The Featured Image, taken by an unknown photographer, puts me on a New York City street in either the summer of 1980 or `81—I don’t recall which. That would make me 21 or 22 years-old, with hair!
Good friend Andy Morris looks on. My recollection of him is his infectious, and friendly, smile. Where is it, Andy? Was I that boring? Looking at how stiff I appear to be, maybe I wasn’t so good a street preacher.
Twenty-one years ago today, terrorists flew commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. Of course, I vividly remember the unfolding events, like so many Americans. That said, meaning fades with time.
Surely everyone alive when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941 shares similar experience. Think of what occurred during the following 21 years to make the event’s emotional impact diminish. Little things, like the Cuban Missile crisis in October 1962 that brought the world to the precipice of nuclear war.
About a month before Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists used hijacked commercial airliners as missiles, Carol M. Highsmith captured self-titled “Aerial View of New York City, in which the World Trade Center Twin Towers is Prominent“. According to the Library of Congress, to which she donated this photo and others from across America, Carol produced a digital image “to represent her original film transparency; some details may differ between the film and the digital images”.
The link from her name goes to the LoC page; that in the credit to Rawpixel Ltd., which posted the public domain cityscape on Dec. 9, 2018. Carol is the photographer but not the Flickr account holder from where she joins the series. Camera and other information is unknown.
Our selection comes from Henk Sijgers, and the first post-production photo of its kind to appear in the series so far—a composite, shot in Times Square and Columbus Circle, New York City. He says: “Both […]
We pause to remember the fallen buildings and the brave people tragically fallen with them on this 14th 9-11 memorial. I lived in the Washington, D.C. metro area that day, and the terrorist attack on the U.S. Pentagon was more immediate. My wife, a New Jersey native, more keenly felt for New Yorkers. I shared my reflection of that morning 10 years ago today.
Our selection recalls what was when it started. Wil Blanche captured this poignant moment from the Staten Island Ferry sometime in May 1973. Tenants started moving into the towers in December 1970, during construction. The buildings officially opened, as the tallest in the world, about a month before Wil shot the photo. Camera and other information isn’t available. The pic is courtesy of the U.S. National Archives.
Candid street portraits rarely capture as much character—eh, from cops—as today’s selection, which Brett Sayer captured on April 22, 2013, using Nikon D7000 and 50mm f/1.8 lens. Vitals: f/2, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 50mm. The […]
As an artform, iPhonography is more than just about the camera or the shooter. Post-processing matters, too. That my friends is justification for picking the fifth subway pic featured in this series (see Days 24, 45, 72, and 155 for the others). Ryan Vaarsi captured self-titled “Let Me Ride—West Village” one week ago using iPhone 6 Plus. Vitals: f/2.2, ISO 100, 1/15 sec, 4.2mm.
The photo takes the Day for composition, color, and contrast that looks more like film than digital. Ryan got the classic look in part by applying the VSCO Cam app‘s A1 “analog” preset. The app is free, but most presets cost something. A1 is among a collection of 12 for $2.99. iPhone users can shoot straight from the app or edit existing pics.
For this second Friday the 13th of 2015, Juan Carlos Gonzalez is your lucky charm. His Flickr stream is a magnificent presentation of color and composition. Many of the photos seem to leap off the […]
Sometimes street photography is as much about luck as skill. Diana Robinson explains about self-titled “Parallel Universe on Houston Street” that “while photographing this mural…in New York City, two young men walked by in opposite directions wearing […]
Saturday Night Live Season 39 Episode 13 includes a llama in the opening monologue. Once again, like four years ago with post “Tweet If You See a Tooting Llama“, I wonder about the apparent fascination New Yorkers have with the creatures. So I did a new web search. July 3, 2013, New York Times story “The Llama is In” explains much.
Reporter Jennifer Kingson says the beasts have an “irresistible quality” and that 115,000 are registered globally. According to the International Llama Registry, there are 634 owners in New York—and that’s not many. California, Oregon, and Texas have the most, with 2,496, 2,084, and 2,036, respectively.
Mark Arm’s Tumblr post—photo of a Central Park animal—reminds me of a story. Summer 1980, I had just turned 21 and lived in a group house on New York’s Upper West Side. The Democratic National Convention convened at Madison Square Garden for about four days of mayhem.
I spent the day in Manhattan, where I had meetings at my employer’s office. After work I walked down 33rd Street from Park Ave. South to Seventh Ave., where is Pennsylvania Station. The first day […]
