November 27, 2009
“Christmas Decorations”
Traditionally, the day after Thanksgiving is the start of the Christmas season, the day when people start decorating their houses with thousands upon thousands of colorful lights. Subjects abound, a real feast for the eyes. I will probably have a few such displays to show you over the upcoming month. Inflatable decorations such as the snowman are a big thing here, often seen on houses lawns. Sometimes, they are even animated. Since neighbors tend to compete against each other, excesses are often witnessed. Fun!
November 26, 2009
“The Scalp”
This was a total WTF moment. I still don’t really know what it was, just that it wasn’t bloody. Probably just a wig, but I sure as hell wasn’t gonna touch it. As I was looking at it, a car driving by actually slowed down, probably wondering the same thing. I am growing quite fond of my little nocturnal escapades… there are always new – sometimes unexpected – subjects. I was lucky to find the scalp on the road, a perfect location void of distracting elements. I love how the cracks just enhance the grittiness of the picture. Eerily enough, when I went to process this photograph in Lightroom, I realized that its file name was “IMG_0666”. That was quite a hair-raiser!
November 25, 2009
“Banane !”
I was thinking for the right title when Jasmine passed by, saw the photo and exclaimed “Banane !”, a familiar call we often hear. She loves them. Actually, the missing piece was in her tummy. She left that one, which I gladly used when my time and photographic options exhausted themselves for the night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t spend as much time as I’d want to on the lighting, which shows. Midnight was right around the corner.
November 24, 2009
“An Escalator Ride”
I took this in “The Westchester” mall, where photography is apparently prohibited. A security guard let me know about it as I was doing a test shot. He then left. What was I going to do? Not take that second shot with my family in the picture? Let me point out why such a rule is absurd anyway.
First, there are areas in the mall where they have props set up for Christmas to pose children. Are they supposed to sit still on a box, smile and go away? Not really… parents do take photos. Are those areas less sensitive than where I was standing? Ever heard of wide angle lenses? Second, if I really wanted to videotape the whole mall, I would, and this without attracting any suspicion.
Yet there are those rules that security guards have to abide by… which are completely nonsensical to me. If somebody has a clue, please enlighten me. So many of those rules have been put in place after 9/11, so I am assuming it’s stemming from that. I may be wrong. If I’m right, all it really does is give people a distorted feeling of safety all the while adding a new set of restrictions.
As for the photo itself, I obviously didn’t spend a lot of time shooting after that incident. Hence, very little thought went in the composition and I had to crop it in post. I elected to crop Caroline out as well in order to better focus on Jasmine, which in my opinion made the end result stronger.
As a side note, minutes before I took this shot I was very tempted to take a photo of another security guard coming down that escalator. He looked completely goofy, chewing on his gum, slouching on the ride down with his belly sticking out, his hat on the side… a real cartoon character. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to take it. Or maybe that was fortunate… I’ll never know. Oh snap! I just realized why they don’t want people to take pictures.
November 23, 2009
“31 Chambers Street”
This beautiful historic landmark is the home of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services. It’s also the location where we held our second general meeting for Help-Portrait NYC. I haven’t blogged about Help-Portrait yet. In the words of Jeremy Cowart, its founder, “Help Portrait is a movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate this holiday season.” On December 12, photographers, makeup artists and other dedicated volunteers will join forces to take professional portraits of families in need and other people in distress who could never afford it otherwise. All for free. It’s not about our portfolios either, it’s about them.
Thousands of photographers around the World have answered the call so far, and built groups in their respective areas. I spearheaded the NYC group last September, with now well over 60 members. At the moment, we have planned events in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. If you are interested in participating, please get in touch with me and I will plug you in. We still have many roles to fill in: lead photographers, assistant photographers, image processors, makeup artists, community helpers, etc. No matter what your level of expertise is, we have a job for you.
If you want to be a part of this, please join our group here:
http://community.help-portrait.com/group/newyorkcity
You will find more information about Help-Portrait here:
http://www.help-portrait.com/
November 22, 2009
“Cutting Edge”
Yes, literally. Jasmine actually created this beautiful art piece… imagine what could have happened if she was left all by herself. A very scary thought. While we do our best to put them out of her reach, this is not the first glass she breaks, and there will probably be more… Clearly, this is a reminder to all parents out there: monitor your children, an accident can happen in the blink of an eye. This gave me a nice photo opportunity though, and I’m thinking of shooting it a few more times. This glass has so much more potential now that it’s broken, I will try to make the best of it.
November 21, 2009
“Pool Fun”
This was Jasmine’s first time in a larger pool, and she had a ball. All that leg flapping made me stay at a safe distance though… I am not ready to test the waterproofness of my camera. “Come on, Papa!” We would take turn in and out of the pool as she liked to do the same. Sometimes she’s too much for one person to handle!
November 20, 2009
“An American Suburbia”
It doesn’t really matter where you live in the United States, there’s always a common denominator: flags, everywhere. It’s a mark of patriotism Americans like to display. Albeit recent geopolitical developments, the US is still regarded as a safe haven by many people around the World. I used the contrast between the lit house and the negative space as a metaphor. It’s up to the viewer to decide where he prefers to stand.
November 19, 2009
“Blinds”
Let me reassure you, I didn’t take this shot for the aesthetics of the cheap, plastic blinds that adorn our kitchen. I took it to illustrate my thoughts and show to my fellow countrymen how shutters look like in North America. By that, I don’t mean cheap; some of them are very fancy, solid wood and what-not. But, instead of being outdoor shutters, they are indoor blinds. In Europe, we have shutters to protect us from burglary: an added layer prior to the window, so potential thieves can’t even peak inside. I remember being surprised on my first trip to Canada. I was eleven, and the locals told us something I will never forget: “How can you have shutters? It’s not safe. You can’t see if anybody’s outside!” It was a radically different way of seeing things, one which actually makes perfect sense… in a way. I’d still rather stick to shutters.
I now live in North America, and I have blinds. Cheap, flimsy blinds. You can rotate them at an angle to let more or less light in. Sometimes, one or several of the slats decide not to rotate with the others. Annoying, isn’t it? Well, I do think so. Seeing it made me think of taking this shot.
November 18, 2009
“The File Cabinet Car”
So what? This is just a car. No. Not just A car. Look closer. That’s right! It’s full of trash. As I was taking photos of this conversation piece, a passersby told us that people in the neighborhood appropriately named it the “file cabinet”. One would think this junk filled automobile couldn’t be driven. Well, apparently its owner does move it regularly from one side of the street to the other in order to comply with trash collection rules. How ironic! If you are in Manhattan and happen to walk around the West Village, you might spot this great example of compulsive hoarding. I wonder what the owner’s apartment looks like…
