Anarchy

Fuckin' A, man.

Found this graffiti right outside a swanky building near Washington Square Park and took the picture with my Canonet.

It is a little blurry due to the slow shutter speed, however I recently made a purchase that could very well give me another full stop of exposure!

More on that later when I run through a roll of film to make a proper assessment.

Canonet G-III QL17
Kodak BW400CN

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Black Cat

A number of months ago I went to the NYC Comic Con and took pictures of all those I found to have exceptional outfits.

One such person was this woman in a Black Cat outfit:

 

After developing the picture I looked at it again and again and I believe I may have taken a picture of Anne Hathaway in disguise.

For reference:

The nose is the same and the smile is dead on to other pictures I have seen of her.  Pretty cool if it is Anne Hathaway, but I just keep in mind that I took the picture because I thought she looked great.

Olympus OM-1

Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 (single coated)

Kodak Tri-X

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Instead of Drinking

I was out and about on a Saturday and happened upon a street fair - not an uncommon occurrence here in NYC - where I caught this guy doing some break-dancing, not particularly great break-dancing either.  I did, however, think he was most awesome for doing it because he wanted to do it and had to capture the image.  I busted out the Polaroid Land 100 loaded up with some awesome Fuji FP-3000B, focused, and took the shot.

+1 for street photography with large cumbersome cameras!

It is most unfortunate that the negative was damaged over the course of the day and use it for the scan.  The scan of the positive print is not bad, but I definitely prefer the look of grindy borders and the greater latitude of the original negative.

So, the title of the post really does not have anything to do with photography, it has more to do with a question I just asked a very good friend of mine concerning Friday night:

"Instead of drinking, would you be interested in a puppet show?"

I picked the image above because the man reminds me of a marionette.

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Practice in the Park

I am not sure if this man was practicing Buddhism meditation or some form of Yoga, but he was doing it in Union Square Park.  Whatever he is doing there definitely seems to be a sense of order to the entire scene - everything is set up precisely and he seems to be unaffected by his surroundings. 

I find it a little odd that he would choose to do this in the middle of a very public park, but perhaps he is making a statement, or a demonstration to onlookers.

He definitely exuded a sense of peace.  It was pretty easy to take a picture of him.

I took the image with an Ansco Memar (from the 50s), one on which I performed a minor diy restoration by bringing the shutter and focus back to life from being stuck.  The lens is all hazy which gives the images an really flarey look.

Ansco Memar
45mm Apotar f/3.5
Kodak Tri-X

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Jazz in Washington Square Park

Washington Square Park is one of my favorite places.  So many artists gather to play all this great music that has really helped me expand my musical horizons beyond hard rock and heavy metal.

I seem to be leaning particularly towards the jazz.  Just five years ago I would say something like "jazz ain't my bag, man", but tastes change over time and here I am.

There is one jazz band (who is quite excellent) that regularly plays the park, but this saxophonist:



Only occasionally plays with the group, but when he does, he breathes a new sense of excitement and life into the music.

To say the least, this sax player really cooks.

I took the image with an Ansco Memar (from the 50s), one on which I performed a minor diy restoration by bringing the shutter and focus back to life from being stuck.  The lens is all hazy which gives the images an really flarey look.

Ansco Memar
45mm Apotar f/3.5
Kodak Tri-X

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Freedom and Lies

This is a fish.  On the sidewalk.  In NYC.

I imagine it is tried to reach the gutter to achieve liberation, but sadly passed before accomplishing the mission.

Out of context this is very, very unusual, but I intentionally framed the image so that none of the garbage from a tipped over garbage bag outside of the restaurant showed up. 

I manipulated the facts to tell a different story.

Photography is a lie!

Olympus OM-1
Zuiko 35mm f/2.8
Lomo X-Pro film (in E6)

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Religion and Politics

 

I was surprised to see this bold declaration in Harlem. 

While this may be a well composed picture, the real star of the image is the content matter.  I do not often go for journalistic shots, but I had to capture this moment in history.

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...and justice for all

I am going to keep my political opinions to myself, but I will admit that I am one of the 99%.

...And Justice For All

Holga 120N
Kodak Portra 400
fill flash w/ 1/2 CTO gel

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Anachronism IV: Sasha: Fire Gypsy (part 6)

I am not quite sure if she was eating the fire or blowing flames on this image. Perhaps a combination of both.

It does not matter to me so much because I enjoy the simplicity and ambiguousness of the image.



This one reminds me of a long and curvaceous dragon, not unlike those in Chinese depictions, dancing with the summoner of flames.

Okay. That is the close of all the fire dancer images. I plan on writing an entry that will incorporate one or two of the images, so please forgive me for posting again, if only to demonstrate an idea.

Stay tuned for the next posting, I am really going to try to make that an interesting one.  [edit - I am not so sure how well the next entry turned out; I was tired of kicking the idea around in my head and needed to get it out there]

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Anachronism IV: Sasha: Fire Gypsy (part 5)

I am lumping these two images together because of the commonality in theme.

Circles are a powerful form and always draw the eye when viewing an image.

When photographing I tend to see in shapes and have trained myself to consciously strip down elements that are nonessential to a point when it becomes an unconscious habit in order to make a stronger a picture.

In practically all of my photographs I have one point of interest.

In these Anachronism photographs I focus on Sasha and the flames that surround her are an extension of the image content and the reason why I am photographing this event.

I have to imagine the flames creating a pleasing form (based on my experience and intuition concerning how light writes on film) in order to complement Sasha.

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Anachronism IV: Sasha: Fire Gypsy (part 4)

For whatever reason this is the most popular image of the set on flickr. Personally, it does not do too much for me, but there might be a few things about this image that made it garner the most attention.

It is fun to follow the light streaks and have an interesting pattern.

On another level the figure mirrors the design of the tattoo on Sasha's back (angel/devil wings) and it is as if the fire is going to help her take flight. That may be a bit far fetched, but it occurred to me, why not someone else?

It could also be because the lil' bit o' butt illuminated by the fire and the flash, but then if that was the case, I would imagine the image discussed here would be more popular.

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Anachronism IV: Sasha: Fire Gypsy (part 3)

Fire Vortex

Dragging the shutter can be a tricky thing. You do not want to keep it open too long because the image might become blurry due to exposure; the flash exposed once, but the longer you keep the shutter open the light has more time to collect on the film.

It is a delicate balance.

I think I kept the shutter open for about 1-2 seconds here and this let me capture some amazing circular light trails coalescing into one point.

Sasha's unusual body posturing also injects an element of the exotic into the image, which I feel is a nice compliment to the shape light painting.

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Anachronism IV: Sasha: Fire Gypsy (part 2)

 
Fire Noir

I have a hard time expressing how fortunate I feel to have captured this image.

I love the S curve of her body.

I love the localized lighting that hints at more.

I love the flame trails.

I love the motion blur that gives the image an ethereal feel.

I love the amount of negative space.

I love that my imagination races.

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Anachronism IV: Sasha: Fire Gypsy (part 1)

On Sunday, December 4th, I went to the fourth Anachronism event at Webster Hall in New York City.  Holga 120N in tow, I was determined to get some great pictures.

Medieval Festival (part 3)

The first time I saw this person at the festival she was far off and I did not have the chance to take her picture. I made a promise to myself to keep walking the grounds until I ran into her and could ask to take an image.

Point of the story: be resolute.

This girl had on an elaborate steam punk outfit. Maybe she was a little out of place at this festival, but the costume still worked. Very cool nose-ring.

I think this is the final picture I will post, so I hope you enjoyed the images over the last few entries.

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Medieval Festival (part 2)

This gent made me laugh while I was taking his picture. I asked him if I could and he said yes, but then started talking in character like "What do you mean take my picture? Are you going to paint my image? Are you taking my essence?" and so on...

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Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park

I lugged my Bronica SQ-A to a Medieval Festival held at Fort Tryon Park and had an okay time.

The park is very nice, but so many people showed up that it was hard to get around.

A lot of the people that dressed up were really friendly, but it felt like there was something of an attitude of irritation in the air emanating from the mundane folk. Maybe it was the crowding.

NY Post Office

On Sunday I had about an hour to walk around midtown before joining the comic book meetup group at the Skyline Diner, so I whipped out the SX-70 and started snapping.

The first image I captured (above) is the main branch of the NY Post Office in midtown Manhattan. It is a monstrous building so in order to get a sense of scale I included some people that were hanging out on the steps in the lower right hand corner of the image.

Next I took a picture of a pretty girl who was doing some studying on a more secluded side of the building. It did not come out all that great, so I will not sully her with a sub-par image, but it was great practice to ask a stranger if I could take their picture. I have done it before, but I should do it more often.

Yes, I joined a comic book meetup group. Maybe a little dorky, but, but it was so much fun! Comics and graphic novels have really grown on me the last few months and I am amassing a nice collection. I have even started a comics blog, should you want to check it out.

Well, that is it for tonight!

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PX-100, Orange Flash

Things I have learned:

The SX-70 is not a discreet camera and is difficult to employ it as such. I am not saying that camera is not a good street shooter; it certainly gets some interesting reactions that might add to the overall image.

I was strolling along one of the piers at the Hudson River park and really liked the composition of this shot. I was trying to be very clandestine in order to get the person on the right of the image not to be aware of what I was doing.

I took the shot and immediately the loud whrrrrrrr of the motor and rollers caught the person's attention and obviously he knew what I did. At least that happened after the shot.

I do not have the best SX-70. The meter is slightly off and the fungus'd lens does not help with any possible sharpness an image might have. In fact I am not even sure the exposure compensation wheel works either.

However I do get an image that I am able to slightly tweak in post, and honestly, I love the results.

I used the Impossible Project's experimental Orange Flash film, and as it promises, is not a final version of a product. Still, it was a good deal and I wanted to have that Polaroid experience again.

I want to thank the Film Photography Podcast for inspiring a love for Polaroid.

Polaroid, SX-70
Impossible Project
PX-100, Orange Flash

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Summer In Central Park

A couple of weeks ago I strolled into Central Park on a hot Saturday afternoon in Manhattan. My plan was simple: shoot some film with the Holga 120N that had seen little use over the last year; an issue I was bent on rectifying.

The camera felt a little unusual in my hands because I had not used it in a few months. Its weight is probably the most discombobulating feature as it is made almost entirely of plastic, and thus extremely light. My mitts are usually holding a metal camera with a solid weight, something that screams "machine," "tool," and "camera." I do not think of the Holga as a "toy" like so many others would be quick to say, but honestly, it requires an entirely different mentality to shoot properly. Whether I was shooting with the proper mindset is questionable, but, so it goes.

Furthermore, I accidentally managed to flick on the bulb setting switch that bought me one-way ticket to motion blur town; a real destination for anyone who has handled a Holga before.

Anyway, here are a couple images that I took with some mildly expired (but cold stored) Portra 400VC:



This dance squad put on a fun show that I was smiling the entire way through. Well done gents. My attempt of an action shot with a camera made for action.



This kid zoomed past me on his unicycle while displaying some impressive juggling skills. You can not tell all of that from the shot, but I like it for some reason.

I think I have taken some of my best shots with the Holga in the past, so I think I will be grabbing it more often from now on.

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