I think I’m in the wrong country

by Posted in Buildings/Structures, Places Leave a comment
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Recently I’ve been reading “The Plantagenets” by Dan Jones.  I’ve also been watching the TV series: Britains Bloodiest Dynasty.  The Plantagenets  narrated by Dan Brown.  In the TV version there are some wonderful scenes with ruined castles.  I love ruins and although there are many ruined buildings in the US very few of them have the ‘panache’ of a European castle.  Makes me wonder if I’m in the wrong country (at least for photography).

Above and below are pictures of one of these castles: Lewes Castle.  Lewis is a historically significant town, particularly for the battle that took place there in 1264. According to Wikipedia:

The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons’ War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and made him the “uncrowned King of England”. Henry III left the safety of Lewes Castle and St. Pancras Priory to engage the Barons in battle and was initially successful, his son Prince Edward routing part of the baronial army with a cavalry charge. However Edward pursued his quarry off the battlefield and left Henry’s men exposed. Henry was forced to launch an infantry attack up Offham Hill where he was defeated by the barons’ men, defending the hilltop. The royalists fled back to the castle and priory and the King was forced to sign the Mise of Lewes, ceding many of his powers to Montfort.

De Montfort ruled England for a year and called two parliaments. The first stripped the King of his powers and the second included ordinary citizens, making him one of the originators of modern parliamentary democracy. Ultimately de Montfort was defeated and killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

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Boat in Cold Spring

by Posted in Landscapes, Things Leave a comment
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Our younger daughter and her family were returning to Geneva, Switzerland the next day and we were going to dinner at the Hudson House Inn in Cold Spring. It was around 8:00 pm, the sun was going down over the Hudson Highlands and this picturesque boat was moored to the dock. What could be better. Well…I could have brought a camera with me (this was one of the rare occasions where I’d forgotten to bring a camera). Luckily my wife had her trusty iPhone 5s.

Group f.64: Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and the Community of Artists Who Revolutionized American Photography

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Group f.64

Group f.64 image source Amazon.com

I just finished reading this book. There’s something about the tone of it that didn’t appeal to me: “Edward said this…”; “Ansel did that…” etc. and it’s a bit rambling – could use more structure. However, I really enjoyed it: as the New York Times said “…the first comprehensive history of the movement”, a movement about which I’d heard but knew little other than the bios and works of some of the individual members. I wasn’t even that familiar with a number of the members/associates e.g. Willard Van Dyke; Alma Lavenson, Sonya Noskowiak, Consuelo Kanaga. I also enjoyed learning more about the role and personality (apparently not very pleasant) of Alfred Stieglitz; the battles between the pictorialists and Group f.64 (proponents of ‘straight’ photography). One photographer that I didn’t know all that well and who caught my attention was Imogen Cunningham whose work I really like and will explore further.

Jonathan Blaustein reviewed the book in An In-Depth History of Group f.64 on the NY Times Lens blog (December 11, 2014)