NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Another lunatic day. We gave a dinner party for 10, “auto catered” by me. On top of this November is typically a busy time in my day job (actually round-the-clock) so at a couple of points I’ve been hanging by my fingernails in terms of a daily photograph, and timely posting has suffered. As things ease off a bit I’m catching up on posts. Here is a guest at dinner:
On this date one year ago: Grant Winthrop at an Irving Penn show at the Forbes Gallery
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – We had dinner with some friends of long-standing at Steve Rubin’s.
There has been, by the way, a week’s delay in posting this image. When I get very busy I can bet behind on posting here, but be assured that I am taking a picture every day.
On this date a year ago: Book signing by Patrizia Chen
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – We went to a terrific Halloween party at Susanna Lea’s house – a good sized party with all ages, from newborns to, well, me. This is exactly where we were one year ago – same party and most of the same people. Here’s an image of one of the children at the party, taken with my Nikon D700.
As noted above on this date one year ago we are at Susanna’s house for a Halloween party: Susanna and Ingrid Betancourt
Here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry for Ingrid Betancourt. Interestingly when you enter “Ingrid B” as a Google search term she comes up first on the drop-down menu, ahead of Ingrid Bergman. Here’s Ingrid this year:
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Antonio Monda’s birthday party. Antonio’s Wikipedia entry. At parties I work with a Nikon D700 and an 85mm f1.4 lens, shooting wide open. I never use flash. The advantage of the D700 is very, very good low light capability – it’s much better than the Leica that I use in other circumstances. Shooting the 85mm lens wide open results in very selective focus, which suits my shooting style.
Here’s Antonio and his daughter.
Here’s a part of the crowd cheering Antonio on as he blows out his candles. The woman who the focus is on is Donna Tartt. Behind her to the left is Maria Campbell, my wife; to the right is Jay McInerney.
On this date one year ago: October 19, 2009
WARREN CONNECTICUT and BROOKLYN NEW YORK – We started out the day in Connecticut (with power restored) – photographed a neighbor’s cornfield in the rising sun. We drove back to New York to attend an engagement party for our son in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn.
Cornfield; Leica M9 and 1954 Dual Range Summicron lens.
Fort Hamilton. Same equipment.
On this date one year ago: October 17, 2009
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – We had a mass birthday party last night for a group of college classmates. Too much wine was consumed, but a few were left standing at the end of the evening:
NAIROBI, KENYA – We spent the morning visiting another remarkable charity: AmericaShare, which is sponsored by our safari organizer. It right in the middle of an extensive shantytown – a favella if it were in Brazil – and it provides a variety of services (including education) to badly at risk children in the area.
One of the needs identified by this program is reusable sanitary napkins which facilitate school attendance by teenage girls. They are manufactured on the spot.
In a study in cultural contrast we had lunch at home with Anna Trzebinski and her father, Michael Cunningham-Reed. Anna is a talented fashion designer, her father a remarkable raconteur.
