Gotham Rules!

June 7, 2008 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

I have so many photos of this thing, but it never fails to amaze me.

Random people

May 18, 2008 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

As I have said up here numerous times, people do not like to be photographed, so I don’t usually get shots of them up here. Lately though with the new camera, I’ve been been doing this new thing where I just go out with the camera around my neck with my finger on the shutter. People are at their best when they aren’t posing. Now trust me many end of them end up looking like crap, but a few looked really great. Here was one that I really liked:

The look of amazement on the woman’s face was just so interesting to me. A close up:

This was another random one, just walking around, clicking the shutter:

I wanted this one above to look like someone I knew that I was taking a picture of. I really like this one. Another click the shutter wonder? OK:

And I guess if I am feeling the way the t-shirt above says, I’ll have to…:

To end this on a high note, I present these two:

And, to make it all “documentary gritty and all” I made it black and white:

I obviously did not sneak this shot. These boys saw me and said that if I gave each of them a dollar, I could take their picture. I thought I would get to pose them however I wanted, but they insisted on posing with their money. Those model divas. All about the Benjamins, I’ll tell you. They also mentioned something about me getting famous with that shot. Uh, yeah, little chance of that happening. But I am making progress in the whole “there are no people in these photos” thing.

This is just going to be a totally general kinda entry….

May 17, 2008 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

I just went to the NY to deal with special business, i.e. rejoining the world of the employed. I interviewed and interviewed and interviewed and would at the end of the day run to the safety of my beautiful Canon XSI. If only I could find a male equivalent of the XSI. Lovely to look at, reliable, etc. Well, I can dream, can’t I? Well, anyway, I took a ton of photos and my ton, I mean about 500. In a five day span. As usual, I liked about three of them, so I’m going to post the few, the proud, the ones I actually liked. I’ll try to categorize them, somehow.

First, some kind of Eastern Island statue:

Smelling what the wax Rock is cooking?:

Seriously, some of the best signs ever:

Look closer at the picture below. It says “through these doors walk the best people, ever, our customers.” Did I mention this is some kind of place that sells porn videos and probably “sundry items” whatever those could be?:

On the door of the next door neighbor of the friend I stayed with in NY:

Machito Novo, that is the dog in the photo below, have parents who are very proud of him:

Proud enough to ask for contributions for every photo you take of him. I wanted to get a proper photo of Machito, so his father (and I got the feeling he has two) came out, grabbed him by the harness and turned him around. A dog with a last name? Only in NY.

This one I didn’t really get. Is the big thrilled to be getting eaten?:

And of course, you can get your entire future read on 9th avenue, complete with Astroturf, to make you feel better:

Escape from 1985

May 17, 2008 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

Oh no, Axel Foley has gotten free:

And Smooth Criminal is looking, well, not so smooth:

You never know what you will see on a late night walk around Times Square.

A second first

April 23, 2008 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

Wait, who is this?:

OK, another chance to show my complete and total self absorption and vanity by posting a glamorous photo of myself. Well, and it also gives me a chance to introduce the newest member of my arsenal, the Canon Digital XSI. I have decided that in the 5 days I’ve had this camera that it is the greatest camera, SLR, digital or not ever invented in the history of the world. Or something.

But anyway, you, my viewing public can decide if the recent production from my new acquisition are good. Or not. Here goes:

In this picture above, this guy noticed I was taking his picture and decided not to run away. Believe me, after 10+ years of taking pictures, this is huge. More? OK:

I love these beams in the subway and I always try to photograph them. Usually looks like a blurry mess. I kind of like this photo. I’m not in love with it.

These however I do like, though they are from my usual bag of tricks. Boy, I do love the time exposure:

Time exposure of Grand Central, that is:

These were shot as 6 second exposures. The lens only goes to 22, so any exposures shot at a exposure time above 6 were blown out. Darn.

I took this shot:

And thought of all of my times, sitting in Sweden, watching Gossip Girl, homesick. I am indeed a weird creature.

I saw this and loved how the people looked, with the little coming in through the back:

Smith’s Bar:

To me, this had this kind of movie made in 2008 about the 1940’s production design model kind of thing going for it. Except it was the real place.

To close it out, some random people in Times’ Square:

Check out the slack jawed expression of the guy to the extreme left.

You can live in a place your entire life and never see it all

July 23, 2007 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

What is this you ask?

A mural in the entryway to a Barclay Rex building on Wall Street.

The internets, circa 1920. The glorious start of being able to read in a online German newspaper about the ‘splosion in front of your job in New York ten minutes after it happens, subtitled video of cats asking questions of presidential candidates and being able to watch Tim Gunn telling Wendy Pepper not to defending the shoe to him in a Swedish hotel room and of course, making the disappearance of Paris Hilton’s dog worldwide news.

Thanks International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. Paris Hilton appreciates all of what you have done for her.

All joking aside, I loved this window into what people in the 1920s and 1930s thought the future would like.

I kind of noticed that this mural kinds of looks like this other iconic symbol of power:

Anyway, here’s the rest of Mr. Lightening Bolts:

Globes cover up his bits. Like I said, different places, different attitudes. Globes here, full frontal male nudity in Scandinavia. Globes covering up the jewels here. Neither is better or worse. These things are just different.

Fried Onions

July 20, 2007 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

You can’t capture a smell on film, but I wish I could have today. In the aftermath of the ‘splosion, the air conditioning in the Graybar building was turned off. Middle of summer in New York, which, as I said, resembles Ghana is temperature, and we have no air conditioning.

And you know what? I LOVED IT. Yeah, the office smelled like fried onions for most of the day, more so where it was hotter in the office, but we got to open the windows and I got to do something I have wanted to do since I’ve been living in New York — basically, swing out of a window and take photos.

I’m afraid of everything in life. Whenever I fly, I have to tell myself “you have more of a chance of hitting the lotto than dying in a plane crash,” but then I am white knuckled when I hear any sound the plane makes. “Turbulence is normal, Turbulence is normal.”

Don’t even get me started on my whole fear of snakes.

But for some reason, heights do not scare me. I saw these open windows, braced myself as well as possible and took the following photos. Again, NOT ARTISTIC AND NOT INTENDED TO BE. But this was a lot of fun.

Here goes:

Remember, this is what the Chrysler Building looks like from the street:

Here’s what it looks like out the window of my office, with almost no zooming required. The CEO of our company has the corner office with the window and the amazing view, of course. Me, I gotta swing out of a 25th floor window to see this. Whatever. Here are the pictures:

Yeah, I know, I’ve taken the sun bursts on the top before, so I know this is kind of boring. But it was amazing to be so close to the building.

Here are the ones that I’d probably never again get to photograph:

In these next two, the brown brick is actually the brick of the building I work in. I didn’t notice it until I took another look at the photos. I don’t know why I am mentioning this. I just liked it.

Here’s more stuff:

Here are some more views:

YES, not the most artistic work in the world, but the best I could do with about 7-10 minutes to shoot, my boss and I trying to finish our afternoon work and of course, the higher ups probably wondering why in god’s name I was doing. All in a day’s work in the greatest city in the world.

The story of the ‘splosion

July 19, 2007 / nataliar77 / 2 Comments

What a nice day I had yesterday. First, I got awoken at 7:03, a full 17 minutes before I was supposed to, by some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard. I got soaked on the way to work and waited an hour for the train.

But that was only the beginning. Regular day at battle-stations private equity, but then I get home and I see that there was some sort of explosion in mid-town Manhattan. Didn’t pay attention, because as my mother says, everything is always about me. Everything.

I thought “mid-town, I work in mid-town.” I wonder if it was anywhere near work.

Near work? NEAR WORK? More like at work. A steam pipe burst at 43rd and Lexington Avenue. I work between 42st and 43rd and Lexington. So, the ‘splosion was pretty much in front of my building.

I didn’t see the ‘splosion, but of course I got to feel the after-effects. Our air conditioning was turned off, making the air in the office pretty much stand still. My boss said I could go home.

I went out to run what turned out to be a completely futile errand, total waste of time, but of course, as usual the consolation prize for my aching feet was the opportunity to take some photos. THESE ARE NOT ARTISTIC PHOTOS. They are just kind of a chronology of what I saw.

There were cops EVERYWHERE. They were cops for ten blocks in each direction from Grand Central. Therefore, any photos of the ‘splosion were limited to these:

And another:

Ready for more? I thought so:

New York’s Finest wearing this great masks. The whole area was still covered in dust. After 9-11, the city has really gotten strict about what these guys who run into the fire, rather than away from it breathe in. So, here’s some of the boys in blue in their gas masks:

And, the city, that is usually a zoo was completely empty. I’ve never been able to see as far on these streets that I could after this unfortunate occurrence:

Utterly empty. You can’t usually see this far on these streets. They are usually totally blocked with traffic. I’ve never seen this before.

Not to mention the scene in front of my beloved Grand Central:

Usually this place is insanely thick with traffic. Insanely. It was weird seeing it without a bunch of cabs that go off duty at 5:30, when everyone needs them.

Also, here are some left-over residue from the ‘splosion:

And because this really isn’t related to the ‘splosion, a herd of people stuck in the rain, trudging their way to Grand Central. Yes, its a mediocre photo. No doubt, but you can also see the raindrops:

Well, there you have it. Just your typical day on Lexington Avenue. Thanks steam pipe built in 1928. If the air conditioning is still off in my building tomorrow, I am finding Mayor Bloomberg and making him sit in my Ghana temperatured office. Just for kicks.

My detente with the NYC subway

June 25, 2007 / nataliar77 / Leave a comment

Call it my Ostpolitik with the subway. I no longer want to fly into a rage when I enter the thing. I do not hate the people on the subway. They experience all the same joys along with me, but somehow I’ve managed to get over it.

I no longer find this kind of thing confusing:

Where are we? What station is this? Where is the train coming from? Is this an uptown or a downtown train? I got to where I needed to be, so my rage subsided, a little.

For every good ride, there is always the interior of the subway. Check out this slice of the city so nice, they named it twice:

Absolutely disgusting. This is actually the platform for the next train to Hades:

And believe me, it smelled just as good as it looked. This is actually these are the passageways to the train to Hades:

But, here’s where my detente, ostpolitik comes in:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen your eyes do not deceive you. Color. In this vast gray expanse. Color! You have to get people used to these things, so you can’t just splash tons of color at people, but those do appear to actually be colors.

This next little photo series involves no color, but is really clever. This reminds me a little of the Borf character who was wandering Washington, injecting life and personality into that dried up expanse of boredom. Here is some Borf. Alas, I did not take this picture:

But I took these and they are this daily reminder of the drudgery of going to work. You have to look in the upper left hand corner to see the signs on the beams: