Archives for July 2009
Confessions of a Photo 101 student
I was flipping through some old notebooks this evening and came across some images from my very first photo class. I think this must be right around the week I discovered Harry Callahan and Man Ray.
Ruben, Sunset Park
It took a couple of weeks, but I finally managed to take my first portrait. This is Ruben, I met him in Sunset Park last Sunday.
Honestly, this photograph was all Ruben’s idea. I was taking a picture of a storefront on 4th Avenue and he was sitting nearby—he actually came up and introduced himself to me. He asked if I would take a picture with him and his lottery tickets. I was completely floored and just went along with it.
Photography is (officially) not a crime
NYPD Operations Order number 14
I’m not sure how I could have missed this, but I just came across an official NYPD document regarding the legality of photography in public areas in the city. It is the clearest and most useful document of its kind that I’ve found and states that, except in specific and rare cases, photography and videotaping are permissible in most public spaces. Additionally, a police officer may never ask you to delete images or destroy film, although they can seize your equipment and obtain a search warrant if they are suspicious about your intentions.
20th Street and 3rd Avenue
As you may have noticed, I have changed my focus in the last couple of weeks from the natural landscape to an urban one. Summer seems like a natural time to get started on a couple of side projects I’ve been thinking about. The first of these is an exploration of the neighborhoods along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which happens to pass near my house.