Three New York Short Takes

Create | Bring into Being

Memorial Service

Leaving Church of the Heavenly Rest.

Famous Artists

I reckon Warhol would approve of these shrink-wrapped soup cans.

Railings and Brownstones

The blue is downright Hockneyesque, if I do say so myself.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, 24-70 mm, ISO 200-800. Railings and Brownstones is an in-camera multiple exposure treated with Topaz Adjust, a plug-in for Photoshop. ©2010 John Nordell

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Living in Japan, Baseball and The Promise of America

Enjoy | Delight in Life

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I spent 1980-81 teaching English in Japan.  While there, I read Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again.  (Click any image to enlarge).

Take Me Out with the Crowd

His vivid descriptions of life in America glowed neon bright in my small tatami-matted room.

The packed stands of the stadium, the bleachers sweltering with their unshaded hordes, the faultless velvet of the diamond, unlike the clay-baked outfields down in Georgia.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack

I recently watched the Triple A Pawtucket (Rhode Island) Red Sox lose to the Durham Bulls.

I Don't Care if I Never Come Back

After the game, families lined up...

Let Me Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

...to run the bases.

The above quote from You Can't Go Home Again, published in 1934, is from the chapter The Promise of America, which ends with this sentence:

So, then, to everyman his chance - to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity - to every man the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him - this, seeker, is the promise of America.

Jack Norworth wrote Take Me Out To The Ballgame in 1908.

Tech Tips: Ansco Pix Panorama camera, no settings to set, Kodak Gold Max 800 Speed 24 Exposure 35mm Film (4 Pack), film processed and scanned at Walgreens.

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An Overnight in the Catskills

Create | Bring Into Being

There is something deeply appealing about old homes, especially summer ones.

Rustic Elegance

Pretense is shed.  

Latching

Stories embed themselves in the woodwork.

Country Porch No.2

You could weave a rich tapestry with just one anecdote from each visitor.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, 24-70 mm, ISO range 200-400.  Country Porch No.2 is an in-camera multiple exposure treated with Topaz Adjust, a plug-in for Photoshop. ©2010 John Nordell

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Times Square Through an Archeologist's Lens

Look | Sensory Inspiration

At function for a mutual friend I reconnected with Christopher Ratte, a high school classmate.  The archeologist and I exited the Harvard Club on 44rd street in Midtown Manhattan and were struck by the light.

Looking West No.2

Chatting and strolling, we headed uptown through Times Square.

Bright Lights

Later in the evening, I returned to photograph the tourist epicenter.

Red, Orange and Yellow

Thanks to Mark Rothko for his work with painting scale and color theory.  Between advertisements, I caught a blip of "blank" screen.

Top Down Living

Thanks to the sausage griller for smoke to shoot through.

Hailing a cab at 42nd Street and Broadway on a midsummer's night is a labor worthy of Hercules.

Taxi!

The woman's expression of grim determination broke briefly as she rebuffed a humorous come-on from a pedicab driver.

Times Square for me was about light, people watching, and wondering (a la singer Peggy Lee) "is that all there is?"

Classical Study

The following day, I saw Christopher Ratte again and asked him about viewing Times Square through an archeologist's lens.  His reply went something like this:

I noticed the grid of streets, the parks, the relationship with rivers.  The circulation system.  The grid in New York was based on maximizing the profits for real estate developers on the sales of lots.  The grids in ancient Greece were based on everyone getting the same sized lot. (Updated 8/4/10)

Two days later, he left to lead an expedition in Georgia (country).

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, 24-70mm, ISO range 500-2500.  Bright Lights is an in-camera multiple exposure.  ©2010 John Nordell

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