bonus post, no. 8: from the archives

flashback!!



for me it is, anyway. this is a shot from a bayou east of new orleans. took that when i still lived in baton rouge. i was going through old photos and it really stood out...

Rob Brown Trio @ The Stone

this is another flashback (3/31/07, to be exact!), but i came across it after seeing rob brown's quartet perform this sunday night, so it seems appropriate.

before...



rob brown

with daniel levin (cello) and satoshi takeishi (percussion)



satoshi is quite literally a blur of movement when he performs



great group. be sure to check out mr. brown's new album, Crown Trunk Root Funk

i rarely take pictures at the stone now, as i was reprimanded on more than one occasion (by another photographer, no less! i suppose he had the artist's blessing, but still...) by a guy that i see at just about EVERY experimental gig in town taking pictures in the front damn row. perhaps it has something to do with john zorn, the club's 'artistic director', who i once heard curse out some polish photographers (on a bootleg recording), and has something of a negative relationship with critics.

whatever. i don't have to take pictures. i'm there for the music, so i don't anymore. but i have to wonder if most artists would really mind having a few non-flash shots taken while they were playing, as long as they had some say in where they were published.

any thoughts out there?

bonus post, no. 7: to be bluejake

i love bluejake's signature shots of urban decay along flushing ave and elsewhere, and i suppose you could consider these homage (or cheap imitation). sites and shots like his are what got me interested in creating a photoblog.

never really intended to put these up...the last thing this world needs, after all, is someone else taking artsy photos in gowanus. look for more crown heights and ft greene/clinton hill photos this week, and (hopefully!) the photos of my school i've been planning for weeks now.







look in the bottom corner of this last one for a candid shot of kristlechirpen, famous of course for her KITTEN PHOTOS

Memorial Day Special

let the flag wave high and proudly







union st near the gowanus canal

a recurring theme...

i know i've posted skyline shots before, but i felt like this one came out rather nicely, so i couldn't resist...

Clinton Hill/Fort Greene: Clinton Ave 1

I've been walking to and from work down the avenues of Clinton Hill and Ft Greene...mostly Washingon, Clinton, and Waverly, but also others. I'll feature them intermittently over the next few weeks

---

we start at myrtle ave



housing project, you say? not so! these are co-ops (perhaps used to be projects?). more to come from these later.



some lovely stone buildings

the three following are around the st. joseph's campus:

pretty brownstones, lovely trees





more porches in this neighborhood than in mine...this could be a cottage in the south, complete with garden.



and...more co-ops!



---

OK, at this point my camera gave out, but I'll certainly get some more shots either tomorrow or next week.

Still working on some photos of the school I work for...easier said than done!

kittens, pt. 6: portrait of needles

---

note: to any and all

i've changed my settings to allow anonymous postings...so any of you that are unable to post because you don't have a Blogger/Google ID can now post comments. so do it.

nightscape

from a friend's apartment on the 36th floor of a building on 39th street/1st ave

prospect/crown heights rooftop

some shots from the rooftop of a building on the prospect/crown heights border





if you look to the left of the above photo, you can see the ebbets field apartments looming in the background





a shot of the brooklyn museum--i'll see if i can get a shot of it lit up at night, it's lovely

selfportrait 2

ok, so not a self-portrait necessarily...this was a drawing made by one of my students last year.

Crown Heights South: Part 2

we continue down crown street from bedford ave going east. the block between bedford and rogers is one of the loveliest i've ever seen.



an unusual church up on the hill near nostrand ave



and then the rest of the way is made up of small brick houses, probably one family per, many with meticulously cared for front lawns.

i stopped taking pictures around troy/schenectady because the light got so bad...but i did take one of the yellow 'moshiach' flags (blurry, but it's all i got) that are common in the area. this area is home to the world headquarters of the chabad lubavitch sect of the hasidic movement; the 'moshiach' flags refer to the messiah, the word meaning 'anointed one' in hebrew. further insight on the topic is welcomed!



i sometimes feel like an intruder in the jewish neighborhoods in williamsburg and crown heights, and i have mixed feelings about whether i should be taking pictures or not. my view is that since i don't shy away from photographing neighborhoods of any other ethnicity or religion, i have no reason to avoid the beautiful architecture in this neighborhood. i rarely, if ever, photograph people of any kind, and i don't feel that i'm particularly intrusive...

any thoughts on THAT topic are also welcome in the comments section.

bonus post, no. 6: ebbets field houses

no trip to this part of crown heights would be complete without a visit to 'ebbets field', the housing complex on the old dodger stadium site







this is the most intimidating building i've ever seen. not the people--i spoke to one or two, and they were friendly and inviting--the building itself. something about the way it looms over the smaller buildings that make up this part of the city, and the grim nature of the architecture...







this photo makes it look more grim than it is; empire blvd is a bit run down, but overall the neighborhood is quite pleasant.

added bonus: the school just around the corner...aptly named for jackie robinson, who played on what would later become this school's grounds

Crown Heights South: Part 1

took a trip through crown heights south of eastern parkway earlier today

we begin at the carroll street pedestrian bridge (over the franklin ave shuttle), near washington ave

there are some interesting murals on franklin ave near carroll and crown streets:

the mural notes that the 'youth collective' has now moved to ralph ave

as we move further east, much of the architecture consists of two- to three-story brick buildings, many with meticulously manicured lawns. the vinyl (?) awnings you see are also quite common south of eastern parkway.

there are also a number of larger apartment buildings, similar to those you can find further south in brooklyn



we'll finish with a particularly lovely apartment building on carroll street near bedford avenue:

---

many more to come tomorrow, as i continue down crown street to utica ave. enjoy!