Category Archives: portrait
Coney Island
My grandson, Elliott and myself, having a bit of fun at Coney Island in August of 2019. The parrot is real.
Maternal Grandfather
This is a photo of my maternal grandfather at age 11, taken in 1913. His name was George and he was Dutch, part of a family that were early immigrants to New York.
Along the Tracks (Con’t.)
One of the questions that comes to mind, when viewing and shooting street art is: what does this say about our society/culture? Some people view it as vandalism while others view it as a form of contemporary art. Because the palette is in or near a public space does that change the dynamics? Or. like the images I have been presenting, are mostly out of the view of the public, but on a BNSF railway right of way does that change things? To get this space both the artist and I have to trespass across those railroad tracks. The palette in these works is just a retaining wall, so maybe the work enhances the large, drab concrete space?
I guess it begs the age old question: What is art?Â
We all have to answer that for ourselves, I guess.
Ireland 2014
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
A sampler of Irish landscapes taken in 2014. The Cliffs of Moher* are behind me and the other three images are from two different spots in the Irish countryside.
*I still haven’t mastered the ‘selfie’.
Where are You?
In todays world it seems easy to connect/reconnect. Saw this guy texting on the cobblestone streets of DUMBO, in Brooklyn. After a few minutes of standing alone the gentleman was reconnected with his companion.
This image is from 2010.Hello Fresh
Two Whole Foods employees, in the Lower East Side (NYC). After trying to convince me to try home delivery, even though I live 3,000 miles away. The girls insisted I take their photo. We also spent time sharing family info, etc.
Canada Gallery
A family reunion of sorts at the Canada Gallery, Lower Manhattan, NY. I rarely post an image of myself but this was a rare occasion, visiting the Canada Gallery and meeting with Lily. The last time we were able to connect was in 2012; a few hits and misses in the interim . Lily has been painting most all her life, when not traveling with her best bud, Chloe Sevigny. Her work has been getting a lot of attention the past couple of years. She has done shows in the US and Europe, which always sell out. Currently her paintings sell in the $10K -$15K range, but will probably go up. She keeps an apartment in Port Chester, NY, but is rarely there. Most of her time is spent in Upstate NY, living and working in a large old house that was once a boarding house. Peace and quiet in the countryside, rather than the non stop noise of NY City, etc. More space to do her work. I’ve known Lily since she was a wee lass, holding our months old son on her lap. Like many artists, she is very unique in many ways; her approach to life, time, work is on her terms.
The opening ended up being very crowded, although it was a miserably wet night outside. I found out, while there, that I had been put on a list to go out to dinner in Tribeca with the gallery folks and the artists represented by Phil, the gallery co-owner. However, I passed on the invitation and slogged my way back to Delancey and Essex St. to catch the subway back to Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Note: photos were taken with my iPhone.
End of a Day
Taken along the CA. coast a few years ago, after a trip to Santa Maria, CA. to bury my fathers ashes. Always fun to break basic photographic rules  and see what shakes out.
“I’m Kenny Banks”
Here’s the story on this series of photos: I was in the LES (Manhattan) during CMJ shooting street scenes between sets at The Cake Factory and other clubs, when this guy comes out of a pizza place holding a $.99 slice, blurting out “Take my picture”! ( repeatedly, till he caught my attention). “I’m Kenny Banks”! I don’t know who Kenny Banks is, but this guy seems to think I should. He carefully places his slice of pizza in his car, an older, black Mercedes, and walks up to me and says, again: “take my picture with my car”! So, why not, I will play along. People around us are stopping and wondering just what is going on and why is this guy is loudly barking out “Take my picture”. I quickly take a few shots of him as he goes through this set of gestures. When I am finished shooting he goes back in the car, as I think we are done, and comes back with a CD and business card which states he is really “Kenny Banks”. He goes on to explain that he recorded with Kool and The Gang way back when and actually did some writing and background vocals for that group. He asked that I send him copies of the photos, which I did after I got home in Seattle. I emailed him files of the above photos and have not, to this date, heard back from him. He currently his a part of this group called The Rhythm Makers which do a lot of gigs around NY.
I debated with myself about doing this post for a couple of months. I finally decided last night that maybe the time was right. Tomorrow I will post some of the images I was actually shooting when Kenny Banks briefly passed through my life :-).
Bluestar2012's Photoblog 