Category Archives: Blog

NYC Photo Journal: The Process of Processing

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    Telling a story. The process of processing. Getting drawn into the world of the captured. I have always loved street photography, the candid, and the other worlds of others. I do this as a blogger, incorporating where I go and what I see into a world for the viewer. Recently at the Museum of the City of New York I saw an exhibit of Jacob Riis’s heart-gripping photography from the late 1800s and on. Riis was so taken by the way the poor lived–rather existed– in the city that he was compelled to photograph every example he could. … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: I Guess I’ve Been Busy: BKLYN/OHNY/Kings Theatre, East Midwood

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This is me multitasking: notice how I can take a selfie of my selfies at the same time   So, kids during my hiatus I have been caring for my mother’s issues, caring for my own issues, taking a lot of iPhone photos, doing a little playing: I’ve watched up to Season 5 of Game of Thrones, and everything but the final six or so episodes of Season 7 of Mad Men; I’ll be sorry to see these series end. As for movies; I loved Learning to Drive, I liked 99 Homes, saw a few plays at MTC (Manhattan Theater … Continue reading →

Faire des Crêpes

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Faire des Crêpes   Ingredients 4 eggs 1 cup of milk ½ stick butter, melted ½ cup lukewarm water ½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (rum, cider, other flavor) Mix flour, salt sugar add eggs, mix a bit add lukewarm water add milk gradually (not too much liquid) add melted butter add vanilla or other flavoring let batter sit in the fridge for at least an hour When cooking the crêpes do not forget to put enough butter in the pan. Wait for the corners to be light brown before turning the crêpe in the pan. Voilà! … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 9: Smith College Museum of Art and Gardens

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  One of my favorite museums in the area: the Smith College Museum of Art; it was almost closing time and two of the floors were being renovated, so there was just a little time for a run-through to revisit some pieces. I am partial to Hassam’s painting of Union Square; I grew up half a century later and several blocks to the east on East 14th Street and Avenue B.   Smith College has a lovely greenhouse and various gardens throughout the campus. Lots of yellow.     Great dinner with dear friends at Viva Fresh Pasta, in Northampton. … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 8: Amherst: The Yiddish Book Center: Molly Picon to Kutshers

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          The Yiddish Book Center is on the Hampshire College Campus. This is another place I have written about over the years; Aaron Lansky, its founder, made it his personal mission to save every Yiddish book he could, and he has, over decades, done so. The books have been rescued from all over the world and are in the process of being translated and uploaded to the internet. There is always an interesting exhibit, and the collections on Jewish culture and Yiddish authors are fascinating.     The Current major exhibit: Photography by Marisa Scheinfeld: Echoes … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 7: Williamstown: Williams College Museum of Art

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Williams College  is a joy to visit; pleasant beyond words, manageable in size and it provides the area with theater and art. The Williams College Museum of Art is a delightful, compact venue to view incredible collections. While there, I saw an exhibit of Whistler’s early sketches and small paintings which were almost a prequel to the Clark’s current exhibit. There was a comprehensive exhibit on Andy Warhol that focused on his beginnings as a graphic artist, book illustrator, designer, book cover designer, children’s book author: all the things I never knew he was before he became a pop art … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 6: North Adams to Williamstown, The Clark

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  Carpeaux saw a woman weeping in the street; she had just lost her child. She became the perfect model for “A Mother’s Pain.” One could spend a day at “The Clark” especially since its make-over. It’s a joy to take a drive through the countryside and park, a big difference from the city, though it isn’t all that easy in the summer. The permanent collections are glorious and the exhibits are unique; the museum does get crowded. The exhibits include Whistler’s Mother. An Arrangement in Gray, Black and White. The famous painting was usually displayed in Paris at the … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 5: North Adams: Mass MoCA

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Walk to the Boiler Room and you will pass Totally Totem, look up to see All Utopias Fell. There is so much more …     The work of Anselm Kiefer is housed in a new pavilion. They reflect his German identity, (b.1945), how he confronts it and addresses it. His pieces are massive and material. He weaves poetry redolent of war; decay, shipwrecks     The Women of the Revolution is comprised of twenty lead beds, each represents a specific French woman who was part of the revolution. The artist fills the beds with water and dead flowers. These … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 4: North Adams: Mass MoCA: The Old Boiler to the Misbegotten

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I’ve created several posts about North Adams and here they continue. On another day there was a visit to the Eclipse Mill. Old mills on canals are often being converted to artists’ living quarters/work space/shop space. I’ve made a couple of friends over the years. It’s important to support the people who create art. The thought of a reasonable loft space is very tempting!   Back to Mass MoCA. In the old boiler building from the Sprague  Electric Company there is an audio installation by Stephen Vitiello, All Those Vanished Engines. There are haunting voices of those from the time … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 3: North Adams: Mass MoCA

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It rained on and off; that was fine, the exhibits were endless. More fascinating works were found in a small gallery with a library/book theme, called Bibliothecaphilia. Here, there is the work of six artists who explore the meaning of a library. Jena Priebe’s work, The Secret Lives of Books imagines interconnected pages and exploding knowledge. Meg Hitchcock ingeniously cuts up sacred texts from a myriad of sources and she recreates them, letter by letter to form other sacred passages connecting religions and time. Jonathan Gitelson’s work, Marginalia, explores the marginal notations on pages that people leave behind, as well … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 2: North Adams: Mass MoCA

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Approaching the entrance to Mass MoCA in the building with the clock tower; the buildings through the front gate also house business, shops and a restaurant.  It took two days to plow through the galleries. I’ll just touch on some of the work. Art in the lot: SuttonBeresCuller: Big Top Grand Stand   The building is a conglomerate of huge spaces that have been divided into smaller units. Above, looking through the main level, with back to gallery entrance (that expands to three floors) toward the shop and café beyond. To the left is the entrance, to the right are … Continue reading →

Travel Photo Journal 1: North Adams, MA: The Porches Inn

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    Intro: I’ve spent a good fourteen summers in the northwest corner of Massachusetts and that’s OK; it’s like coming home. Despite the places being the same, the museums and galleries are always changing. The trip begins in North Adams, a town that was not too long ago, shabby and run-down, filled with the struggling, the jobless.  Since the creation of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Mass MoCA, in the former factory of the Sprague Elecric Company, and the rehabilitation of former company housing into a cool hotel across the street (The Porches), the place has turned around. … Continue reading →

Part 81: Mother-Daughter Journey: The Opera Called “Truth”

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“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest This is the eighty-first part of the series of my mother-daughter journey that began more than two years ago. I haven’t written since my mother’s ninety-seventh birthday in March; things have been relatively quiet. I say relatively, as there is, in fact, something always going on, but the occurrences vary in degree. I might be dealing with outside agencies and making call after call to follow up on an issue. I might be paying bills, tracking finances, delivering the rent and trust check. I … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: Flora, Fauna, Farm, Flushing, and a wedding: NY: ifone Fotografy: Part 2

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Streets and People Flushing, Queens (a former place of residence) has become the refuge of thousands of Chinese and other Asians; it is known as the “new China Town.” New York City’s first China Town area is in lower Manhattan, but the new immigrants find Flushing much cleaner and more pleasant. However, an original resident might find it difficult to navigate the signage. Back at the Farm People volunteer their services.   … and visitors feed the animals.   Goats: I’d love one as a lawn mower The farm is a cool place for a wedding. Here is one of … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: Flora, Fauna, Farm, Flushing, NY: ifone Fotografy: Part 1

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Flora home garden Lens experimentation The iPhone can zoom into macro mode, but the olloclip system can get to 7x, 10x, 14x, and 21x. I am still feeling my way with the strength of magnification.   Fauna in and on the home front               Flora & Fauna at The Queens Farm Museum, my now-place for fresh eggs and produce      

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Song in My Head: MN Indie Group on WFUV Got Me: Hippo Campus

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Suicide Saturday by Hippo Campus I heard this group of young kids from Minnesota while driving and listening to WFUV, New York’s very cool Indie-oriented station which is a member of National Public Radio. The sound just stuck with me. Everything about. These kids are going places.

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