2017 – The Year in Review

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Since it continued over into 2017 I guess Tim and Carmen’s New Years Eve party was technically the first event of the year. We also invited friends over for our Wedding Anniversary on January 10. Ken came on a flying visit from Bangkok. It was great to see him again.

In February we were invited to a birthday celebration for our friend, Germain. I believe it was her 95th birthday and she’s still going strong. I went into New York City for lunch with an old friend and colleague, Tom Franklin.

March saw us at a garden club get together in honor of Kate and Muriel, a concert featuring Happy Traum at the Tompkins Corners Cultural Center and a presentation to the garden club on local birds given by a speaker from the Audobon Society. For Eirah’s birthday we went into New York City for dinner at NY’s only revolving restaurant: “The View” – 47 floors up at the Marriott Marquis followed by a performance of “The Book of Mormon”.

In April we visited Locust Grove the former home of Samuel Morse. An old friend, Marieke came to New York and we were able to get together for lunch at “The Boathouse” in Central Park. For Easter Sunday lunch we went to the amazing Mohonk Mountain House. The month ended with Eirah organizing a celebration of my birthday at our lake house to which she invited a number of our friends.

We spent just about all of May in Geneva, Switzerland with our young daughter and her family. We couldn’t figure out what to do with our dog so we just took him with us. Part way through the visit Eirah went to Amman, Jordan to stay with our older daughter. She had a great time visiting Petra and the Dead Sea and spending more time with additional grandkids.

The Garden Club’s Annual garden tour and lunch took place in June. It’s always great to see how others have organized their gardens. It’s remarkable how the views of the lake vary so much from property to property. We went into New York City again for a birthday celebration for former colleague and friend, Shannon at her spectacular new apartment. Sadly our friends George and Gloria moved down to South Carolina. We had a goodbye lunch with them at “Il Laghetto” on the lake in Mahopac. The sadness of their departure was somewhat offset by the arrival of our friends and neighbors Ken and Doreen who returned from an assignment in Bangkok

July was a busy month with the New York Airshow at Stewart airport near Newburgh (with Ken and Gustavo); July 4th fireworks on the Ossining Waterfront; a visit to our lake house from Menchie and Chita; a twilight, lakeside party at Kate and Terry’s. We also went to the 46th Annual Putnam County 4-H fair. Our friend Carmen came for lunch. We spent a pleasant evening sitting outside with friends eating and listening to music in Peekskill.

In August we took our friend Paul to dinner at “The Riverview” restaurant in Cold Spring. We also went to the Hudson Valley Ribfest in New Paltz with Ken and Doreen and to Stonecrop Gardens with Olga and Gustavo. After a bit of “antiquing” in Rhinebeck we went with Ken and Doreen to the Dutchess County Fair. For me the highlight of the month was a visit to the New England Air Museum. So many gorgeous old aircraft.

September saw Eirah take off on a trip to Los Angeles to meet up with some of her brothers (who live there) and some visiting relatives from the Philippines. She managed to visit the Getty museum. We also managed to get to a couple of arts/crafts shows: The Lyndhurst Castle Crafts Fair in Tarrytown and the Armonk Art Show. Old friends Tony and Safiya invited us to lunch at their house in Paramus, NJ where we were pleased to see our old friend Robert Cohen and his lovely wife, Rachel.

In October we attended “A rewarding cultural & culinary experience tonight at the Putnam Valley Library. ‘Taste Korea: Korean Cuisine’ presented by the Korean Spirit & Culture Promotion Project.”, which included insights into preparing and cooking well known Korean dishes as well as a sumptuous Korean meal. We went for a pleasant walk (including dogs) with friends Susan and Stephen at the Rockefeller trails.

Our younger daughter came to visit in Briarcliff Manor in November. We went into New York City for lunch with her and other friends at Brasserie Ruhlmann in Rockefeller Center. She was doing PR work for a company that was exhibiting at Christies so we were able to see the spectacular (and extremely expensive – very little went for less than $1 million) artwork on display. We were also able the see the Da Vinci, “Salvator Mundi”, which eventually sold for $450 million. Other highlights included a visit from Tim and Carmen who came for dinner at the lake; a performance of “Miss Saigon” on Broadway and Thanksgiving lunch at “Equus” at the Castle Hotel and Spa in Tarrytown.

December started off badly. Eirah was involved in a very serious car accident on December 1. The car was ‘totaled’ but thankfully the BMW’s safety features did their job and she escaped with major and painful bruises, but no broken bones or other injuries. She’d recovered enough by mid-month to attend the annual garden club Christmas party. On Christmas day we went for lunch at Jean-Georges in Pound Ridge. This was followed by a Boxing Day party at friend Marcia’s in Hastings-on-Hudson. The year concluded as it started with a New Year’s Eve party at Tim and Carmen’s.

My photography is somewhat opportunistic i.e. I always carry a camera with me and most of my photographs arise because I see something interesting while doing something else. Nonetheless I did go on a number of excursions where I anticipated that I would find “photo ops”. These included: The Peekskill Waterfront; The Friends Meeting House in Yorktown; A Couple of visits to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery; Woodlawn Cemetery (particularly interesting); The New Croton Dam; The Ossining Waterfront; The Depot restoration in Hopewell Junction and the Dutchess Rail Trail; Croton Point Park; Fort Montgomery; Mystery Point preserve; Verplanck Point/Kings Ferry; A garden club hike to the nearby Kings Chamber; Geneva (lots including lakeside, old town, parc des bastions, carouge, augustins, saleve, troinex, pinchat, veryrier); Oscawana park and Oscawana Island; New York Airshow; Connecticut Aircraft Museum; Ossining 4th July Fireworks; Croton-on-Hudson; Putnam County 4-H fair and Veterans Memorial Park; Pleasantville; Hudson Valley Ribfest; Muscoot Farm; Rhinebeck and the Dutchess Count Fair; Doodletown; Hollowbrook Trail; Teatown Lake; Pelton Pond; White Pond; Granite Knolls; Lasdon Park and Arboretum; the North County Trailway.

I made a 2017 New Years Resolution that I would try to 1) limit my old camera purchases; 2) use the cameras that I have more often. I was partially successful. I bought 11 old cameras and one vintage lens in 2017 (less than in 2016 but more than in 2015). I also bought one recent generation digital camera: a Sony A77II to replace my 7 year old Sony A500. On using old cameras I did better. In 2017 I used 10 different film cameras and would probably have used a couple more if it hadn’t been for the mishaps in December.

I added quite a few items to my photography library including: American Witness. The art and life of Robert Frank by R.J. Smith; Karsh, a Biography in Images; Focus – Michael Gross’s book on fashion photographers; The Univex Story by Cynthia A. Repinski; Taschen 20th Century Photography; David DuChemin’s The Soul of the Camera: The Photographer’s Place in Picture-Making; Photography – A Critical Introduction by Liz Wells; Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon; Ansel Adams – Autobiography; Ansel Adams – The Camera, The Negative, The Print. Vivian Maier: A Photographer’s Life and Afterlife by Pamela Bannos.

All things considered it’s been a full year with much to be thankful for.

Happy New Year.

Picture above taken with an iphone 5s at Tim and Carmen’s New Year’s Eve party.

2017 Favorites – Color

by Posted in Aircraft, Buildings/Structures, Flowers, Landscapes, Nature, People, Sculpture, Things Leave a comment
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And now 10 favorites from 2017 in color. Above Christmas tree in two bridges park near Childrens Beach on Roaring Brook Lake.

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Got pork? Taken at the Hudson Valley Ribfest, August 2017.

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Building on Chemin Vert, Pinchat, Geneva, Switzerland.

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Iris in my daughter’s garden, Geneva, Switzerland.

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Blue Angels, NY Airshow, Stewart Airport, July 2017.

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Your repetitive View by Olafur Eliasson on the Peekskill Riverwalk Park.

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Corvette. Film photograph taken in Brewster, NY.

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Fall landscape. Roaring Brook Lake.

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Lights on Broadway, March 2017.

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Shadow of a cross. Croton-on-Hudson, July 2017.

2017 Favorites – Black and White

by Posted in Black & White, Buildings/Structures, Landscapes, People, Statues, Things, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment
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As we come to the end of another year it’s time for me to go through my annual ritual of picking a few (actually 10) of my favorite pictures from 2017, starting with black and white.

Above – Tides by Emil Alzamora. Taken at Peekskill River Park.

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A runs through it – the Croton Gorge that is. Taken from the top of the New Croton Dam.

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Bear Mountain Bridge looking towards Anthony’s Nose.

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Blacksmith. Taken at the Putnam County 4-H Fair in Carmel.

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Old Farm Building. Taken in Veyrier, Geneva, Switzerland.

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Carmen and Harley.

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Detail of Belmont Mausoleum, Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, NY.

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Detail of Henry Villard Memorial by Karl Bitter. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, NY.

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Our friend’s dog, Buster.

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The Kings Chamber, one of many such structures in Putnam County, NY.

A photographically interesting couple of hours in Pleasantville, NY

by Posted in Camera Collection, Nikon F, Photographers, Photographs, Photography, Reading Leave a comment
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A few days before Christmas my wife was going to lunch with a friend in Pleasantville, NY. I needed to get out of the house so I decided to go along with her. I knew that there was a small bookstore in Pleasantville and I thought that I would “check it out” and then grab a bite to eat.

I set off walking in the direction of the bookstore when I spotted this photo store: Photoworks. I’d noticed it before, but it always seemed to be closed when I went by. Assuming that it was largely devoted to photofinishing, scanning etc. I was about to walk by when, looking through the window, I noticed a glass case inside – full of vintage cameras. I went in and asked the women if the cameras were for sale or just for display. She called her husband, George who emerged from the back somewhere and we had a long conversation about vintage cameras. Inside the case were two Nikon Fs (see above). I’d wanted one of these for a while, the price was right and the prospect of actually having a human being I could bring the camera back to in case of problems was appealing. I told him I would consult with my wife and return later.

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I continued on to the bookstore: The Village Bookstore, a very pleasant establishment, small but well stocked and with a nice atmosphere. Among the shelves I came across (and purchased) this recently published biography of Robert Frank: American Witness. The Art and Life of Robert Frank.

Time to start looking for somewhere to eat. Then I spotted this building. On the front it said “The Gordon Parks Foundation“, so I went inside to take a look. I didn’t even realize that such an institution existed in Pleasantville. Inside they had a small selection of books by/on Gordon Parks but the bulk of the space was taken up by an exhibition: Element: Gordon Parks and Kendric Lamar. According to the Foundation’s website:

The Gordon Parks Foundation announced the opening of ELEMENT – a new exhibition on view at the Foundation’s exhibition space from December 1—February 10 showcasing Gordon Parks photographs that inspired rapper Kendrick Lamar’s music video ELEMENT from his album, DAMN. Lamar, known for using powerful images in his music videos, directly references and revives a number of Parks’ images that explore the lives of Black Americans, including the 1963 photo Boy With Junebug, Untitled, the 1956 photo from Parks’ “Segregation Stories” series, Ethel Sharrieff, a 1963 photo from his “The White Man’s Day Is Almost Over” photo essay about Black Muslims, as well as photos form Parks’ 1948 “Harlem Gang Leader” series.

“Gordon Parks’ work is continuing to have a great impact on young people – and particularly on artists like Kendrick who, use the power of imagery to examine issues related to social justice and race in our country,” said Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Executive Director of The Gordon Parks Foundation. “With ELEMENT the music video, Kendrick has helped to call attention to one of the most important artists of our time.”

Long-time friend and supporter of The Gordon Parks Foundation, Kasseem Dean (aka, Swizz Beatz) noted, “I’m so inspired that my friend Kendrick Lamar chose the iconic imagery of the legendary Gordon Parks in his video for ELEMENT. It’s a prime example of how contemporary change makers – artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers – can borrow from the greats of the past who were also working towards social change.”

At the foundation of ELEMENT. are Parks’ photo essays exploring issues related to poverty and social justice which established him as one of the most significant story tellers of American society. “Harlem Gang Leader,” the photo essay published in LIFE magazine, is credited with introducing Parks to America. The photos explored the world of Leonard “Red” Jackson, the leader of a gang in Harlem. Soon after, Parks was offered a position as staff photographer for the magazine, making him the first, and for a long time the only, African American photographer at the magazine. Also published in LIFE, Parks documented the daily life of an extended African American family living under Jim Crow segregation in the rural South entitled “The Restraints: Open and Hidden.”

The Guardian has also published an interesting article on this exhibition: The story behind Kendrick Lamar’s Gordon Parks exhibition

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After that I decided that I didn’t have enough time to eat before meeting my wife so I adjourned to a nearby bar
Foley’s Club Lounge for a couple of beers.

According to Mount Pleasant by George Waterbury, Claudine Waterbury, Bert Ruiz:

Harry Foley was a Pleasantville High School Basketball legend. He was also a Niagara University Hall of Fame and Westchester County Hall of Fame athlete. He bought Gorman’s Club Lounge on Bedford Road in 1950 and maintained the establishment until the 1970s. Foley’s Club Lounge has been a traditional watering hole for generations of Pace University students for nearly a half century.

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When my wife finished her lunch we met up and I asked her if she’d like to buy me a Christmas present. She said yes so it was off back to the photo store to pick up the Nikon F with Photomic Ftn finder.

All in all a photographically speaking an interesting day, if rather unexpected.

On my doorstep – On the road to Chilmark

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In the old days you would have passed through the porte cochère of the gatehouse (see: On my doorstep – Gatehouse to a grand estate), over the stone bridge in the foreground (see also: On my doorstep – Old Stone Bridge) and along this road up to the main house.

Nowadays the main entrance is on the opposite side of the property. For a long time the owners did not maintain this area and it became almost completely overgrown. The road became almost impassible because of the numerous fallen trees. Some time back, however, they undertook a major effort to clean up the property and it now seems to be in much better shape.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.