final day of workshop

Here's a final grouping of pictures I made this week in Harlem during the Visual Storytelling Workshop.

workshop: day four

My project in Harlem continues. Tomorrow the work will be edited into a tight group of selects and will be shown at the closing reception for the workshop. Jim Estrin has been a really good teacher, and I've enjoyed my classmates. The project I've worked on has pushed me in many ways, most of which I haven't even begun to mentally process. It's been a great week.

Here are some photos I made today.

workshop: day three

Still pluggin' away. I did get called a whore today for the first time in my life. The young man, whose head happened to be in the back of a couple of pictures I shot, wheeled around and absolutely exploded right in my face.

workshop: day two

My pedometer says I walked about seven miles in Harlem this afternoon. My last hope for a "story" evaporated, and I am committed to simply doing street work there. Here are some favorites so far.

day one of cuny workshop

Today was a day for getting to know each other's work, discussing our projects for the week and listening to Jim Estrin talk about the important elements of effective visual story-telling.

None of my leads for various photo-essay ideas have panned out. There's something in Harlem that may come through tomorrow, so I spent the afternoon shooting on the streets there (to establish context). If that falls through, I'm not sure what I'll do.

It was really great hanging out in Harlem.

why i do it

A sense of discovery is what drives me to make pictures. Discovery of the world around me, discovery of how I fit into it. I can’t not make the work. The world and its inhabitants hold so many questions and so many secrets, so many layers and shapes and juxtapositions; my photography sometimes satisfies my curiosity about these things, and sometimes it only adds more questions and secrets to the pile. I'm happy either way.

on the street

Here are some more street pictures I made in New York.

nyc!

I've just spent the most fabulous weekend in NY, putting memorable and meaningful final touches on the celebration of my 60th birthday - with the help of seven close girlfriends.

I took some time to see the Ray K. Metzker and Saul Leiter exhibitions, both of which really inspired my street shooting. Though I spent most of the time laughing, eating, talking, confiding, drinking, walking, seeing shows and laughing and eating and drinking some more, I did make a few pictures.

the cloisters

Walking around the grounds at the Cloisters, I saw a guy photographing a pigeon very up close.

What a beautiful place The Cloisters is! It is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art located on the northern tip of Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River. The building was pieced together with features from five French cloistered abbeys that had been taken apart brick by brick before being shipped to New York. (The pieces were reassembled between 1934 and 1938.) It is used to house art and architecture from Medieval Europe.

The grounds are landscaped with gardens planted according to horticultural information obtained from Medieval writings and artifacts. It's a surprising and peaceful get-away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Carol and I were utterly smitten with it.

(Thanks, Jason, for recommending we go there.)

love moon man and eat your veggies

just wandering around new york.

mayson gallery/change the truth fundraiser

The installation of my show at the Mayson Gallery took place today! I was there for a couple hours and took these photos of gallery manager Ronni laying out and hanging the photographs.

The gallery is on two levels. My new color work from Uganda (36 pieces) will be in the top floor; the downstairs gallery will feature paintings by several of the children from the orphanage, including Okecha brothers Oscar and Willy. 

Money raised from all sales will go to Change the Truth.

The opening reception is Tuesday night from 6 - 8 p.m. If you're in New York, please stop by and say hello! The gallery is located on the lower east side at 254 Broome St.