single women # 35 / picture windows # 71 / art reflects # 32 ~ 6 days and nights

While in Mahattan during my recent 7 days travels, I discovered - at the Aperture Foundation gallery - a delightful little (5x8") book, Office Romance by Kathy Ryan. (see some pictures HERE)

No, it is not a romance novel but rather a collection of 154 iPhone pictures (4x4") which depict the same number of referents as seen by Kathy Ryan her place of work - the New York Times Building in MYC. According to Ryan ...

This began when I saw a bolt of light zigzag across the stairs one afternoon at The New York Times Magazine. I pulled out my iPhone and took a picture of it. Then I started seeing pictures all the time - incredible beauty and poetry in my office. It got my heart racing. When I see a certain kind of light out of the corner of my eye during the workday, or somebody us illuminated in an unsusaul way, I take a few pictures. It's a compulsion. Making pictures has become a call-and-response to the light and the day.

Inasmuch as I am a "call-and-response" (to quotidian referents / experiences) compulsive picture maker and a fan of small / precious pictures / photo books, Ryan's book gave me the idea of creating a small book (6x6" with 4x4" pictures) of my pictures which were made over the course of my recent 7-day travels. A diarist approach to presenting those pictures.

See the pictures.

Fyi, during the 6 day period I was able to add 1 single women, 2 picture windows and 3 art reflects pictures to their respective bodies of work. Although, the art reflects pictures will be the start of a sub-category within the art reflects body of work inasmuch as the manner in which the art is displayed through the gallery windows and the reflected architecture in those windows is decidedly different from that which is depicted in the current collection.

civilized ku # 4077-79 / art reflects # 31 ~ gone to the dogs

gone to the dogs ~ Manhattan / NYC,NY (click to embiggen)

art reflects ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

art reflects ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

McSorley's Old Ale House ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

McSorley's Old Ale House interior ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

Headed home today and will have more NYC pictures to post.

All pictures posted on this trip were processed on my iPad with Photoshop Express and edited (vignette and frame)with Snapseed. All will be re-processed at home with my normal workflowand then re-posted.

FYI, Abraham Linclon drank beer at McSorley's.

civilized ku 4075-76 ~ a little time for me

walker / her shadow and mine ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

NEW YORKER / 34th street ~ Manhattan / NYC, NY (click to embiggen)

First full day in Manhattan and I finally have some downtime for myself. Arrived yesterday and immediately went to B&H to attend a friend's (Mel DiGiacomo) photo /presentation / seminar. Afterward, a mid-Mahattan walk about and new pair of shoes.

Today's a bit of a relaxed no-commitments day. Nowhere to be, nothing on the schedule. Even though it's raining, I'll be headed out to get lunch and maybe, at the wife's suggestion, a pedicure + manicure.

In any event, pictures will be made. And, rain or shine, tomorrow is photo gallery hopping day.

civilized ku # 4071-72 ~ remnants

door ~ Alexandria Bat, NY • (click to embiggen)

utility meter ~ Alexandria Bay, NY • (click to embiggen)

So it begins - Turkey Day through the New Year and my tis-the-season time begins with a 7-day 1400+ mile odyssey ...

... On Thursday, home to North Jersey for Turkey Day eats. Then on Friday (without the wife), North Jersey to Rochester, NY for Hugo's hockey tournament. Sunday is the return trip to North Jersey to hook up with the wife and, on Monday, move on to NYC where she has a conference through Thursday. At which point we return home.

Looking forward to all of it, including the opportunity to visit lots of photo galleries / exhibits in NYC. Haven't been able to do so in quite a while.

Will be picturing and posting throughout the trip and, if anyone along my routes is interested in hooking up, just let know and we can try to make it happen.

civilized ku # 4070 / diptych # 215 ~ the calm before the storm

early morning light ~ Alexandria Bay • Thousand Islands, NY (click to embiggen)

vintage signs ~ Alexandria Bay • Thousand Islands, NY (click to embiggen)

Spent Friday night and most of Saturday in the very funky St. Lawrence River / heart of the Thousand Islands town of Alexandria Bay. The primary purpose was to transport Hugo and a teammate to their hockey game against the 1000 Islands Pirates.

The trip was extended through most of Saturday because, while the kids were swimming in the hotel pool after the morning game, the wife and I were able to sit on our room's balconey overlooking the St. Lawrence River / Seaway, enjoy a libation and bask in the warmth of a blue-sky 70F degree afternoon. The sojurn was made even more enjoyable with the knowledge that, by the same time Sunday, there would most likely be 2 feet of snow on the ground.

After leaving the hotel we walked arond the town's main street whick looks remarkedly like it did in the 40s and 50s - my kinda a place. I suspect the reason for that situation is that the town is a distinctly (upper) middle-class destination (although very expensive watercraft are to be found at the various docks during the summer /early fall seasons). Off season, the town rolls up the sidewalks and most retail shops / restaurants / bars close down making it a very quiet place.

AN ASIDE - most small villages and towns here about have attached to their WELCOME signs a smaller sign noting that zoning ordinances, parking restrictions and the like are in effect. A telling sign regarding the town's summer season character attached to the Alexandria Bay WELCOME sign states quite, OPEN CONTAINER LAW STRICTLY ENFORCED.

civilized ku # 4069 / ku # 1393-94 ~ late autumn remains

roadside things ~ Ore Bed Rd / Redford, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (click to embiggen)

late autumn scrub ~ Westville, NY (click to embiggen)

late autumn apples ~ Bellmont Center, NY (click to embiggen)

Apropos of just looking and seeing ...

"...with most of my photographs, the subject appears as a found object, something discovered, not arranged by me. I usually have an immediate recognition of the potential image, and I have found that too much concern about matters such as conventional composition may take the edge off the first inclusive reaction." - Ansel Adams

"Now to consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk." - Edward Weston

If one were to google around the web searching for quotes from picture makers, Photography Division, the idea at the root of the Adams' and Weston's quotes - see and react, don't think about it - can be found to originate from a wide swath of picture makers. For a spatio-visual thinker - one who thinks in pictures - that root idea makes a lot of sense. For verbal thinkers - one who thinks in words - not so much.

Without a doubt, I am predominately a visual thinker - obviously everybody can do both. People in the middle of the scale use both equally. Those lying towards the either extremity of the scale tend to favour one over the other most of the time. As a personal example, a math problem has always been a picture in my head. It is also why I have never consulted the rules of composition when making a picture.

To wit (as found on the web):
… fundamentals in visual thinking lay the ground work for many design disciplines such as art ... [where] ... Two of the most influential aspects of visual composition in these disciplines are patterns and color. Patterns are ... prevalent in many different aspects of everyday life ...

When asked how I "compose" my pictures, my answer is always the same; I picture what I see. I suspect that if a predominately verbal thinker were to be asked the same question, their answer would be formulated by the recitation of some aspect of the rules of composition.

Since most people think both ways, can a predominately verbal thinker "train" their brains to think more visually?

I don't know the answer to that question. Perhaps that question is the topic for another google around the web.