Nikon D700 with 85mm f1.4 lens.