Here's The Real Reason I Went To New York

Almost two months ago on Friday, November 13th, Tom came home from work with a copy of USA Today. He showed me an article about a, no, THE photographer, Robert Frank. He thought that maybe I would want to see the exhibit, without him, of course because he's still working, not retired, like I.

The article was about an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that was honoring the fiftieth anniversary of Frank's book, The Americans. Various towns were mentioned in the article where Frank visited and shot the images. Towns such as, Charleston, Detroit, Memphis, Hoboken, San Francisco and Miami Beach to name a few. Since I love black and white photography and I've never had a history of photography class, I though it would be a great reason to visit my favorite city. Also going there at Christmas just made the trip more enticing.

So then I started thinking. Maybe I could fly up and back in the same day, but if I did there would be no way that I could make the lecture that would be taking place 11:00. It was too chancy. Soon one day turned into two. I talked to friends about going with me and one in particular seemed interested, and that was Karen. She often accompanies me on my local shoots and even went with me to a show in Myrtle Beach. Karen was apprenhensive in the beginning because she still teaches and didn't want to take the days. I finally had to have a "come to Jesus" meeting with her and it worked!

Three and one half weeks later we were on our way to New York. We left Wednesday afternoon so we could be at the museum bright and early on Thursday morning. We were able to hear two lectures that morning. The first one was way out there and was called, "Surface Tension: Contemporary Photographs from the Collection." Although it was way out of the box, the associate pointed out some interesting facts. Did you know that you can take a photograph of a painting hanging in a museum (with permission and no flash please) and incorporate it into your own composition? Yep, you can. That was all I needed to hear to motivate me to spend some time later that day snapping Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and Manet. I've got them all in my computer just waiting to bust loose in some future masterpiece.

Oops, two got loose. The first on is Monet. You can see his signature in the lower right corner.

This one is obviously Van Gogh.

Back to Frank. The lecture on his work was led by the curator of photography, Jeff Rosenheim. There was a huge group of people and 83 photographs to view. The lecture lasted over an hour and was extremely interesting. After working for Vanity Fair magazine, Frank came up with the idea to spend a year traveling the United States and photographing it's people in their day to day activities. In order to do this, he had to find a way to finance the project because he had a family and it was going to be costly. He applied for a Guggenheim Grant and was accepted. The grant, both the rough draft and the final copy were on display. In the application was the question, "What do you plan to do with the grant?", and his answer was "take pictures." I can't remember who the proofreader was, but it was rephrased in the final copy kinda like the way my mother "rephrased" my term papers, only on a different level. At one point the curator was replying to a question and said, "Robert thought that...," then he paused and looked around the room and said that he wanted to give the correct answer because sometimes Robert joined the crowd and listened to the lecture. What a hoot! He lives in Manhattan.

This is the cover of the book with an image taken in New Orleans. If you look closely, you will see that this image epitomised the south in the fifties.

Yes, it was worth the trip and yes, I bought the book. Aaaannnnnndddddd, I need to put more people in my shots...at least some of the time.

Here's A Tip

As Karen and I were having lunch at the Metropolitan Museum, we started discussing what we would do that night (Thursday). We both agreed that a play would be nice, but neither one of us had done any research on the availability of seats. So I pulled out my trusty cell phone and called my sister in California. Lucky for me she was sitting at her computer and was able to pull up the current listing of plays in New York. She read the description of several ones; a woman who sat next to me on the plane was going to Burn The Floor, but I wanted something with a plot. We finally agreed on Memphis. ...Since we would have to buy them at the theatre, we planned to leave at six and walk the fourteen blocks in the 27 degree freezing temperature. In addition to the freezing cold and wind, I was carrying my camera with the new wide angle lens. Love it.

We walked down Sixth Avenue bundled up looking like we were ready for a blizzard. We walked from Fifty-seventh Street down Seventh Avenue through Times Square, where I affectionately refer to as HELL, and then took a right on Forty-fourth Street. We walked one more block and there it was, The Shubert Theatre. When we walked in the lobby (about 12 feet by 6 feet) I approached the ticket agent by the name of Craig. After learning that there were tickets available the negotiations began. Be patient, the TIP is coming.

After the pleasantries, I told Craig that we didn't want zillion dollar seats. Furthermore,we didn't care if we were in the last row of the balcony...it just didn't matter to us. That seemed to go in one ear and out the other because he showed me a floor plan and pointed to seats smack dab in the center section, ten rows back. I knew they were expensive because Janie, my sister, told me during our conversation that they started at $121.50. After Craig told me the price, I told him AGAIN, that we wanted the cheap seats. Then he showed me something a little less expensive and again I declined. Here's where it happened. Read slowly.

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I laughed and told him that I knew he wanted to reach through the window and strangle me because I sold tickets for the Braves wayyyy back and I wanted to kill people who behaved like I was behaving, i.e. "Are they in the shade ?", "Are they on the right side or the left side of the section because I don't want to be distracted by people walking up and down the aisles ?", and "Are they under the overhang because we want to be in the shade ?", and on and on. Then I heard a voice behind the window asking if I sold tickets during the time that the Yankees beat the Braves. I told him it was before (as if I knew) and this started an amicable conversation. After Craig and the mysterious voice had a short conversation that I couldn't hear, although my ear was almost going through the window, Craig showed me the same seats that he offered at $121.50. Then he peered behind me to see who was standing behind me and saw that a line was forming. So instead of telling me the new price, he wrote it on a scrap of paper and showed me- $69.50. I accepted the new price and thanked him profusely. The mysterious man said something about extending the discount because I had been in "the business". Little did I know twenty some years ago that working for the Braves in those teensy, claustrophobic ticket booths after teaching all day would years later get me a $52.00 discount on a Broadway ticket! So that's the tip. Be nice, smile, try to joke with them, and when all else fails, tell them you used to sell tickets for the Braves. It's just me, but I would try the first three and only use the last one if you really did sell tickets for the Braves. You never know.

By the way, the play was wonderful and was worth the long walk to and from Broadway. Here are some of the shots I took with my new lens.

Thank you Craig and thank you Braves!

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF HER, YOU WILL

Last Friday, as we were waiting for my sister, Ann, to arrive from Connecticut, Karen (my friend who traveled with me to New York) and I decided to walk over to Columbus Circle and walk around the Time Warner Center. Besides, I knew there was a cute little restaurant on the third floor where we could have a coke and look out the HUGE window to watch millions of people play dodge ball with the cabs.

The decorations were drop-dead gorgeous. The stars that were hanging from the rafters changed colors in rhythm to the music. (More on this is a later post.) As we took the escalator to the second floor on the way to the restaurant, I tried to free my camera from the depths of my bag so I could take two or three thousand pictures. Digital is a miracle. As we were climbing on the escalator and after I got my hands on the camera, I spotted Borders Bookstore. I knew it was there and I was using their snack bar as a back up just in case the wait at the restaurant was too long. But before we continued our trek to the third floor I spotted a huge sign in the window of Borders. There were pictures of about six people who would be signing books soon with their schedules. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Lo and behold, the Pioneer Woman (http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/) was going to be there that evening to sign her cookbook. She was in Atlanta the Monday before I left for New York, but I couldn't go and I was just sick about it. Those of you who do not know who she is, you will.

Side Bar: Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, has a blog. It is absolutely the best blog that I have ever read. It's divided into sections: confessions, photography, cooking, and home and garden. Of course my favorite part of her blog is photography. She puts the process into every day lingo that is easily understood. You really should take the time and check it out, but it will take hours if you try to read it all at one sitting.

After seeing the notice in the window, I had to go in the store and get the low down. Poor Karen, she followed me into the store as I was mumbling, drooling, and running all over the store trying to find the book. Finally I got control of myself and found a really nice man who took me to the front counter and asked one of the folks to show me THE BOOK. That is when I met Amanda H. She is an angel. She not only showed me the book, but looked up my Borders club number so I could get a discount on the purchase price AND, get this, gave me THREE wrist bands so we could get seats at the discussion and the signing. "Good grief", I thought, "this is New York, people aren't supposed to be this nice and certainly not this helpful." But she was and it didn't end there.

I told Amanda all about The Pioneer Woman. Bless her heart, she really hadn't heard of her until recently. As she was showing us where the discussion and book signing was going to take place, she mentioned that the Atlanta signing had over 800 people. When I saw that they only had sixty chairs, I worried. But I didn't need to.

When my sister arrived at the hotel, Karen and I met her, exchanged pleasantries, and then I began educating her about the PW. She was willing to go with us, but I couldn't see any enthusiasm. She didn't "get" the whole PW thing, but I had confidence that she would. We had to leave the hotel around five to get there in plenty of time. We also knew that we had to leave Borders at seven to get to Lincoln Center to see the Nutcracker. Sadly, I had given up hope of having her sign my book. When we arrived we found Amanda H. and my sister asked her if there were any books left because she wanted to buy one. Amanda being the angel she is, took Ann's credit card and even gave her my discount! Amazing. Get this...she knew that we had to leave early (she also has a great memory) so she took our books in the back of the store where PW was waiting and asked her to sign them for us! She should be Employee of the Year. Maybe I'll write a letter.

At around six, out came PW. She was dressed in black, and had a sweet smile. She answered about fifteen questions from the two or three hundred in attendance. As soon as she started signing books we made a quick exit.

What surprised me was that PW seemed timid. I imagined her to be really outgoing and she probably is when she isn't in front of a huge NYC crowd and her publisher. She writes in some of her posts that she's always nervous, but she doesn't need to be...everyone there loved her!

We met a nice young man while we waited, named James. James was from Oklahoma, where PW lives, but was working in NYC at Bank of America. He knew almost everything about her. He's her friend on FB and Twitter. In fact, he got a tweet from her as we were talking. What a hoot! James also likes to cook, thus the cookbook. (Sorry for the blurred shot, James. I only brought my wide angle lens.) I don't cook, but I did buy the book just in case the mood strikes. Truth be told, if she wrote a book on dirt, I'd probably buy it. I'm a fan, what can I say?

Note To Self: NEW YORK CITY IS COLD IN APRIL

I've been back in Atlanta for six days after my trip to New York and I've finally thawed out. I know you think I'm exaggerating, but the temperature didn't get over 50 degrees while we were there. But a little thing like freezing temperatures and hurricane force winds didn't stop us.

I met my sister, Janie, at the Atlanta airport with her friend, Shirley, who were changing planes to continue their trip to NYC. I joined them on the final leg of their journey. Shirley was going to visit her daughter and Janie and I were visiting my niece and Janie's daughter, Jennifer. We thought it was a perfect time to visit Jennifer because it was her spring break and she could spend the week guiding us to the right subway and pointing us in the right direction on the city streets. It was nice not having to have our AAA maps in our frozen hands at all times. We must have walked miles and I know we climbed hundreds of steps. Although it rained or misted most of the days, I was able to take a few shots on two of the days.

On Monday we met Shirley at the River Cafe located on the Brooklyn side of the East River. The restaurant is located near the Brooklyn Bridge and is steps away from an area called DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). After lunch (which I might add I couldn't recognize many entrees on the menu...I had chicken) we set out on an adventure. I think Janie and 'em were looking for Jacque somebody's chocolate shop and I was looking for THE SHOT. After finding the chocolate shop and getting great hot chocolate, we found Water Street where I took these shots.

The next day we met my oldest sister, Ann, in the city. We had lunch at a really nice restaurant behind the New York City Public Library, followed by a tour of the library. As we were walking, before the rain began, I managed to get this shot. This house is located directly across from the Port Authority. I haven't cropped or enhanced any of these shots, so please be patient.

It was wonderful seeing and visiting with Ann. We ended our visit with a glass or two of wine at the bar in the Waldorf-Astoria. After putting her on the bus to Hartford, we managed to crawl to the subway heading to Brooklyn.

The last day, Thursday, April 16th, the sun appeared! We packed and then headed to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The cherry trees were in bloom and the tulips were everywhere. As we walked along the paths we saw turtles sunning themselves. Here's a few of them.

I don't usually take photographs of landscapes (except the beach), but this was too beautiful to ignore.

Here'a a shot of my sister and Jennifer. FYI, they were standing in the shade so I used my flash. Until I took my last photography class, I had never used a flash outside. Who knew?

Here is the final shot. I asked a young woman who had a SLR camera around her neck to take this picture, thinking that she knew how to use it. Not so fast. Not only did she not focus the shot, but the composition is not so good. Whatever.

Looking back, I think it's a good thing that she didn't focus. It's hard to see the enormous bags under my eyes and the extreme pain I was in from the endless walking and climbing. Now I know why you rarely see older people ride the subways. Come to think of it, there really aren't that many overweight people down there in the tunnels. That's something to ponder Jenny Craig.

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I must end this post by thanking Jennifer for allowing us to hang out with her for six days. She was a expert tour guide who showed extreme patience with her aunt and mom. She even let me use her Mac to check FB every day, okay twice a day. I bet next year during spring break, Miss Jennifer will high tail it out of the city to parts unknown. Who could blame her?

My New York City Adventure: Part 5, One Final Image

The night before we left New York to return home, I went to the pier located at the back of the hotel that is on the Hudson River. The pier was directly across from The World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. The sun was setting as I set up my equipment, so I was able to get images as the sky grew darker. This is one of my best images.

Thanks to my sister, Janie, my brother-in-law, Dennis, and my husband, Tom, for being so patient with me as I took all of these images. I couldn't do it by myself. Their encouragement and support continues to motivate me to delve deeper and deeper into this endeavor.

My New York City Adventure: Part 3, The Groom's Dance

Sunday morning as I was preparing to go on my big shoot of the Brooklyn Bridge, my sister called my room to tell me to go to the lobby and take my camera. I quickly finished dressing, jumped on the elevator and hopped on the escalator. Seeing the "big-girl" camera in my hand, and excitement in my face, the doorman told me to go to the pier to see the celebration. I had no idea what was going on, but I was going to find out. Here's what I saw first.

Then I went to the back of the pier and saw this man in a carriage. Someone in the crowd told me that this was a wedding celebration. Below are two images of the groom in the carriage with his young cousins.

What I and many others were observing was an Indian wedding ritual called a barat. This is the arrival of the groom and his family and friends at the wedding venue. As you can see, it is a huge procession with lots of dancing. Back in the day, the groom arrived on a horse decorated with beads and jewels, but this groom chose a carriage pulled by a horse. The procession of relatives and friends is called barati. I don't know what the plural is for barati, but this groom had lots of it!

A deejay in a van led the procession, playing traditional Indian music and shouting instructions to them along the way.

Pictured below is the groom dancing with his parents and most likely, his brother.

The procession continues. The groom is back in the carriage.

This young woman stopped and let me take her picture. She laughed and said, "right place at the right time!" I nodded and thanked her. She must like photography also, because she knew all of the color and the action helped to make beautiful pictures. Plus, the weather was perfect.

This older gentleman must have been the groom's grandfather. Bless his heart, he walked and danced all of the way with the barati. Here's Trigger! I have a feeling this wasn't his first barat.

Looks like he's had enough fun for one day.

Next, the wedding. Wasn't invited. Couldn't sneak in. Don't have a sari.

The groom entered last. Check out his shoes. I hope he got something to eat before the wedding. That was quite a workout and I bet he's starving.

The bride wasn't supposed to see him before the ceremony, but it would have been easy for her to sneak a peek. I wish I could have seen her. Bet she was gorgeous.

On to the Brooklyn Bridge.

My New York City Adventure: Part 2, The Hudson Swing Affair

Tom usually deejays for the shag crowd in South Carolina. This was different. The dancers at this event were mostly swing dancers, west coast, east coast, lindy, and a little shag. From what I've observed while watching swing dancers is that they LOVE to dance. They dance to lots of different kinds of music; but they really like it fast. Tom loves rhythm and blues, and sometimes throws in a little Motown...that's what I like.

Friday night he played in the Manhattan Ballroom, located on the top floor of the hotel. There is a balcony at the rear of the room that overlooks the New York City skyline. Here's Tom during one of his breaks Friday night. The tall building over Tom's right shoulder is the Empire State Building. Don't worry, I took much better shots that I will show you in later posts.

During these events there are usually workshops where various instructors teach steps and techniques. A couple from North Myrtle Beach, Jackie and Charley, were there to dance and to teach their workshops, Carolina Shag Footwork and Carolina Shag For Everyone. Here's Tom and Charley during another break.

Saturday night was the Black and White Ball. This was a dressier affair where most everyone wore, you guessed it, black or white,or black and white. It's a good thing it was before Labor Day, because everyone knows we don't wear white after Labor Day, or do we? It was lots of fun and the best part was that they loved Tom's music and most everyone danced to every song!

After the show that included a burlesque star and a comedian, Tom and I went to the lobby to meet my family. My niece Nancy (from Connecticut) and her friend Bill met us in New York for a quick visit. Nancy is a swing dancer, but didn't get the the hotel in time to attend the ball. We were all tired from the long day. Janie and Dennis went to Ellis Island, Jennifer worked on her school plans and, of course, Tom and I were at the event.

In this shot we are catching up and relaxing before we start out again tomorrow. Tom is going with me to shoot the Brooklyn Bridge, but before that a HUGE surprise. Check it out tomorrow. HINT: Not everyone in the hotel was there for the swing event. Hummmmm

Art in the Park: Part 1- The Shoppers

Last weekend was my 5th Art in the Park. I started this "adventure" last year knowing absolutely nothing about exhibiting in art shows. I must like it because I keep going back. It's really a wonderful feeling when someone likes and actually wants to buy your work. Sometimes I feel guilty about charging $12 to $15 for one of my matted 8X10s, but then I quickly remind myself about the expenses of the classes, equipment and supplies. That price is fairly inexpensive compared to street artists in New York on Columbus Avenue. It is a lucky artist who can make a living "doing art." Dare to dream.

I've noticed that I have become more and more confident with each show. I know my photography is good..not great, I just don't know if the "general public" agrees. I can almost tell when a visitor enters my tent if he or she is going to make a purchase. One thing I know for sure is this: when a person walks into my tent with a camera around his neck, he is not going to buy. These people want to talk. I admit it, I've done it myself. They usually want to ask me about my equipment and say "where did you take that shot?" I've learned to be vague in my replies. They seem to accept what I say, thinking to themselves, "I know I can find that dune in Cherry Grove," or "I know just where that house is in Charleston."

One young couple who came to the park on Sunday was putting a lot of thought in their purchases. The young woman chose an image of a chateau that I shot in Provence last spring. As they were paying, I told them about the location and she laughed and said, "he said he knew just where that house is in Charleston!" Poor guy. I wish I knew where that house was in Charleston before I went to France...

Then there was a golfer who was interested in one of my framed golf shots. Realizing the clubs in the image were antiques, his nose almost touched the frame. We talked about where he played golf and he mentioned that he belonged to a course where I really wanted to shoot. Because we had become chummy, I guess he thought he could ask me to come down on the price. Not a chance. He didn't have cash or a check, only a credit card. Needless to say, the transaction didn't occur. Love 'em and leave 'em.

At these shows I feel like a bartender or a hairdresser. People tell me some things I really don't want to know. I show interest. I care. I live in the South, I can't be rude. We talk about where they're from, where they're staying, what they're doing at the beach...you get the picture. One retired lady told me about her move to the beach from a city in North Carolina. Although she told me she was looking for artwork for her new home, I could see that she wasn't reaching for her checkbook. As we continued to talk and I showed an interest in her new life she found a picture that she just loved....a statue of an angel...just for her bathroom! A pity purchase. I'll take it.

Towards the end of the show on Sunday, a nice couple from Long Island came by. I could have talked to them for hours. He was a retired principal from an elementary school in Brooklyn and his wife was still working for the school system. Because my niece is teaching in that same area (a small world), I had tons of questions for him...."Why doesn't NYC buy new classroom furniture for the schools (my niece's teacher's desk is one of those old wooden ones that they used in the 50's)?", "Why don't they air-condition the classrooms?", "Why is it so hard to get students with discipline problems and learning disabilities tested?" and finally, "How can principal's get away with handing out teacher handbooks in December when it should be done before school actually starts?" Before they left, I gave them directions to nearby town where they could spend their evening observing a subculture in action. I hope they went. Bless their hearts.

These were the most interesting people who I met at this show. There were many more. I guess I'll add more as I remember them. What a hoot. I can't wait for the October show.