Ice

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I’m actually getting a bit sick of snow and ice, as well as taking pictures of it. As I write this we’ve just had about a foot of snow. The snow appears to have stopped but now we’re getting sleet and freezing rain.

There’s so much snow and ice around, however that it’s difficult not to take pictures of it. So when I was last down by the Hudson River I had to take some pictures of this broken up ice on the sides of the river.

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Ice on Scarborough inlet

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Ice shapes

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More ice

Scarborough Park

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12:30 to Poughkeepsie?

Right next to Scarborough Station on Metro North’s Hudson Line is a small park: Scarborough Park. The Village of Briarcliff Manor website says:

Plan a picnic supper at this park! Incredible sunsets, and the sights and sounds of the majestic Hudson River, await you at this six-acre, 97 year-old park. Bring your fishing poles for some great fishing. This riverside park, located right next to the Scarborough train station, is one of the hidden jewels of the Village’s park system, and the Village is currently pursuing grant funding to further improve and develop the site.

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Path to boat launching area

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Icy Hudson River

Kertesz on Kertesz

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Kertesz on Kertesz

I bought this book and I really liked it. After a short introduction by Peter Adam it’s divided into three sections, each one a phase in Kertesz’s life/career: Hungary, Paris, New York It contains over 100 of Kertesz’s images, fascinating in of themselves. Many of them are accompanied by very short comments by Kertesz himself.

Still Life, New York City, 1976

 

 

For example, the above photograph entitled “Still Life, New York City, 1976” was taken late in Kertesz’s life (he died in 1985 aged 91).

The caption reads: “This is a photograph of the apartment taken while my wife was in the hospital. I wanted the apartment to be painted for here when she came back, but she never came back”.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that there wasn’t more of it.  I got through it quite quickly and wanted to read more.  This isn’t a criticism as much as it is a comment on the quality and readability of the the book.

Shack on Route 6N

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I’d driven past this several times. This time I decided to stop and take a closer look. I have no idea what it is/was. The sign “628 1010. Call Larry Zacks for appointment” is intriguing. I liked the textures of the wood though, and the crazy angles. Looks like it’s going to fall over at any moment.

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One hundred years and going strong – Happy Birthday Leica

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Leica Prototype

From The Guardian, Eamonn McCabe, Sean Smith, and Denis Thorpe talk about the importance of the Leica on the 100th anniversary of the creation of the original prototype. McCabe starts off with this comment:

 

 

Now that we all carry cameraphones in our pockets, it’s hard to imagine that the biggest breakthrough in photography actually happened back in 1914 – when Oskar Barnack invented the Leica.

Suddenly, photographers could throw away their heavy tripods and exploding flashguns, and step out of their studios to walk the streets and take photographs with this new mobile camera.

Barnack, a German optical engineer who specialised in microscope research, was also a keen amateur photographer, but his health was poor and he couldn’t carry the heavy cameras of the time. He quickly turned his prototype Ur-Leica into a lasting success. By 1932, there were 90,000 cameras. By 1961, a million cameras were in use.

via Happy 100th birthday, Leica! | Art and design | theguardian.com.