We’ve come to the end of another week, a week, that, I must say, was anticlimactic compared to the weather rollercoaster we in the Northeast were subjected to last week!
The good thing is, summer is winding down and it’s time to look forward to fall here in the United States. I can feel it in the air already!
I’ve always loved the transition from summer to fall, and last year, I took a number of photos on the streets of Jersey CityNJ that documented that change, including the one below. For me, nothing beats cooler weather, football and the leaves on the trees changing from green to brilliant reds, yellows and oranges.
In My 'Hood (Autumn in Audubon Park). Taken 10-22-2010 in Jersey City, NJ
As I’ve reported before, here and on my Facebook page, September is my birthday month! And, my birthday actually falls on the 15th! So, I was sitting here, really pleased to have gotten my 90th like and was wondering: Wouldn’t it really be really nice to get to 100 likes on my page before the 15th, which is in less than 2 weeks? I say 10 days but it’s really 10 business days. In the big scheme of things, I guess it doesn’t really matter. And yes. I sit at home and think these things up all by myself in the wee morning hours.
That’s how committed I am to this photography thing. I’m not one of these fancy photographers with like 2 gazillion fans, or anything. I’m really humbled and grateful for all the support I’ve received over the past year or so since I started photo blogging. It tells me that I am on the right path and I just have to keep plugging away.
And to the 90 folks who have liked my page, THANK YOU!!! I really, truly appreciate all the support and encouragement and feedback I’ve received from you along the way. It means the world to me!
With that said, I’d like to have more people along for the ride, so I offer my Top 10 reasons why you, the unconvinced, should like my page:
Because it only takes 10 seconds to do. You click the link, go to my page, and click the Like button. The end. And I get a notification and then I shout you out on my page and make you feel all special and glittery and singled-out, like a celebrity! How awesome is that?
Because it’s becoming a pretty interesting and diverse community of artists, photography lovers, and friends of those of us who love photography. If you haven’t been following along, there’s so much you’re missing, because there is a lot that I feature on my page that I don’t talk about on my blog.
Because you like me. Or at least I thought you did. I’ll know for certain that you really like me if you liked my page.
Because I like you. A lot.
Because it’s a great place to talk about street photography, which is my primary interest. And, I feature a lot of images that don’t make it to the blog. You may be missing quite a bit and you don’t even know how much!
Because I don’t take photography so seriously that I forget that it’s all about passion and creativity and emotional connections between the image maker and the subject and the viewer. There’s going to be very little technical talk on my page.
Because my page features photography that documents my time spent in three states! Three! Count them: New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania!
Because I also like to link to other interesting photography-related and cultural/social interest blogs and websites. It’s not always about me and my work, because I believe that my work is constantly being informed and influenced by the world around me.
Because once I get to 100 I’ll be quiet for a little while. And….
Because it will be a great birthday gift to me!
Just so you know…. I’m planning something special for the 100th person to like my page, so stay tuned. I’ll have more details to share with you next week.
In the meantime, peace and blessings, and to all my friends and supporters in the US, have a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend!
Edward Hopper, Summer Interior, 1909 (image via Wikipedia)
Edward Hopper said, “Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.”
What he said was dead on.
How can an artist, or at least someone who aspires to create, not have an inner life worth discussing, reflecting on or enriching in some meaningful way?
And more importantly, how can an artist even have a personal vision of the world if he cuts his inner life off from that very world he seeks to comment on through his art?
To me, cultivating an inner life so that it connects fully with our outward expression is something that we all should be engaged in, regardless of whether or not we are engaged in creating and expressing ourselves artistically. To me, it’s just a mark of an evolved human being.
I don’t know…. but sometimes, as creatives, I think we have an obligation (to ourselves, if no one else) to stop and reflect on these matters. To me, its about constant and precise calibration, checking to make sure that the outward direction in which we’re headed with our writing, photography, painting, etc., is aligned with what we’re thinking and feeling in the darkest of nights when no one else cares that we’re up, pacing the floor, obsessed by but not enslaved to the cacophony of sounds, sights, scents, tastes and caresses of random but powerful influences from our environment. It’s about being true to ourselves and striving for a level of expression that transcends the whims of popular culture.
I can say that I didn’t just decide one day out of the blue to pick up a camera and start snapping photos. And now, I’ve reached a critical point in my own development that I must go back and sort all of these things out. I do recognize that my inner life was influenced by a number of factors (family, environment, culture) from an early age. To what degree those factors influenced me? I’m still turning these puzzle pieces around in my mind to figure out how they all fit, and I plan to delve into those elements in future posts.
At any rate, I believe that by asking myself what inspires me, I can get closer to exposing the core of my inner life, allowing it to breathe and expand and stretch and ultimately, evolve, knowing that when it does, my art will, as well. The bottom line is this: Closing off our inner lives to our outward expression, no matter what form that takes, does it and me, and you, and the world, a huge disservice and an exercise in the most pernicious form of self-delusion.
Continuing with my “What Inspires Me” series of blog posts, I wanted to present a few videos of the city that stole my heart: New York City, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island; the city that never sleeps; the Big Apple; concrete jungle where dreams are made of; home of the best delis, the best shopping, the best place to find street food (food trucks on every corner); the home of Central Park, the Yankees and that other baseball team; the city that inspired me to pick up a camera again and rediscover my passion for photography and the streets; and the place where we will never forget. Oh yeah, I fell in love with NYC’s dirty, crowded, loud, screechy train, rat-infested subway. Yes, the subway.
New York was everything I imagined it would be and more. It tempted me, sometimes repulsed and disgusted me, but it made me want more and more of its essence….put me in a trance with its hypnotic energy…..boasted, bragged and rubbed my nose in its greatness….drew me in and seduced me in a way that I had never been seduced before. It was unlike no other place I had ever been…..
Call it dirty, call it wanton, call it uncivilized…call it whatever you want. I call it the place of my own rebirth. So those of you who reject NYC out of your own fears of what may be different from what you’re accustomed to, reject my own evolution.
New York is the place where unformed, unshaped, nascent dreams come to be born. It challenges you to kill off those parts of yourself that refuse to be seduced by the constant motion and poetry and chaos. New York reaches out and cold cocks you in the face, beckoning you to wake up and look around. It forces you to check your own pulse. Are you alive, or dead?
New York….. *sigh*
Anyway, watch the videos. Watch at least one. Do it for the babies…do it for the puppies….
And if you want to view some of my photography from my time spent in NYC go here and here.
Those of you who have never been to NYC, you must find a way to visit this one of a kind destination at least once. Put it on your bucket list. Make it happen. Those of you who are native New Yorkers, current or former transplants or frequent travelers to NYC, holla at me and share what inspires you about NYC.
Video #1: 24 Hours in NYC (or, places you would go in Manhattan if you had lots of money and lots of free time)
Hey, one can dream, right?
Video #2: 5 Train at 42nd Street-Grand Central Terminal #2 (or one of the trains on the Lexington Line Where You’re Least Likely to Get a Seat During Rush Hour)
“Stand clear of the closing doors” *ding-dong*
Some people take medications to calm their nerves. Me? When I was stressed out, I would just ride the train. The rhythm and cadence of the train zipping along the tracks, the motion blur, even the monotonous train announcements, all of these things would lull me into a state of zen-like calm that I couldn’t get from popping pills. Go figure.
I spent a lot of time (and money – MetroCards are like gold, well they are at least gold-colored) riding the Lexington line, commuting back and forth from north Jersey where I lived, to the Bronx where my old job was located. Once I got off the PATH train in lower Manhattan, I would hustle over to the Fulton Street station and catch the 4 or 5 train uptown to 125th Street, and change there for the 6 train to Westchester Square. Coming back downtown, I would take the 6 train to 59th street and transfer to the N/Q/R trains to 34th Street, where I would catch the PATH train back into north Jersey. I did that everyday for 3 long years…..And to be honest, I would do it again in a heartbeat. That’s how much I loved the subway; that’s how much I love New York City.
When I decided I was going to take the plunge and dive back into photography, my original plan was to buy a new camera, map out a plan to ride each and every subway line, and take photos. I did take photos of the Westchester Square station on the 6 line, though, so I tried to make good on my original vision!?!?! *shrugs*
Video #3: Battery Park City (or one of the best spots to just chillax and enjoy the riverfront views)
In my humble and unimportant opinion, Battery Park City is one of most serene and beautiful spots in lower Manhattan. Took one my most viewed images here.
Now all y’all Brooklynites, please do not hate on me because I didn’t rep your hood here. I see you and have mad luv for you all the same. I love your borough.
What can I say, I have a soft spot in my heart and a whole lot of love for the Bronx. And no, it’s not burning. One thing I will say about the Bronx though, that some folks may not like: folks up in the Bronx cannot drive worth a damn. And they will go out of their way to run your ass over if you’re not careful.
Video #7: El Barrio, Harlem, New York
Video #8: A cool time-lapse video offering a stunning view of the Empire State Building from across the Hudson River in New Jersey.
Anyway, that’s all. Wanted to share with you one of my greatest inspirations and show love to the place that helped me find myself and my love for photography. Leave your love for NYC in the comments or send me a private message. But don’t complain that I left out Times Square, please and thank you. Oh, and have a great Memorial Day weekend!
I took this photo one summer afternoon while wandering around City Hall Park in lower Manhattan. Whenever I can, I try to photograph many of the vendors and artists who work the streets of New York. It’s a fascination of mine.
This guy seemed to attract a lot of your garden-variety tourist types. It didn’t hurt him that he was strategically located across the street from the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge, either.
I took this photo on the steps of the main branch of the New York Public Library. Again, pulled it out last night and edited it in Lightroom.
I love this image for its own contradictions as well. She’s wrapped up from head to toe (although it’s a sweltering late June afternoon), but she’s got her sunglasses precariously perched atop her head.
Question: If you came across a woman like this, would you dare make eye contact? If so, why? If not, why not?
Down and out on Broadway. Taken June 29, 2010 in NYC
I love this photo because it is full of contradictions, so I pulled it out last night and did some editing on it in Lightroom to brighten and sharpen it a bit.
Like the Woman in Central Park, this woman represents the side of NYC that no one of any consequence wants to talk about or acknowledge…but the same folks will build careers and reputations on the backs of vulnerable people.
What I’ve learned in my 38 years of living is that Americans want so bad to sweep its problems under the rug and act like they don’t exist, while attempting to exploit these problems for profit.
We can all speculate the reasons why, but the truth is staring us in the face and we can choose to ignore it or choose to be part of the solution.
In a lot of ways, I prefer capturing images of the down and out in NYC, especially since we’re constantly bombarded by the idea that everyone here is somehow special or successful or glamorous.
Everyone in NYC isn’t glamorous or successful; there are a lot of people here who are barely hanging on, doing what they can to survive. I think the contrast is powerful.
When I happened upon this woman in the park, she was emptying her water bottles on a garment in the grass. Sometimes people do what they have to do to handle their business. This was one of those times. And in the background, a taxi was probably whisking a tourist or some self-important New Yorker to his or her destination, oblivious to what really goes on here.
Earlier this week, I was sitting in the library thinking about my own girls and watching some of the neighborhood kids study by themselves and with each other.
As the afternoon wore on, I decided to pull out my camera because I was intrigued by a young girl with braids. You may say, so what, she had braids. Well, those of you who know me, really know me, that I really study people and will hone in on one or two things that make that person stand out. Well, with this young lady, she had purple hair woven throughout her braids. And I thought about my own 13-year-old daughter, who probably would have done the same thing, as she loves and adores anything purple.
As I aimed my camera at her, I took a few shots, without her noticing.
Finally, I aimed again, and she looked directly at me. I looked back.
I wasn’t sure what she was going to say or do, so I smiled.
She smiled back. She had a toothy smile, kind of awkward, typical of a young girl not quite sure of her own power, not comfortable in her own skin, not fully aware of her own self-image.
I was glad, however, to see that there was still some innocence there. It warmed my heart because I know that sometimes little girl innocence can sometimes be taken away quicker than a New York minute, by no fault of their own.
I found out later she was 12 years old. I didn’t find out her name, though. She told me that she had to work on a project and that she needed to concentrate on what she was doing.
I got up and walked over to her, and offered to show her the image. As she looked at the live view screen, two other girls at the table jumped out of their seats and asked if I could take their pictures. They clamored and bounced around and spoke with such urgency that it was clear to the library staff that we were disturbing the other patrons.
Well, to be honest with you, I really wanted to take pictures of some of the kids in the neighborhood, but as many people know, you have to be really careful because people are really sensitive about their kids. I don’t blame parents for being over-protective.
I asked them to come back to my table. I took some shots, including this picture of a 9-year-old girl who clearly has artistic talent.
She let me see her drawings in her spiral-bound notebook. She talked about how she loves to draw and how she can’t wait to be 10 in January. She asked if she could see my camera and take some pictures.
I told her yes. I showed her how to hold the camera, and noticed that her little fingers were struggling to reach around the base like I can do so easily with my grown woman fingers. I was nervous, but you know what, I said, eff it.
I said yes, because I didn’t know how many times this little girl has heard no in her life.
No, not now. No, we can’t. No, we don’t.
No is a painful word, especially if it isn’t balanced with a few strategically placed yeses from time to time.
She zoomed in, like a pro and pressed the shutter button.
She shot this picture of her 10-year-old friend. When I looked at it in the live view screen, I said, you have so much talent. Wow.
After the mini-photo shoot, they sat at my table, chatting and laughing and attempting to finish their homework. They talked about their mothers, their dreams and aspirations, what they had in common, their likes and dislikes, and all the things that little girls talk about before boys enter the picture, sometimes shattering it.
It still manages to amaze me that faces like theirs can provoke so many feelings across the spectrum both inside our community and in the mainstream. Feelings of hate, misunderstanding, loathing, disdain, and dismissal, like these little girls aren’t worth our effort.
Some may disagree and say that kids in our neighborhoods are not our problem and that their parents should do their jobs. As a parent, I don’t disagree with this notion.
However, I say this: if you have a talent and you come across a young person who can benefit from you sharing your gift (yes, your gifts. A higher power saw fit to bestow you with your gifts and talents and that same power can see fit to take them away if you’re not careful), what will it hurt to reach out and take a moment to connect with a child?
I’m not saying that you have to be that child’s parent. But damn, I can point to several people in my life who took a moment to give a damn about me. They weren’t my parents. But they cared anyway. I shudder to think about how my life would have turned out if they didn’t give a damn about me.
Sometimes it can just be an encouraging word, a smile, a conversation that might make the difference in a child’s life.
I may never see these girls again. But I promised them that I would put their pictures up on my blog. And I try to keep my promises.
Who knows how many promises weren’t kept in these girls’ lives?
Now wait a cotton-pickin’ minute. You mean to tell me that times have gotten that hard for young women these days that they have to resort to cancer hoaxes to get some guy to marry them? I mean, this woman and her fiancé had an 11-month old daughter. They should have thought about getting married before they popped that baby out.
Wait a minute. Maybe this guy didn’t want to marry her, and she got desperate. Honestly. What man would refuse to marry a woman with terminal cancer? But honestly, if I was in her position, I wouldn’t want to trap a man like that. Maybe that’s why he went upside her head. Dammit, I’d be pretty pissed as well, to find out that the mother of my daughter lied and schemed in order to trap me in a marriage I probably didn’t want in the first place. I’d be a little embarrassed, too. I’d be thinking, I stood up with this woman, and pledged my devotion and love, through “sickness and health,” and I got played!?!?! In front of my family, friends, neighbors? Everyone believed that this broad was sick? And now they’re looking at me, like I conspired with her to pull this off? I’m not her damn accomplice!
Awww, hell to da naw! So I can’t really blame him for filing for divorce.
I have a theory about this. Ms. Vega didn’t want to be a baby mama. Ya’ll know what a baby mama is, right? If you don’t, you have been rotting away on a stranded boat in the middle of the ocean. *SIGH* A baby mama is an unmarried woman with a child.
See, gone are the days of the shotgun wedding, where men and women who did the deed, resulting in an unplanned pregnancy, got married. No one wanted to be known as “that woman.” So men and women, who didn’t really love each other or had anything in common other than a night of hot and sweaty sexual acrobatics, got married, to preserve the woman’s honor and to ensure that the child grew up in a two-parent home.
Many GenXers are proud products of the shotgun wedding, me included. I can attest, that strategy did not work. There’s nothing fun about growing up in a household where you know that your parents are ill-suited for one another. It leaves an indelible mark on your psyche.
But in the late 90s, men got hip to the game, and began to flip the bird to marriage. I mean, women were selling the booty like hotcakes, no strings-attached sex, and the fact that “they didn’t need a man anyway.” So why not? If a man has a choice between free love and a life chained to a woman he doesn’t love, he’s going to choose door number one. Most men arent’ going to be discerning when they get that tingly feeling down in their loins.
So women had no choice but to try to put a smiling face on the fact that they had a child, but no husband. So the word baby mama was a badge of honor for many women who had to grin and bear it, pushing that stroller down the street, knowing that they aren’t going to get any help from that man they knocked boots with over a year ago. Remember Fantasia’s song, “Baby Mama“? Yeah, she got famous because of her anthem to unmarried women with babies. “Girl keep your head up…blah blah blah.”
Courtesy Jeff Goulding, Times-Herald-Record via http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/09/08/jessica-vegas-cancer-hoax/
Well, being a baby mama may be acceptable in some parts of society, but it’s not always embraced in upstate New York. Those folks are still trying to keep up appearances. And given the statement of the mother of Ms. Vega’s in defense of her lying and scheming daughter, Mama Vega is in some deep dark denial. OH, the embarrassment. What will my friends think about me? I could hear the conversation now.
Mom Vega: Look. You need to do whatever it takes to get that man to marry you.
Ms. Vega: But Mom, he doesn’t want to marry me. He was pissed that I got knocked up. I told him I was on the pill….
Mom Vega: I don’t care what you told him. I don’t care what he thinks. I don’t care if you tell him you have cancer…just do whatever it takes to get him to the altar. I’m tired of my friends snickering behind my back.
So, to keep up appearances, Ms. Vega fooled everybody in Newburgh. The newspaper, all the businesses who donated her dress, rings, honeymoon, cake, shoes, pictures, etc. She fooled her fiancée and her mama. Most of all, she fooled herself into thinking that she deserved all of this.
What a cruel commentary. In a world where children suffer because of poor decisions made by parents, we would rather keep up appearances than be truthful. We would rather fake it till we make it…or not. Women are so seduced by the idea of having a fairytale wedding that they don’t even think about the days, weeks or years. They would rather stick their heads in the sand, clutching those wedding albums and mementos, than think about the damage that they are complicit in causing to themselves, their husbands, their children, their families.
I’ve always felt that weddings are nothing but shams, illusions, fantasies, and elaborate rituals designed to validate one out of every two marriages that go up in smoke anyway.
And for real. If I have terminal cancer, the last thing I’m going to be concerned about is an elaborate wedding and honeymoon. Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t add the unnecessary stress of planning a wedding and being Bridezilla. Because you know that’s what happens to your typical bride-to-be. Now follow along…you have terminal cancer, and are in a lot of pain and agony, and you’re going to plan a wedding? Nobody found this to be a tad bit odd? Are people that damn gullible?
I guess we are. If we weren’t, this story would have never been a story.
And the most important thing to ask is this: Ms. Vega, have you lost anyone to cancer? Do you know how devastating cancer is? Were you thinking before you opened your big fat mouth and allowed your lie to drip out like bile?
I believe that you are one of most manipulative, heartless and spineless creatures to walk the earth. You give women a bad name..we already have it bad because of women like you who feel you have to slither your way thorugh life like a slimy snake. Most importantly, your opportunistic and greedy ways make a mockery of cancer patients and their families.
You deserve whatever will be handed to you as a result of your scam. Karma is a bitch, Ms. Vega. I hope you understand that.
Hmmm. I have to be honest. When I saw this in my Twitter timeline, I was thinking, what did this person do, collect a gazillion bedbugs and make a bedbug sculpture? Nasty!!
To my relief, that wasn’t the case.
If I was writing the caption for this photo, I would say that the artist was inspired by bedbugs…he didn’t actually use them, per se.
But we get the point. Bedbugs have taken over. And in a country as developed and advanced by us, wouldn’t it be ironic if the bedbugs were the very thing that took us down?
