Monday, January 31, 2011

Day 31: Fences

Lamps and fences, these are a few of the things that I like. Fortunately there is no shortage of either to photograph in HamHi.

This marks the completion of the first month of my 365 Project! It has been quite a challenge but also a ton of fun so far, and only partly socially crippling to have the camera everywhere I go (in summer it will be easier, everyone will have their Fire Island bodies and tans and want to be in pictures, right).

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Day 30: One Hour Swim


I didn't shoot very much today because my mind was focused on other things – namely, the One Hour Swim. I wanted to improve on my January 9 performance, and did, by 90 yards. Perhaps more importantly, I was not comatose afterwards, so that's the real testament to my conditioning.

I did manage to get this nice picture of Kent Lau with an expression that sums up his enthusiasm for swimming. The rest of the (300) frames on the day Matt shot, and I'm including a few of them here so instead of looking at my photography, you can see my excuse for not doing much photography today.
















Saturday, January 29, 2011

Day 29: Lighting District

As it turns out, there are a couple blocks of Bowery that are all lighting stores. I foresee visiting these places a lot when I get to Apartment Furnishing Phase III, to get ideas, and then head elsewhere to find cheap alternatives.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Day 28: You Live in a City

I was feeling pretty down today (stressed out, I was extremely productive all day but still felt like I was falling behind) so after work to calm my nerves I took one of my paradoxical walks into an insane part of Manhattan, at rush hour, with all this snowmelt still making everything miserable.

I find myself doing this when I am down, going to places that are scarcely comforting but just firm reminders of where I am now. If not comforting, they are at the very least reassuring - a different feeling altogether and in a lot of cases more useful.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Day 27: Snow Day

Snow Day! Sort of. Our office was closed today due to the snowfall (even though it wasn't too bad, just a foot or so) so I am working at home.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Day 26: Thundersnow

Yes kids, thunder and lightning in this snowstorm. It's pretty amazing, actually.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Day 25: On Mariolatry

For a non-Catholic, I am awfully taken by images of Mary (similarly: for a non-Christian, I am awfully interested in angels). In this shot I am happy that my manual focus is not terrible and that I successfully hid all the crap in the background with good light tricks.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Day 24: Iced Over

Monday, an epic, 18-hour day, this one spent largely in very cold places, many of them actually outdoors.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Day 23: Fierce Pigeon

It's the coldest day of the year so far, so of course that meant it was a great day to stroll around Lower Manhattan.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Day 22: Morningside

Today marks six months since I moved to New York. I'm someone who thinks an awful lot about anniversaries and other memorial intervals, so count on July 22 being a big deal. In short, it's been just right. I feel reborn. There are challenges, sure, but I am very happy about the choices I've made, the opportunities I have, and everything that lays ahead.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Day 21: Memories of an Angel

Caravan of Dreams, the vegan café below Matt's apartment. We ate, we listened to Bach, Berg, and Bernstein. And he's in a good place. And so am I.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Day 20: Darkness

Took a long slow walk home from the pool tonight.

Can this week be over with already?

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Day 18: Runoff

It was about as gross as possible outside today, and I wanted my photo to capture some of that.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Day 17: Imagine

From the school down at 130 and Convent. There's lots of great stuff to photograph there. This long weekend was the rest and recovery I needed. Excited for a busy week ahead!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Day 16: Peaceful Sunday

Lots of photos to choose from today even though much of the roll was stuff that Matt shot on our shopping stroll. But recalling that the editorial guideline for me is that my photo should be connected to how I feel each day, this is the best selection. It's been delightfully peaceful and pleasant (and cold, but it's okay).

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Friday, January 14, 2011

Day 14: Frozen

Sadly, my series of photos of frozen cherries turned out unimpressive. This was the good shot for the day.

Meanwhile, it is extremely, extremely cold out.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Day 13: This is where I am

As this project goes on, I want to do a lot of portraits. I love faces, they are a lot of the shots I do for work, and I could use the practice. So if you want to volunteer to be photographed by my clumsy hands, or want shots of you and your dog or whatever, drop me an email.

This is my best friend, Matt. He's been in my life for sixteen years and I can't imagine living without him. He's both chief critic and often my photography tutor. He has just moved into a new apartment and is beginning to adjust to it.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Day 12: Baldr

I did some housework today - put a rug in the living room, covering most of the awful linoleum. Once that was in I did some flash work with my statue of Baldr. Baldr's death heralds Ragnarök but he is reborn after the battle.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Day 11: Finish Line

I chose this shot for personal reasons that are difficult to explain. A lot of things are ending right now. It's probably their time. I am trying to remember what matters. So I look at this. This place has always mattered. Being here has brought so much joy to me.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Day 10: Shining Strata

I commuted to New Haven for work today, something I've been doing on most Mondays since July, but this was the first such trip in about a month. In the interim period, a massive new skyscraper has been completed in town, and my workstation was moved up to the 3rd floor of the old office. So I was completely disoriented there, which, I have to confess, I liked.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Day 9: Out in the East Village

After completing a 4200-yard One Hour Swim I went out for a delightful celebratory brunch with friends down in the East Village, where Matt just moved into a new apartment. I am in a fantastic amount of pain but it was a great event and great to have some very dear friends there to support me.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Day 8: La Vita su Broadway

This is also an editing project, isn't it? This shot was saved from the dustbin by digital magic. Went over to Tanto Dolce at B'way/140 with my dear friend, the incredibly talented Ryan Carter, for a post-holiday catch-up. It's a nice little café (emphasis on the little) of which there are not so many, and not enough, in this neighborhood. Good for a scone craving.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Day 7: A Lamp In the Dark

Rough day to close out a rough week, and I felt like the photos I took today - lots of them, in all sorts of places - were all uninspired. Which I guess is unsurprising since personally I'm just exhausted. I got a nice shot of myself pretending to sleep; I think I liked it only because it projected where I really wanted to be. But I chose this one because because while I've been kind of big on "lights" this week, the color palette has been limited. I also was interested in the textures here.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Day 6: Alma Mater Lunae

This isn't quite the shot I was hoping it would be. I got to Columbia pretty early tonight and took some decent shots of a bunch of different things and this is the best one of the bunch. Would have preferred some focus on the moon there, but oh well.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Day 5: And... Columbus Lights

I showed yesterday's picture to Matt and when I said Columbia he misheard "Columbus" and told me I needed to go look at the lights at Columbus Circle, which I did after work today. I like the starfield effect.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Day 4: Columbia Lights

Holiday lights are still up on Columbia's 116th Street walk. I'm here at least three times a week for swimming. I imagine through the year I'll be posting a lot of photos from the Columbia campus. After nine years at Yale there are strange ways in which it's comforting to set foot on a university campus again, even if for an entirely different set of reasons.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Day 3: Superscript

This morning, the reflections of the windows on the western side of 7th Avenue wrote curious glyphs on the walls on the eastern side.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Day 2: Plastic Nativity

This is the nativity scene at the Catholic church at the foot of my block at 131st Street. I noticed it this morning looking decrepit in the gloom and knew I had to come back to get a shot of it at night.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Day 1: New Ornament

This is the loveliest part of my Christmas tree, a gift from my parents. It's a real leaf dipped in gold, a bit how I figure Tolkien pictured the leaves of Laurelin.

My tree is new this year and I'm still seeking an appropriate star. We'll probably have to build one. Hopefully that will be one of the final photos of this project in December.