Thursday July 1, 2010

QUITO ECUADOR – We’re not supposed to be in Quito – we had a 8:30 AM flight to Miami. It was unfortunately delayed for 13 hours so we found ourselves back in Quito for the day. We explored on foot and stumbled onto the National Assembly building. I say stumbled on it because it doesn’t show on printed maps or Google maps. Odd. Perhaps this is a residue of the long-running (60 years) border dispute with Peru in which Peru’s president, Alberto Fujimori, threatened to bomb Quito – a dispute that was finally settled in 1999.

This is Harvey Stein photographing a police show of force in front of the National Assembly building. They were there in response to a demonstration by teachers seeking more funding for education (as far as I could tell with my pidgin Spanish). This is the front gate of the National Assembly. At the rear gate there was a group of film makers and students seeking federal funding for the Ecuadorian film industry.

Demonstration - Ecuador National Assembly

Leica M9 with 28mm Summicron

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Congregation Shaaray Tefila (Hebrew for Gates of Prayer) at Second Avenue and 79th Street.   The current sanctuary of this congregation, which was organized in 1859, was dedicated in 1959.  It was converted from a Trans-Lux movie theater.  I’ve taken the liberty of posting the image twice – once in color and once in gray scale.

Congregation Shaaray Tefila (Hebrew for Gates of Prayer)
Congregation Shaaray Tefila