Seen in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow, NY. I haven’t been able to find out anything else about it.
Statue in a cemetery
Two graces
Doorway of the Michael Kors show at 610 fifth avenue, NY in Rockefeller Center. This entry door between two shop windows belongs to the “Maison Française”, which celebrates the “Friendship of France and the United States. It features a gilded bas-relief by Alfred Janniot called : “Paris and New York Joining Hands Above Figures of Poetry, Beauty and Elegance”, dating from 1934.
This detail shows two of the three graces: poetry, and beauty. The third of the three graces (elegance) also appears on the doorway but is not shown in this picture.
Ruined building in Fahnestock State Park
I’ve often walked along this particular trail but I’ve never noticed this ruin. I’m led to believe that not too long ago farming flourished in Putnam County. Actually ‘flourished’ is apparently the wrong word. Farming in Putnam was difficult. The soil is extremely rocky and it seems that it was always an uphill slog to make a farm work. With the growth of cities and the industrial revolution farmers abandoned their farms and you still see the ruins of them in the woods.
This particular one is right by the side of the trail (in the first picture the trail is behind the structures) and you don’t really see it well unless you go off the trail.
I’d taken the first set of pictures and was about continue walking when I noticed the small structure above. The rock on top seemed to form the roof over some kind of hole so I got down on my knees to see what was down there. I still couldn’t see much (too dark) so I stuck the camera inside and fired the flash. You can see the result below:
Looks like a well of some kind.
Pyramid Shaped Rock
Went for a two hour walk yesterday along the Roaring Brook Trail in Fahnestock State Park – in the direction of Stillwater Lake. There’s not much to see at this time of year (bare trees, fallen leaves, rocks etc.), but I did come across this interesting pyramid shaped rock. I guess it must be an ancient native american grain store 🙂
A sign of the times
There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of photographer Jake Olson before, but many people are learning of that name this week. He’s a self-proclaimed “famous” American photographer who’s now at the center of major controversy in the photography world.
Source: Petapixel (see above)
I hadn’t heard of Jake Olson before I read this post on Petapixel. So I took a look at his website and read some other comments on the internet. Is he a famous and/or successful photographer? I suppose he is to a certain extent – if one measures such things by visibility in social media and money (if indeed he really makes as much as he claims, a claim which I have no reason to dispute). However, it seems to me that there’s more to being ‘famous’ and ‘successful’ than these two areas. I’m fascinated by the history of photography and spend quite a bit of time studying famous photographers. He isn’t in their class. True his images are much better than mine (but then I don’t profess to be a ‘famous’ and ‘successful’ photographer – far from it: I know my pictures aren’t much good), but those of his I’ve seen are one dimensional, have pretty much the same look, are over-saturated. Moreover if, as I often read, photographs should say something then his don’t say much. His pictures don’t seem to sell for millions of dollars (which puts him in a different league to such luminaries as Cindy Sherman, Andreas Gursky and the like) and they don’t have the emotional impact of such old-time greats as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and others. Still he apparently makes a good living (much better than I do) doing what he does and I don’t begrudge him that. He’s found a niche (a bit like the late Thomas Kinkade) and is capitalizing on it – good for him.
I would wish him all success in his endeavours if it weren’t for his behaviour. His comments are, as far as I’m concerned, beyond the pale. Of course he might, as he suggests, be making these kind of comments largely to stir up more activity on his Facebook page. If so to me this doesn’t excuse what he’s saying. Unfortunately this type of speech is more and more common today, and more disturbingly more and more accepted. Donald Trump has legitimized this kind of behaviour. Having said this I have to say that I don’t much like many of the things said against him either. They’re almost as bad as anything he has said.
Whatever happened to class?