Train Yards 2x

On vintage film:

And an air bell thrown in for extra measure!  Did I plan it this way, of course not, but you probably knew that already...

Sidewalk Sneaker Design

Featuring Shadow, at Hip Hop USA:

Yes, established artists and "regular" people alike broke sneaker bread ("sneaker bread?") that day to apply graffiti art to the blank canvas (quite literally canvas) of sneakers.  Go down to Hip Hop USA at 343 Lafayette St.  I think they're having sneaker battles every Saturday.  Go!  See!  It's a nice way to spend a weekend so why don't you?

Mobile Skateboard Truck

And I forgot his name (as usual):

And this was one of those SWC shots with an incredible light leak, as you can see.  I burn tooled the shit out of it (and pretty sloppily, as you can see), and it's still evident.  Of course, I could probably just do a crop on him, but why put all that work in?

Building Supports

On the West Side:

Usually this little bit of real estate is shut out from the public, but I was fortunate enough to saunter by when the alleyway entrance was open.  I took a fair amount of shots with the SWC, but of course, there was a light leak in half of these shots.  Though maybe some of them can be saved through creative cropping and perhaps the burn tool in photoshop.  I keep forgetting one of my backs has a sometime light leak with the SWC, but I keep forgetting which one...

SEN One at Work

Working his craft: 

I have a proper portrait of George "SEN One" Morillo that I'll be posting another day.  I'm thinking maybe then I'll give his full biography (well, as much as a bio that I give), but he is part of the second generation of graffiti artist subway bombers which came up in the 80s.  I'm not sure what to say now other than he's a really great guy.  You know, I think I've given my version of his bio.  Either way, he's a man that went from being a "criminal" to a well respected artist and teacher.  

Jon Bon Jovi

Yes, Bon Jovi is in this unintentional double exposure on 60-something year old film, but can you find him?

It's pretty busy, isn't it.  Still having trouble?  Let's take a closer look:

Still not convinced?  Are you saying you don't believe the yellow writing on the wall?  Let's look even closer:

Et voila!  But who is that mysterious figure out of frame to the right?  It's none other than...

Yes, Richie Sambora!  It looks just like him, right?  He used to have sex with Heather Locklear!

If I hadn't double exposed this somehow (in the 501CM yet), the shot looking down West Broadway might have actually been something.  Instead, you get a not so challenging version of Where's Waldo and it's not even quite that.

I wonder how many people doing searches for Bon Jovi will end up here...

Fresh Salt and Smoked Fish

Down by the South Street Seaport: 

I think that's "Smoked," Right?  

You ever have those nights where you just don't want to go to sleep, even though you know you have to, and then you get maybe just a few hours the next morning and then go through the whole day in a haze getting a fraction done of what you need to do, or is it only me?  

Slice

Of street, from the Brooklyn Bridge:

I'm still debating whether I like the car in the shot.  I was timing the shot more with the people in the crosswalk in mind, more than the bridge traffic.  You know, these people:

So yeah, the jury is still out with me on this one.  But I like those little people.  I mean, little in the picture, not "little people" like Billy Barty and the LPA little people, or should that be Little People with capital letters.

I'll stop while I'm ahead, unless I've fallen short.  I mean, behind.

May

So here's two shots of May. I like the composition of the first one, but I prefer the look on her face in the second one. I'm sure if I were a better photoshopper I could figure out how to put one on the other, but it's hard enough just to photoshop just enough so it doesn't look like I'm using photoshop.  This is what I get for using the SWC for portraits without the viewfinder.  But the viewfinder for the SWC isn't even attached to anything, so why bother?  I prefer to use The Force.  And look what The Force gets me...too much headroom.  For some reason I feel determined to figure this out without the removable viewfinder.  Me and my headroom...

Oh, and if this works, it looks like I've figured out how to make a paragraph break with this new Blogger interface without using HTML.  Despite this, I stand by my criticisms contained in yesterday's post.  This interface update was really unnecessary, and it's just clunkier than before.

Thanks a lot.

Again.

Hip Hop USA

At 343 Lafayette, between Bleecker and Bond:

Hey, if anybody at Blogspot or Blogger or whatever this this is called now is reading this, I just want to tell you your new interface really bites. I mean, it looks like the viewers' experience is the same, but the view from behind the scenes is pretty awful. Why did you people have to screw up something that was so easy to understand and use? Thanks a lot. Jerks. Oh, and I just went to preview, and I see that the last three lines were all part of the beginning paragraph, and weren't their own lines. So does that mean I can't even have more than one giant paragraph here? Or do I have to start dropping some HTML code in just to put a space between paragraphs (and no, I don't know HTML code offhand, so thanks a lot you pieces of shit). And are you going to say that I'm ungrateful because I'm complaining about changes to something that's been letting me put my pictures and thoughts up on the internet now for over two years? Well maybe I am, but that doesn't mean that these changes still don't stink. Suck on my backlash.

Dead End

At Pitt and Stanton:


So there's some scan lines there. For the purposes of this blog, I'm going to leave them there. How's that for quality control?

Grace Church

I had at it with the SWC recently:


But my favorite part is below. At first I thought it was some kind of film artifact, though under closer inspection:


Yes! A bird! A bird in the sky! Who could ever imagine finding one there?

I don't recall if I remembered seeing them in flight when I took the shot. I usually try to get birds in the air if they happen to be flying about when I'm about to take the shot. You know, I like to get a little bit of dynamism into these otherwise forgettable architecture shots.

Students

I was sitting right near them on a bench, trying to be unobtrusive as I was sneaking shots of a homeless wheelchair type person nearby (of course) when they engaged me in conversation about my camera (the Yashica-Mat, I think. I mean, look at those light leaks. I'm not getting those from the Rolleiflex). I asked them if they were students and they said, "yes."

"NYU?" I asked.

"No, high school!" they said with a little bit of shock. Heck, how should I know these things? Heck, it wasn't even 3pm and it was a weekday. Looking at them a bit closer, I suppose it seemed that they did look a bit younger than 18. But more importantly, where the heck is that delivery.com order? I'm calling in another 5 minutes if this General Tso and his chicken doesn't show up.

Block Drugs

On 2nd Avenue:


I'm looking at this now, and I wonder how this would look with a crop. Hold on a sec, I'll be right back.

Okay, I'm back. So this is what I'm thinking:


See what I mean?

Heck, I could probably even take some more off the bottom. Let's check that out, shall we?


Yeah, I think that may be more like it. I wonder what the gals down at the office will think. Come to think of it I don't have office or gals for that matter. Oh well, I guess the input from random strangers on the internet will have to do.

Wait...now that I look at it, maybe that's too much off the bottom, and the middle one is the way to go. Oh, who can tell with these things nowadays...

Name Forgotten (VI)

This was one of those cases where I asked a total stranger for a picture. She was standing there in that near-crepuscular light and I just went for it. And for her appreciation, I forgot her name. The title up there says VI (that's six, or 6, if you will), though I've forgotten many more names than that since I've been doing this. She's from the South and was visiting here. I remember that, but not much else.

But thank you for indulging a stranger with a camera just the same.

Pete

Peter is the man on the front lines at Hip Hop USA (on Lafayette St, just north of Bleecker), at least that's how he put it to me. He's the man on point, available to answer all your questions about what's going on there.

And he's a nice guy, too.

Lava

Another one of the originators of NYC graffiti art. He was part of that group who were called criminals way back when, but today their art ends up in fancy white people galleries. Who knew.

I should have known to ask him to lift the brim of his hat, or maybe take it off, or maybe take his picture in the shade instead of the direct sunlight like I was insisting upon.

Why do I always forget this shit? Why am I so stupid?

Shadow

Shadow is one of the legends of NYC graffiti artists. He was active in the 70s, part of that crew that helped invent what we know today as graffiti art. When I caught up with him last week, he was at the opening celebration of the Hip Hop USA store on Lafayette St, just above Bleecker. I forgot what number it is, but go there. Buy some custom designed sneakers from Shadow and other legendary subway bombers from back in the day; some of which might even be appearing in upcoming installments on this here blog...

Desiccated

I mean, come on:


I'm not sure, but there might be a bridge in there somewhere.

Looking to Brooklyn

Taken with some older film:


It's a whole other world over there. That's why I live over here. I really have nothing today.

Reflecting Sun

I think I forgot to check my focus:


Or maybe it's not so bad all blurred up. I like the part of the Brooklyn Bridge pier (yes, they're called "piers") over on the right there.

Also, the film might also have been expired.

"Steam, Good!"

Times Square, Summer 1991:


Yes, that's what my gruff, Russian NYU cinematography professor said when I showed him this photo.

"Steam, Good!"

Want to jazz up a dull photo? Throw some steam in there. 9 out of 10 Russian NYU cinematography professors agree!

Prideful Pointing

Dig that crazy shoe! 1999-2000:


I just forgot what I was going to write here. Oh yeah, I was going to write about how tomorrow I'll be getting to developing (so he says, but he thinks he really means it this time). Been a crazy two weeks. Well, not really crazy, but they've been weeks. Now we get down to brass tacks and start cooking with gas and we'll leave it on the stoop and see if the cat licks it up.

SEARCH OF THE DAY:


So this is how someone happened upon my blog today.

I do believe this was the original synopsis for Easter Parade.

Concord Hotel Lobby, Then and Then

1985:


1987:


Today:

No longer extant.

This was my first attempt at then and now photography, knowing that they were going to revamp the Concord Hotel. I'm assuming in 1985 it was still the original lobby configuration and decor. Well, probably for at least 30 years previous to that, who knows. I could spend more time here going on about my weekends spent at this place and other hotels in the region and wax on about the waning (see what I did there, waxing and waning?) years of the Borscht Belt era, but I can't right now. This place is a mess and it isn't going to clean itself, despite what all those magazines in 1950s promised about how we'd all have self-cleaning houses in the year 2000 and we'd be living on the moon and walking on sidewalks in the sky when we didn't have our own flying cars.

So until then...

SEE A BROADWAY SHOW!

JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT! West 48th, Summer 1991:


Ooh, I just noticed after 21 years that Penn and Teller are at the O'Neill theater right across the street! I should have gone!

Hand on Hip

Times Square construction, Summer 1991:


I forgot what this guy was doing when I originally decided to shoot him, but he definitely wasn't just hanging around in his best "I'm too sexy" pose waiting for a kid with a camera to come along. I was somewhat disappointed that he modeled for the shot instead of just going about whatever his business was that I apparently found so intriguing that I had to photograph it. I'm not sure RuPaul would approve that pose, but looking at it now it does seem to emphasize his bulge, and you know what I always say, if you got it, emphasize it.

New Marlboro Medium

But dig those reflections! Yes, I'm telling you where to look. Summer 1991:


Apropos of nothing, the best way to get the freshest cupcakes at Crumbs is to get the cupcake of the week, or to get the timely, themed cupcakes. Like they have all of these Easter themed cupcakes that I'm eating my way through this week. I don't know if they're going to offer a matzo cupcake come Friday. I can see it now, a matzo cupcake with horseradish filling and a bitter herb garnish on top. I forgot if they actually do have Passover approved kosher kupcakes. I know I'm not going to order the Ten Commandments cupcake. When you order it, the counterperson has to go upstairs to get it, and when she comes back down, she throws it on the floor in disgust before going back upstairs to get a second one.

Can't we operate a single holiday without any goddamn guilt?

Just Slightly Ahead of our Time

And just slightly in front of those windows, Summer 1991:


I just took a look on Google Street View (I mean, why bother actually going up there?), and this building is now even more covered with signs than it was 21 years ago. I wonder if existing tenants got some kind of compensation for having their view compromised. I bet they're in there now, wishing they could see the pedestrian mall our mayor has turned Times Square into.

Pedestrian malls, bike lanes, and left hand turn lanes, oh my.

Metropole Go-Go

It has since gone-gone. It went-went. Summer 1991:


Okay, so maybe new stuff isn't getting developed just yet, but soon.

Soon.

I have a headache. Come on Extra Strength Tylenol, work your magic!

Injured

Times Square, Summer 1991:


It looks a little different now, so I'm told.

I think I'll finally get to some new film developing this week. It's about time. Though there's plenty left of the early 90s to dip back into...