d

It's late. My two soccer teams both dropped our games tonight, and for some reason, my usual "Let's just have fun, win-or-lose" attitude is in hiding. Maybe it's because my co-ed team hasn't won a game yet, and we forfeited to a team that we could have beaten on Sunday due to low turn-out. Tonight we lost to another team in a game that we could have won. D is for 'darn it'.

PS. I added another photo to the 'C' post.





drink


door handle


meter maid

It's funny to look at this photo because my initial thought is "time's running out." That's certainly the case for this post, as I'm past midnight, even though I started the post on the correct day, 4 minutes before my deadline.

c is for 'clouds'

As I have walked around town, photographing letters of the alphabet, I'm reminded of seeing images in clouds. Often, we see things that others don't see, and for good reason: the objects of our vision aren't really there! Instead, with some mental gymnastics and a bit of imagination, we see what we see, and then we try to convince others of what we see. And so I find myself with these letters. Are they really there? Would anyone else see them the same way? If I posted these photos without the context of Project ABC or the letter 'c', what would you see instead?


milk crate (handle)
I'm fascinated with this milk crate (handle) because when I first saw it, I immediately saw the letter 'c'. However, after downloading it to my computer, I realized the symmetry in the handle, such that one might see it as an 'o' rather than a 'c'. What makes this interesting are the differing textures created by the two parts of the crate: The 'weave' on the left side of the 'c' and the solid section on its right. I'm reminded of visual illusions and the way our eyes perceive boundaries; it certainly seems to be at play here. I see a 'c' every time.


obsolescence

the letter b

Day two of Project ABC brings you the letter B. I found this one much more challenging than the letter A, and it seemed to appear more often in its lowercase form than in uppercase. I failed to find the letter on a bicycle in time to post here, but I have ideas about how I might photograph it.


part of a door frame and a wall design at chelsea market


a little difficult to see through the fence, but b is for 'bench'


ladder in manhole

I C D ABC N NYC

For me, photography is about seeing things in a particular way, discovering them with fresh eyes (or lenses), finding in them qualities that I have never seen before or interpreting and redefining them in a completely new way.

Due in part to my frustrations with repeatedly photographing flowers, trees, and other remnants of nature in this stifling city, and to my intolerance and general inability for seeing the beauty in city photography, I found myself craving a new project. Inspiration came from two sources:

1) William Steig's C D B, a book full of sentences formed by using letters of the alphabets as words (e.g., C D B = see the bee), and

2) ABC NYC: A Book About Seeing NYC, a children's book depicting letters of the alphabet through photography.

With my current project, I embark on a 26-day adventure, finding the alphabet in places one might not think to look. This is not about photographing signs and billboards. Rather, this is about seeing letters as part of things. A sub-part of this project is to see whether or not I can find all 26 letters on bicycles.

Whereas I originally thought that I might limit myself to photographing just one letter each day, I have decided that building up a bank may not be such a bad thing. It turns out that I often discover letters when I am not looking for them. It would be a shame not to take advantage of such serendipitous occasions. For example, I found a 'Q' today that I am incredibly excited to share. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until day 17. Photographing ahead, though, should not, will not, deter me from continuing to seek out letters.

Beginning today, and running for the next 25 days, I will begin with 'A' and reveal subsequent letters of the alphabet until I reach 'Z'. Letters may be uppercase or lowercase, and I will aim for at least two or three representations of each letter. So, without further ado, I present to you the letter 'A'.


the ceiling of Milbank Chapel, Teachers College, Columbia University



road block



seat stays of a bicycle frame



A-frame sign outside Panino Sportivo on Amsterdam Ave.

love the colors

Being a lover of bright colors and of bikes, how could I not photograph this orange Giro helmet, chained to a vintage Fuji ten-speed?


locked up

menagerie by the bridge

Following a trip to Brooklyn to see a lacrosse game between Trinity and Poly Prep, I decided to walk around and explore. What did I find? First, I was surprised to see a menagerie of animals on Poly's campus, all sharing a plot of land that abutted a small pond. Roosters, ducks, geese, and even rabbits. Who knew? The only thing missing is a peacock. That they were all able to peacefully cohabit this small plot of land impressed me greatly.




Not too far from the campus, the Verrazano Bridge sits above the city, joining Brooklyn to that unwanted sister that serves as the city's fifth borough: Staten Island. Yes, it's time that Jersey annexed the island. Crossing over I-278, I decided to photograph the bridge and rediscovered the difficulties of using a simple point-and-shoot equipped only with auto-focus. Trying to photograph something behind a fence? Fadgettaboudit! So how did I manage to capture the bridge in focus while rendering blurry the chain link fence? I had to first shove the lens through the fence, focus, and then back a few steps away from the fence.


This final photo of the Verrazano Bridge makes a nice addition to my Frames album.

food photography

I sometimes dream about a career as a professional photographer. My ideal job? Working for National Geographic and photographing lions racing across the African savannah. And what if National Geographic doesn't want me? Well, I have a host of photographs of food in my portfolio.

Behold my famous French toast, topped with strawberries and confectioner's sugar.