Taken on the grounds of our hotel (the Arial Sands – closed since 2008, but supposedly slated for a major redevelopment) during vacation in Bermuda in 2005.
Statue on the Water
Saratoga Battle Site
I’m something of a US Revolutionary War buff. I’ve had a particular interest in the battle of Saratoga, partly because it provides numerous examples of why the British could never have won this war (e.g. difficult communications; long supply lines; ready access by the US to militias etc.) but also because it was to my mind the most significant battle of the war. It finally convinced the French the the US had a chance of winning and brought them in on the US side. Saratoga is not too far (about three hours) from where I live. My wife was travelling somewhere so I thought I’d go up there. It turned out to be a gloomy rainy day. I had my then quite new Panasonic Lumix LX3 with me but didn’t want to damage it in the rain. So instead I used my old iPhone 3GS.
Battlefield landscape: a view from the ramparts.
Cannon
Benedict Arnold boot monument. I’ve always been fascinated by Benedict Arnold. If he’d died at the Battle of Saratoga (as he almost dig) he would have gone down in history as one of the US’s greatest heros. As it turned out he later turned against the US and his name is now synonymous with ‘traitor’. Not everyone gets to be a general on both sides in the same war.
Site of US Headquarters. Note the interesting flag, which combines the bars of the later US flag with the Union Jack. Apparently it’s called the Grand Union flag.
Site of British Headquarters
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Flowers in vases.
These were taken during a trip in 2004. I’d just come back from somewhere else and was tired and didn’t want to travel again, but had not alternative. I was working and the combination of the work and tiredness meant that I didn’t get out very much to take pictures. When I did get out I guess my heart wasn’t really in it because I didn’t like many of the resulting pictures. Here are a few that weren’t too bad.
I liked Buenos Aires though – or at least what little I saw of it. Very European feeling with noticeable French influences. Nice looking restaurants. I love meat pies and one night on my way back to my hotel room for some much needed sleep I picked up a selection of empanadas. They were excellent!
Taken with a Canon Powershot S50 compact camera.
Statue in front of the Casa Rosada
Door detail.
Empanada people???
Shapes.
Tango. Technically not much of a picture, but I couldn’t leave Argentina without a Tango picture!
The Art of Photography
What a fascinating site!. It has everything that interests me: information on cameras (particularly vintage cameras); articles on famous photographers; photography tutorials etc. And not just a few things. It’s packed with material on photography and cameras. It uses video extensively and I can spend large amounts of time just watching the various videos. As far as my interests are concerned this is arguably the best photography-related site I’ve come across. I’m glad I found it.
“The Art of Photography” is the creation of Ted Forbes who the ‘about’ section of the site describes as follows:
Ted Forbes is a photographer, media producer and film maker. He currently works as Media Producer at the Dallas Museum of Art. In addition he is also an adjunct faculty member at Brookhaven College.
Born in Dallas, TX, Ted began making photographs at an early age taking cues from his father, illustrator Bart Forbes, as well as other major influences who he came knew at an early age such as Greg Booth, Jack Unruh, Brad Holland, CF Payne and many others.
Having actually gone into music in high school, Ted attended the prestigious Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts followed by earning his music degree from the University of North Texas in 1997. Shortly after he took a media position at iSong in the height of the 90′s tech boom. This led to pursuits in multimedia and web based coding languages. Having gone back to briefly to “fill in some holes”, Forbes began freelancing as a media designer. Around this time, he also began to get serious again about his early passion of photography.
Ted started the Art of Photography in October of 2008 as an experiment that’s grown into one of the most popular podcasts on iTunes.
The Art of Photography
Robert Frank is 90 years old
Robert Frank is 90 years old on Sunday. The great pioneer and iconoclast has become a survivor, celebrated and revered, but still resolutely an outsider. One thing we can be sure of: he won’t be looking back.
While I like many of the photographs in “The Americans” there’s something about the book that I don’t care for. I have the extended edition, which includes contact sheets. You can readily see that shots have been chosen in order to reflect a specific point of view and may not always accurately depict the reality. It’s hard to believe that the 1950s, thought by many to be a golden age in the US, could have been as bleak as Frank makes it look.
Still there’s no denying the influence of “The Americans” so Happy Birthday Mr. Frank!
Below are a couple more pieces on Robert Frank and “The Americans”, which I found interesting.
Robert Frank’s Unsentimental Journey by Charlie LeDuff in Vanity Fair, April 2008