September 7, 2010
I was walking around the block in search of inspiration when I saw this couple of chairs’ shadow. Given the amount of distracting objects around, I was lucky to be able to frame it decently. A very spontaneous shot.
September 6, 2010
It probably isn’t the kind of self-portrait you would normally expect to see… nor necessarily want to see. I’m just a thirty year old guy who has had a very bad fitness routine over the past few years. For today’s shot, I elected to capture the one part of my body that I am not satisfied with. Why? Read on.
This morning, I watched a lecture titled “Love the Haters”, delivered by Tim Ferriss during the Next Web Conference 2010. I encourage you to watch it, but not yet… give me a minute. One part of his speech that I found most interesting deals with stoicism, a philosophy – if not a way of life – that I feel very close to. I quote: “Cato, who Seneca believed to be the perfect stoic, practiced this by wearing darker robes than was customary and by wearing no tunic. He expected to be ridiculed and he was, he did this to train himself to only be ashamed of those things that are truly worth being ashamed of. To do anything remotely interesting you need to train yourself to be effective at dealing with, responding to, even enjoying criticism… In fact, I would take the quote a step further and encourage people to actively pursue being thought foolish and stupid.”
Very close friends and family members of mine will tell you that I have little to no shame, and that I totally abhor the notion of guilt. I am free of such mind plagues. Leading my life according to a set of proven principles made it easy. For example, I strive to be tolerant, open-minded and respectful, and I expect the same in return. You aren’t, you’re out. I don’t go wasting my time with unilateral relationships. Nevertheless, my path eventually crossed with negative individuals. While the immediate experience can be very painful, I always found it enriching. It made me stronger. One needs to be exposed to a virus in order to develop antibodies. The same goes with relationships, no matter how brief they are.
What does this have to do with the photograph I took? Well, the collective masses have a tendency to oppose or simply ridicule what doesn’t fit their idea(l) of normalcy. When it comes to beauty, a very subjective topic, we generally yearn for aesthetics that are fed to us by society. My body certainly doesn’t fit that criterion, and the very reason why I chose to photograph it in the first place. I will admit it, I’m not a saint and have mocked strangers – not overtly, mind you – on their appearances alone. So, it’s only fair for me to expect the same treatment. I’m game.
The very fact that I seek to improve my physical well-being, especially the current poor state of my fitness, fueled my motivation to post this even more. While I highly doubt I will get criticisms here, I am ready to embrace them. However constructive they are, they will only push me faster in the right direction: training. Remember, this is not about you, I am only doing this for myself. So, haters, I thank you in advance and… bring it on!
“Love the Haters”, a lecture by Tim Ferriss
September 5, 2010
Our friend Dave was having his big Four-O birthday party tonight, duly celebrated on the rooftop of his apartment building. Took a few shots that are unfortunately way too private to display. I ended up not taking any other photo today, so what you see here is a crop. You’ll just have to imagine the rest 
September 4, 2010
I was walking in Chelsea when my eye wandered and stopped on this street collage. If you are familiar with the size of a subway map, you will agree that it’s rather large. Else, look at the brick in the top right corner. I really like how it all comes together.
September 3, 2010
Not a very interesting image – at least to me – and I assure you, nothing deeply psychological to interpret here either. I only had five minutes until midnight to find something in the apartment, set it up and shoot. The bright colors attracted me and that’s about it.
September 2, 2010
I was gonna make you guess what it is but realized how difficult a task that would be given my wife’s first reaction upon seeing the photo: “Ewww, gross, what is that? Some sort of rotten food?”. Huh, well, no honey, you do eat it that way, it’s one of your rice cakes. To be fair, I do occasionally take shots of gross stuff, including rotten food… I find it rather interesting how some subjects become so unfamiliar when taken up close. It really shows how little we pay attention to details.
September 1, 2010
I can’t believe how many shots of that ugly kitchen wallpaper I took over the course of my project 365. Jasmine’s artwork is now proudly hanging on top of it, and it just looks wrong. Please give me a plain white wall for me to really appreciate it. All the painting does now is draw more attention to its surroundings, and I really don’t want to see it. It’s gonna have to move to a better place. The only thing standing in the way of improvement is a nail. How can we become so complacent?
August 31, 2010
Jumping up and down on our bed is a favorite pastime of Jasmine. She usually tries to clear everything up first, or should I say rip it all apart and throw it away. Cushions do stay to prevent a potentially nasty fall though, and she gets some much needed supervision. Fun times.
August 30, 2010
I shot it on the opening night of the US Open, from the Arthur Ashe Stadium. I figured I already took a photo of the famous tennis court last year so I had to innovate a bit. I tried a panoramic view but it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. Instead, here’s a very low key photo of the Citi Field stadium, home of the New York Mets baseball team.
August 29, 2010
The Sunken Forest is a very unique ecosystem found in Sailor’s Haven, on Fire Island. Surrounded by dunes, it gives the illusion of resting below sea level, hence its name. The vegetation is so abundant that it actually gets rather dark inside the forest. It’s also much cooler, something that was really appreciated after the long walk under the scorching sun.
As you can see on the photograph, trees adopt some very interesting shapes. Due to salt spraying and windy conditions, they are molded and unable to grow past a certain height. You guessed it, the height of the surrounding dunes. I enjoyed my walk there very much. The tide was so high that the whole beach was getting flooded by the incoming waves, an interesting experience.
Should you be interested in learning more about the forest, check out those two very informative videos:
Fire Island: Sunken Forest Pt.1
Fire Island: Sunken Forest Pt.2
