project ABC slideshow

I've created a slideshow with all the letters that I've posted over the past 26 days! Click here to see it!

To see all the photos together, go here.

not catching enough of these...

Wow, it's been quite a ride! Twenty-six days of letters of the alphabet. Thanks to those of you who faithfully checked in every day to see my updates. Thanks to those of you who have suggested that these belong in a book. Your vote of confidence means a lot to me.

I have loved the conversations that these photographs have sparked, whether you told me that you loved the composition or subject of a photograph to whether you told me that you would never have seen the letter that I did. I'm sure I was looking a lot harder than you!

This project has taught me something new about the power of an idea and the determination it takes to see that idea through. It has taught me about the need for, and value of, sharing, especially when it concerns our own personal view of the world. No two people open their eyes and see the same sights; why is it that we do not talk about this more often?

Stay tuned for another project I recently completed with a focus on bicycles. I'm working on getting those photographs web-ready and in some sort of presentation format.





fallen gate

See full album here.

penultimacy (is that a real word?)

yy u r
yy u b
i c u r
yy 4 me

In some ways, I feel as if this project started only days ago. In reality, it's been 25. I'm not quite sure how time elapses so quickly, other than to hearken back to the notion that "time flies when you're having fun." I've certain been having fun.







See full album here.

x marks the spot!

See full album here.

double your pleasure, double your fun, w, w, gum

I was once in a spelling bee in which a contestant was almost disqualified for spelling two consecutive "M"s as "double-M". The judges let it slide that one time, but I think they feared for a case in which they would not be able to discern between "double-U" and "W". There are not many cases of two consecutive "U"s, though. Vacuum and duumvirate come to mind.










See full album here.

v

I originally photographed this thinking it would be an "A" but the brake rotor did not stand out enough against the spokes, so a "V" it became.


taking flight
This one's a big of a stretch (of the wings) but I figured I would post it anyway. It actually makes a pretty cool "H" now that I look at it closely.

See full album here.

u + you + ewe = 3 use!

I know I'm going a bit overboard with the homophones, but being a logophile, the past two letters have allowed my creativity to shine. As with yesterday, seven-plus hours in the library staring at a computer screen, squeezing words out of my brain in the way that I try to squeeze that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube... It's an energy-intensive process that leaves me gasping for air. Speaking of gasping for air, I can feel my allergies seeping into my system. Yuck.

PS. For those of you who have been following along, I have a favor to ask of you. If you have some time, I would greatly appreciate your going back and commenting with the letter that you like best from each day. I'm thinking of making one large "quilt" with one of my photographs representing each letter. Rather than simply select the letter I like best, I'd love for your input. A simple "I like 'x' photo best today" will suffice. Muchas gracias. Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.
*** Actually, skip this step. I have a better idea: Go to the full album and comment/like the photos there. It'll be easier than going back through each individual post on this blog. ***

PPS. You're allowed not to like any of the letters on a given day, and if that's the way you feel, you should say that, too. It means I need to go out into the field and look hah-duh (harder) (think Rafiki in The Lion King as you read that).

PPPS. As you can tell, my mind is operating on super-associative mode right now!







See full album here.

tee + tea = too tease!

With all the writing I have been doing for final papers and projects, and the writing still to come, I am worded out. Enjoy day 20, the letter "T".





i scream

See full album here

ssssssssss...

When I think of "S", I think of snakes. I'm terrified of snakes. They're icky and slimy and there's just something about their cold scaly serpentine bodies and forked tongues that just makes me shudder. That's my confession for tonight.







See full album here.

a pirate's favorite letter

"R" is for "random," which many people incorrectly substitute for "arbitrary."



This one is another Chelsea Market find. That place was a goldmine for photographs of all sorts, not just letters for this project. My heart literally skipped a beat when I spied this "R" up above me in the rafters. Not an easy one to spot, given its location and orientation. Like the hot dog "Q", I've been sitting on this one for a few weeks, eagerly awaiting its unveiling.







See full album here.

q, queue, cue

I've been waiting for this day for a while because I took some of these photos very early on in the project. Contrary to what I thought, the letter "Q" was not all that difficult to find; other letters have proven to be more challenging. The anticipation to post this letter was almost great enough to make me accelerate the process, but so far, I've managed to remain true (minus one late day) to the one-letter-a-day stipulation that I set for myself at the start. Believe it or not, I'm 17 days in. Just nine more days to go until "Z".


hot dog
This has to be my most favorite photo of the set by far. I could not have asked for a more bizarre, yet opportune, photo opportunity to cross my path. The placement of the half-eaten hot dog on the rim of the garbage can was perfect. This is "found art" at its best.










See the full album here.

'p' is for 'heath'

There are only a handful of people who will get this title, but with some digging around, you may enter into that secret cult. Don't worry: you won't be asked to drink poisoned Kool-Aid in some tropical South American rainforest.

I made a few digital prints today that I'm very excited about. They include all three photos that I posted on this blog yesterday. Tonight, I give you the letter "P".




I photographed this fire hose in Chelsea Market. I had to ask a group of teenagers if I could squeeze behind the table they were eating lunch at. There's nothing like momentarily intruding on the lives of adolescents to make anyone anxious. They're can be unpredictable! Fortunately for me, this group hailed from a pleasant tribe of pubescent homo sapiens and they granted me access so I could work on my project. I didn't stick around long enough to listen to any snide comments they may have made behind my back.







Not a terrific photograph, but I found it amusing that a sign and signpost shaped like the letter "P" would have a "P" crossed out. This sign is also a double negative of sorts: no parking and no littering. New York City has gotten creative with its signage. Especially clever? The use of a push-broom to cross out the "P" on the sign.

See full album here.

N-O

Are there any other consecutive letters of the alphabet, aside from n-o, that can stand alone as a word? There are a few: ab, ef, and hi. A few combinations form acronyms that we use fairly regularly: bc, cd, jk, and uv. Curiously enough (or maybe not), no three-or-more consecutive letter combinations form words or acronyms.

[This is my lame way of posting both 'N' and 'O' together today, because I missed posting yesterday and want to stay on track.]



















See full album here.

magnificent and majestic M

It's so late. And I'm late in posting. Conducted about four hours' worth of interviews for several projects today and spent the evening transcribing. Priorities, priorities... Sleep should be one of them.










see full album here

L is for the way you look at ...

Only on day 12, but I feel as if I've been at this forever. Almost halfway there! It's actually quite cool to look at the album in its entirety and I'm excited to see what it will look like when it's full, A to Z. At some point, I should go into the album and caption the photos with the various comments I've been sprinkling through this blog project.


bike every day?
A folding bike, an object of my desires, though not very high on the list. I think part of my fascination with it comes from my living in the city this year. With only three-and-a-half weeks left, I wonder whether my fascination with folding bikes will disappear once I return to (semi-)suburbia.


f(x) --> f(-x) ; (x,y) --> (-y,x)
I could probably be a bit more elegant in using mathematical notation to describe the reflection and rotational transformation I made to the original photograph to get it to its present state. However, such eloquence currently eludes me and so I stick with basics.



It's been a while since I've included photographs of bicycles and bicycle parts, but I'm excited to have posted one yesterday and two today.

see full album here

every kiss begins with...

see the full album here

jay...jay... (one of a blue jay's many calls)

Not much to say tonight about this letter. I'm actually very excited right now about a trip my photo class took to Time Square this evening. Created some beautiful portraits while there. Toward the end of our "class", a photo shoot came onto the scene. I sneaked in with my camera and fired off a few frames, too. Will post soon!


air duct
I spied this massive air duct at Chelsea Market last week during a visit to Google's NYC headquarters. (The first 'b' posted earlier in this project is also housed at Chelsea Market.) It's one of those things that I think most people walk by and never even notice. So profound is our ability to filter out irrelevant objects in our lives. It makes me wonder what might happen if our irrelevant filter goes awry, causing us to miss things that really are relevant?


simplicity
Sometimes beauty rests in simple elegance. This wooden umbrella handle certainly falls into that category.

see the full album here

there's no "I" in team...

...but there is an "I" in win.

What a great saying, not necessarily because I think these are words to live by, but because I do enjoy the clever manipulation of an earnest lesson meant to emphasize the value of teamwork. This does highlight the conflict inherent in competitive endeavors, which often leads to a situation in which the individual's best interests are seemingly no longer aligned with those of the group. How do we teach children to deal with these challenges, for which there are no right or easy answers?

aitch

closed gate


wooden beams
These beams form the support for the stairs and small stoop up on the second floor of our apartment. I'm always amazed by how sturdy they are -- they have withstood lots of weight without fail. In some way, they remind me of those guys in the gym who lift a ton with their upper body but have skinny chicken legs. Somehow, those legs manage to hold up their brawny torsos.


broken fence post
A broken fence post at dusk steps in as a lowercase 'h'. I love the shallow depth of field, in which you can just make out the house in the background. I had some reservations about walking through the neighborhood, firing off flash photos in the direction of people's homes. Seems a little sketchy, if you ask me. I was waiting for someone to come running out screaming at me. Didn't happen, though!