Don’t you agree?:

I shot this one because it actually looked like something out of a scene from a video game:

As the fan(s) of this blog know, I really like Governor’s Island. I go there a lot, actually as much as possible and it is a really great place. Lovely and green and not as over run by people as a place like Central Park or something.

I started going to Governor’s Island in 2007, after having gone by it many times on the Circle Line and wondering what it was. I have posted photos up here before of views of the island itself and views from the island. As some of you may know, Governor’s Island is an old military base with many unoccupied houses on it. Also, there is a very pretty church I have been by many times, but never gone in because it was always closed.

This time it was open and this is what I saw:

What is this? It is an installation piece by an artist in the church. It was completely dark in the church and it smelled of this old resin. A very spooky, but very cool thing as well. More? OK:

Yes, that is my hand. No, I do not plan on revealing any more body parts. And one last one that I really think looks like it belongs on the cover of a Pink Floyd album:

Sorry, no long explanation:

Thus you must be done in this darkness:

This is the George of Wall Street. I also took a few other former symbols of great capitalist might:

What I learned from my trip to Forbidden Planet in Union Square:

1. If you want to be governor of a state in America, you must have an action figure. I saw a Conan and I saw one from the wrestling days of Jesse Ventura. So Mayor Bloomberg, if you want to be governor of New York, you must star in many movies about killing people, wrestle and have an action figure made in your likeness. Otherwise, those Bloomberg machine won’t do it.

2. The action figure of Conan wasn’t an action figure. It was a statue. OK. Fine.

3. Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens both have action figures.

4. Men make female action figures because all of them seemed to have gotten extra helpings in the boob department.

5. There is a world where Beavis & Butthead are appreciated for the geniuses that they truly are.

And of course, 6, anything can be turned into an opportunity to take TONS of photos. Here goes. And keep in mind, I have no idea who these people are, so if you could write who they are in the comments section, be my guest:

Darn. Writing to photos totally out of balance here. I’ll remedy that in my next entry.

Well, this is going to be a rather long entry. As I mentioned before, I went on a sort of road trip with a friend recently to some exotic island with some rather exotic inhabitants. My friend came to see the Island of Manhattan and per chance the Island of Coney’s as well.

We ended up on this exotic isle as a result of his aloud wondering. Where oh where do I go and see the ocean? Hmmm, I had no idea, but a glance at the map led me to Coney Island. I had always wanted to go there, knowing that there lots and lots and lots of things to photograph, so off we went into the deep dark night. No, actually, it was the day, but you get the picture. For those of you unaware of New York City geography, when you look at the subway it seems like you will have to cross a time zone or two to get to Coney Island. Actually, that wasn’t much of a discouragement. The day was bright, the company exceedingly pleasant.

That is of course until I got to Coney Island:

I haven’t been to Coney Island in over 25 years and the day I decided to go, this happens? Not only did it look like a tornado from industrial light and magic, but a hurricane was heading in the general direction of the “island.” Further conformation of my theory that a black cloud follows me where ever I go.

It rained, it rained and it rained some more. My friend and I took refuge in something called the Coney Island freak bar. And it lived up to its name:

OK, these guys have a lot of tats, so I guess that doesn’t put them right in the middle of the freak category, but it is not everywhere that you see a man with a tattoo on his face. The rain did subside slightly, so I was able to get a few pics of Coney Island, so called because a coney is an old word for rabbits and the area used to be an island. Enjoy:

Well, with the way those clouds looked, the fun had to come to an end at some point. And it did. The skies opened up and it rained cats, frogs and bananas. Luckily close by there was a nice aquarium, where I probably also last visited when I was in grade school. I like the sea life fine, but I’ll post up here what I thought captured the essence of the place:

All in all Coney Island proved a very enjoyable experience. Perhaps I will return again in 25 years. Then too it will be raining.

A few times with friends of mine, we’ve been in places where people have said “oh god, I think we took a wrong turn inside Natalia’s mind.” Now I am not saying this is some dangerous place or one where people don’t want to go. I am just saying that it might be a very interesting place to go.

Anyway, somehow since photography has taken over my life, I have been photographing a lot of dolls and doll houses. In my regular life neither of these things really interest me, but somehow photographically they do. I love anything that is miniature or out-sized. I guess that goes into the photographs, when something is too tiny to fit somewhere or not big enough to fit somewhere. Maybe this is something we’d encounter on that trip through my brain. Don’t know. Anyway, let’s leave the analysis for later and get to a few pics:

Well, more precisely, just one pool and for a kick, it is empty!:

Empty subway seats: