Friday December 11, 2009

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Today I went to Brooklyn to explore the Brooklyn Bridge from the east.  The Brooklyn Bridge is an icon.  My objective in my icons work is to sneak up on the subject from an unusual angle, approaching it as if it had never been seen before.  This isn’t always successful, but here’s today’s attempt.  This was at mid-day – it would be far more interesting in early morning light.  To be explored further.

Yesterday and today I had a rare moment of self-doubt.  Why am I doing this?  In the end I’m a landscape photographer – some of my work looks architectural because I live (for most of the week) in an urban landscape.  My formal portraits are fine but I don’t seek that work out.  My street work is pedestrian.  I was really struggling last night a Lincoln Center – finally settling on the fountain centered on the Metropolitan Opera.

You’ve heard of Rembrandt and Vermeer and probably Frans Hals.  They painted people (primarily in historical settings) in 17th Century Holland – the “golden era of Dutch painting”.  It’s less likely that you’ve heard of Aelbert Cuyp or Jacob van Ruisdael.  They painted landscape in the same era.  The Wikipedia entry on the golden era says “landscapists were the ‘common Infantry foottmen in the Army of Art'”  citing Samuel van Hoogstraten for the quote.  Citiscapes ranked even lower.

Anyway, here’s today’s view of the Brooklyn Bridge.