Photo of the Day...

I'll be spending the next few weeks gearing up for Seattle and finishing up my Chinatown photo project.

Taken last night: 

Photo of the Day - Pretty Pictures

    Last night, I attended the opening of an absolutely wonderful photo exhibit Pretty as a Picture  by friend and former teacher, Ken Shung. 
    I took his Lighting for the Magazine Photographer class at SVA last year and it was such a rewarding learning experience. Ken is a remarkable instructor, of the schooling that there is no right or wrong technique in photography (composition, lighting..etc) ...it's forever an individual  process of trial and error ---which is absolutely true. You can't teach someone how to take beautiful shots, you can only provide them with the basic skills and let them develop their own eye, and everyone has a completely unique eye for images.

    (Below is one of the images I shot in his class of model Autumn Potter:)  

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I found Ken's Pretty As a Picture exhibit fascinating because it showcases decisive moments and gorgeous imagery that capture beautiful moments in time...snippets of stories that the viewer is only given a frame of.
The exhibit, described best by Ken, himself:

 “It is said that a photographer/ artist is always searching to find his or her own vision and voice, otherwise they just ends up making a bunch of Pretty Pictures. With this collection of recent images I explore the nature of ‘When is a photograph just a Pretty Picture?’”

    It's a rather interesting question, no? It's actually been the theme to my struggles in developing a stronger body of work this past year. I previously spent a great deal of time creating images, not for their content, but strictly for their aesthetic and beauty. Sure, I went out with a theme set in mind, but when all was said and done, I worried more about making a 'pretty picture' than I did about the message that picture was trying to convey. The images all fell flat, without true depth or concept because of my approach.

(Below are a few examples of shots I took this past summer, which I won't strike down as 'failures', rather steps in the 'trial and error' chapter in the photography process.)

  My dear friend, Vladymir Bayla walking the Highline in NYC.

 

My daily escalator ride home.

The good news is that I have finally been able to pinpoint why the above two images have been bothering me so...and the glorious thing about Trial and Error is that crucial step of being able to try, try again.

Rain, Rain go away

Shot of the rain taken from my apartment rooftop yesterday.

Happy Sleepy Sunday!

I am in a most exceptionally delightful mood this Sunday. To quote a dear friend, I am happily drifting off into the ether. 

Breast Cancer Awareness Photo Calendar: Man Cans 2011

This past weekend I shot a calendar for Breast Cancer Awareness, set to come out March 8th.
The concept: Imagine a world where the only boobs left...are man boobs. 
From the brilliant minds of a remarkable group of women at BBH, the calendar takes a different spin on Breast Cancer Awareness and aims to encourage men to get involved with the breast health of the women in their lives. It was such an amazing shoot and each of our 'Moobs models' were fantastic sports. Please take a moment to visit the link below for more information about this project and this great cause.
http://mancans2011.tumblr.com/

Photo of the Day: Chinatown morning

Photo of the Day - Chinatown

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

 

Meet Butters, my good friend Amanda's adorable little Corgi. 

 

Photo of the Day - Central Park

I'm still working on a homework assignment on color due Wednesday for the photo class I'm taking at School of Visual Arts. Unfortunately, I'm limited to how far I can travel during my lunchbreak to snap photos. This, of course, leads to many, many, many photos taken at Central Park. Just a few photos I took during lunch today on what turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous February day.

Photo of the Day

Taken in Chinatown this afternoon.

At the Met with Jette

This weekend was quite the busy, busy. On Saturday my dearest good friend Jette came to visit for a grand Upper East Side tour and what's a proper tour of the UES without a stop at the Met?
Unfortunately/Fortunately the weather was rather frightful...but it did make for some great Noir-inspired shots.

Jinx! Buy me a ...

Photo of the Day

Taken during my lunchbreak at Central Park.

Photo of the Day: Brooklyn Bridge with Matt

During the summer, Matt and I embarked on several photo excursions,  the most ambitious/exhausting was our trip down to the Brooklyn Bridge at 3 a.m. 

Matt, being the jolly good sport that he always is helped me shoot the nearly empty bridge until the sun peaked out amongst the skyscrapers, fending off morning joggers and early bird tourists as I worked.  :-)