NEW YORK NEW YORK – Here we are. On Manhattan. Working. Like everyone else here. Captured Lever House, one of my favorite corners in New York, on my way home from dinner. Ditto a more intimate view of the Seagrams Building. Shooting my Leica Monochrom with the ISO cranked up a bit to permit hand-holding at night. Two frames stitched in the case of Lever House.
Day 1,596 of one photo a day for the rest of my life.
On this day last year: Fog – I mean really this time.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I met a friend for lunch at the Racquet Club, got a haircut and then found myself wandering in midtown in good light. First a puzzle, then the answer, then a reflection. All with my Leica M and 28mm PC lens.
On this day last year: Out back.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Our annual partners retirement dinner – our firm’s most important social event of the year – at the Four Seasons Restaurant this year. This year I decided to follow one partner around with my Leica Monochrom and Noctilux lens. Here are some samples.
On this day last year: Construction site party.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Well, here we are in front of the Seagrams Building. A typical hangout for me. I often have meetings in the area and the plaza between the Seagrams Building and the Racquet and Tennis Club is one of the great urban spaces in the country. The plaza is presently featuring sculpture by John Chamberlain – works that look like they are made of crumpled up aluminum foil, but on a really large scale. Here’s one taken with my every-present Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summilux lens:
On this day last year: Matthew Marks Gallery.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – More interesting public art. There’s a new installation of a work by Dan Colen called “A Crack in the Clouds” in front of the Seagrams Building. It’s a bunch of Harleys that looked like they’ve been knocked over in parking lot. I spent an hour exploring them this afternoon. Here’s a sample, taken with my Leica M9 and the Nocti.
On this day last year: Rocks and ferns.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I’ve been thinking about what it is to photograph landscape (whether urban or otherwise). Let me describe the experience. There comes a moment when you physically experience some remarkable aspect of the light. For me the world seems to grow quiet and I work without thinking, intuitively. Time seems suspended. I reach this state of mind on those rare occasions when the light is very special and combines with the scenery in front of me to create a heightened sense of reality. It’s good to have a camera in hand when this happens. I’m not wildly successful seeking these moments out with a tripod.
there was one of those moments this morning in the space between the Seagrams Building and the Racquet and Tennis Club.
Rafael Barrios sculpture “Acrobatic”.
More of the same:
Seagrams Building lobby:
On this day last year: Forsythia in the shape of Italy.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Well , , , walking down Park Avenue I had a major surprise. In the plaza in front of the Seagrams Building (for me the center of the universe in many ways) someone seems to have deposited a giant yellow teddy bear. I love this thing. It fills my need for monumental odd-ball sculpture in this area, a need that had been frustrated with the passing of Hello Kitty. What we’re seeing here is Urs Fisher’s big yellow teddy bear lamp which is said to have recently sold at Christies for an eight-figure price. This is sufficiently fun that I’ve flaunted my usual rule and included two images.
On this day one year ago: A picture of Cathy Robbins at Quatorze Bis.
