West Third
West Third II
“Some photographers take reality…and impose the domination of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation.”
Ansel Easton Adams
“Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.” Robert Frank
Purple Basil. 7.1.2010.
Our garden flourishes- herbs, lettuces, tomatoes, kale, spinach, and arugula. I truly did not know, when we began this backyard project a couple of years ago, that there would be so much bounty and pleasure garnered from the small plot.
“To me, pictures are like blintzes – ya gotta get ‘em while they’re hot.” - Weegee
Happy Fourth of July!
“What can possibly be different today?”, I ask myself. Then I look outside the studio window and slightly down. Incredibly, the roof is now a garden/ forest where there was debris and a lonely branch just three months ago (small photographs). It is clear what lies ahead. Even for this building- constructed like a fortress as a tire factory ninety two years ago, it is back to the earth eventually.
Renewal. 6.24.2010.
“The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking.” - Brooks Atkinson
Peony 5.27.2010
Carnegie 6.2.2010
“I myself have always stood in the awe of the camera. I recognize it for the instrument it is, part Stradivarius, part scalpel.” - Irving Penn
“Some people are still unaware that reality contains unparalleled beauties. The fantastic and unexpected, the ever-changing and renewing is nowhere so exemplified as in real life itself.” - Berenice Abbott
The New York Times online this week published my audio/photo story about Sue and George Roby.
The New York Times Online
Sue Roby tells her story in this collection of ‘essays’. George Roby follows follows with his optimism and support. It was an honor to spend time with this courageous couple. Sue’s willingness to face her future with an open mind and heart, and George’s insistence to be of service, are an inspiration.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Sue and George, as well as with all others who are facing Alzheimer’s disease.
“When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.” - Robert Frank
Boardwalk. Incredible.
Boardwalk. Storm II.
I had the impulse to bring my camera along to lunch today. After all, we were going to eat ‘al fresco’ at the Boardwalk Cafe with it’s uninhibited view of Lake Erie. Actually, its more like you’re eating in the lake or on the lake rather than at the lake. The cafe’s outdoor tables are right on what was the dock for the former automobile and paper warehouse, Quay 55, which was built in 1929 and abandoned in 1974.
So- about the impulse to bring along the G10- I had it in my hand and then I succumbed to the resistance and put the camera down before leaving for lunch. Given that fact, I was not at all surprised that while finishing up eating the bountiful and fresh garden salad, I was absolutely struck by the impression of Lake Erie framed by the umbrella and the railing, along with the graceful hanging planters.
As I pulled out the Blackberry Storm II to see if it’s fixed focal length lens could ‘capture’ the scene as seen, one of my lunch companions pulled out his new HTC Droid Incredible. I immediately snatched it from him to make some comparison files.
Above are the post production results, after some basic PS color balance and exposure adjustments. Both ‘cameras’ product decently large files, however the Incredible’s is larger. Both produce acceptable file quality, although the Storm II falls a little below acceptable and the Incredible is amazingly above acceptable in quality.
Overall, this quite unscientific test definitely inspires camera envy in the phone category!
“You have a lifetime to learn technique. But I can teach you what is more important than technique, how to see; learn that and all you have to do afterwards is press the shutter.” - Garry Winogrand
West Side Market 5.21.2010
Stepping into the West Side Market is entering into a world that was, from it’s beginning almost 100 years ago, designed for the shopper to feast on the foods of sight, sound, and smell. I will be visiting often during the next year to photograph for the new book by Laura Taxel and Marilou Suszko that will celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of The Market.
“I am not interested in shooting new things - I am interested to see things new.” - Ernst Haas
Innerbelt. 4.17.2010
Boiler. 4.17.2010
Geometry. 4.17.2010
Nickel Plate. 4.17.2010
Columbus. 4.17.2010
Columbus. 4.17.2010
Congratulations to Chef Jonathon Sawyer and all at The Greenhouse Tavern for being named Cleveland’s Best New Restaurant by Cleveland Magazine! This award is especially heartwarming, not only because of the fabulous locally sourced food that GHT serves up every day and the incredible ambiance of the tavern, but because the place is Ohio’s first certified green restaurant.
We had a great time recently photographing Jonathon’s food for the cover and the tavern for the inside spread for the Silver Spoon issue of CM. This is so timely, since I just posted about Jonathon and the accolades from Food and Wine Magazine last week.
Additional congrats to Jennifer Kessen, art director, and Cleveland Magazine on their first redesign in almost ten years. Looks awesome!
Silver Spoons. Cover. 5.2010.
Chef Jonathon 4.2.2010
Chef Jonathon 4.2.2010
“If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it’s already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.” - Eve Arnold