Category Archives: USA

Remembering the World Trade Center through Photographs

Clockwise from top left: View of East River from WTC, Twin Towers, View of Lower Manhattan from WTC, WTC Plaza, View of Statue of Liberty from WTC, View of Eastern Manhattan from WTC, View of Lower Manhattan and WTC from Liberty Island
Clockwise from top left: View of East River from WTC, Twin Towers, View of Lower Manhattan from WTC, WTC Plaza, View of Statue of Liberty from WTC, View of Eastern Manhattan from WTC, View of Lower Manhattan and WTC from Liberty Island

Today, we remember. Thousands of others have used millions of words to express their feelings better than I ever can. I distinctly remember where I was, what I was doing, and how I reacted when I learned of what happened that day, thirteen years ago.  Doubtless we each have our own memories and thoughts on this day, and I feel I am in no place to offer anything new or insightful. What I offer instead are some photographs I have. I took them in March of 1998 on my first trip to New York. It was a strange spring: during our ten days there we saw everything from snow to 80 degree (F) temperatures.

A lot of people talk about how the Twin Towers weren’t the most beautiful of New York’s buildings; while that may be true, when looking at these photos, especially the one of the closeup of the people by the Plaza below, I still think the towers had an under appreciated, industrial elegance to them. The other photos are of various views from the observation deck, and one taken from Liberty Island hidden in one of the collages. Of course, the photo quality isn’t great as they are photos of photos, although I tried to arrange them in a meaningful way. I may scan these some day to keep better care of them.

The three below were taken tonight from the Top of the Rock. (Note: The first time around the photos were mistakenly uploaded in lower resolution. I’ve fixed that now. )

In memoriam.

Moonrise over Manhattan: Supermoon 2014

Supermoon rises over Manhattan, as seen from Chelsea, NYC
Supermoon rises over Manhattan, as seen from Chelsea, NYC

 

The last of 2014’s supermoons occur tonight and tomorrow. I took this photo tonight from Chelsea’s famous High Line Park, without the use of a tripod.  The moon rises to the east and traffic whizzes by on the avenue below. I love the old, brick apartment buildings of Chelsea, the tree-lined side streets, and the tops of the towers of Madison just peeking over the tree-line.The Empire State Building is blue, green and yellow tonight for the US Open Finals weekend. Congratulations to Serena, and go Kei Nishikori tomorrow!

How to Take Unique Photographs of Common Subjects Part 1: Bethesda Fountain, New York

Plenty of subject to choose from, plenty of boring ways to shoot them
Plenty of subjects to choose from, plenty of boring ways to shoot them

Living in New York, I benefit from having many great urban muses to shoot. The flip side is, of course, that “It’s been done before” comes up a lot. We’re all entitled to our postcard-style, “I was there,” shots. However, whether you live in New York or not, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself how you can make your photographs different from the rest. It can be a conundrum, but a fun challenge at the same time. There are many different ways you can tackle this issue: framing, angles (get down low or get up high), etc., but today I want to talk a little about using light and synecdoche.

Continue reading How to Take Unique Photographs of Common Subjects Part 1: Bethesda Fountain, New York