Beyond the Cityscape

Posted on by NicholeS

Over the past 15 years, I have been primarily interested in documenting city life both at home in New York and abroad.  Parks and green spaces within urban areas have also been a frequent theme in my photography.  However, last fall I began taking some photography classes that have encouraged me to expand my repertoire.  These experiences have encouraged me to look up, down, and sideways for the unexpected within the city’s confines, for happy accidents that create interesting visual imagery.

Here are a few of my recent photographic experiments.  I hope you enjoy them!

 

Building refracted by building

 

 

 

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Fresh rain and barbed wire

 

 

 

After the fall
Nature’s Grid
Nature’s shadow
Cityscapes, Parks, photography, urban life

Welcome, spring!

Image | Posted on by NicholeS

spring campus-COLLAGESpring has finally arrived in New York City.  In our northern climate, she often sneaks in slowly and flies away quickly, squeezed on either side by the more muscular New York winters and summers.

The warmer weather means a return to blogging for me, as I much prefer taking photos in the light of spring in summer.  Today I offer a haiku in celebration, and of course, a few photos.

The Bashful Tree

The pink and white tree

knows not whom she wants to be.

Spread your wings, dear tree!

pink-white tree

Waiting for the Bus at Sundown

Posted on by NicholeS

  1. 20170307_17253320170307_173813I  tend to wax poetic in my posts about New York City. Today I will not cover art, music, dance or culture. I will simply share some photos taken with my Samsung Galaxy 7 camera while enduring an extra long wait for the bus in Brooklyn. Waiting, after all, is part of contemporary life, especially for urbanites.

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Tree(s) Grow in the Bronx (Riverdale)

Posted on by NicholeS

This is a mini post to serve as an update to last summer’s chronicle of my trip to The Bronx’s Grand Concourse neighborhood. Two friends and I recently went back to the area, braving the January chill to climb the many hills of Riverdale in the Northwest Bronx.

It was a great escape, we felt like we had travelled Upstate, but in fact we never left New York City.  There’s a lovely, leafy suburban vilkage feeling to the place, even in the dead of winter.

If  you go, I recommend fortifying yourself at Tin Marin, where you can enjoy tasty tapas and drinks in avrelaxed setting. http://www.tinmarintapas.com

New Second Avenue Subway Stations Offer a Top Notch Art Experience for $2.75 or Less

Posted on by NicholeS

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A few of Vik Muniz’s “characters,” or people seen riding the subway, from actual photos

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The dawn of a new year has brought considerable excitement to residents of Manhattan’s storied Upper East Side, to Q line subway  riders (myself included), to transit enthusiasts, and to admirers of public and contemporary art (me again!).

Glass encased station entrance
Inside a sparking new station

The multi-billion Second Avenue Subway project, decades in the making, opened with a bang on New Years Day 2017, debuting a reconfigured 63rd and Lexington Avenue Station, and three bright and spacious new stations at 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street and Second Avenue, all serviced by the Q train.

It’s not often that we New Yorkers feel good about our subway stations, but what I saw blew me away.  I won’t go into great detail*, as much has already been written, but will share some images of the permanent art on display.

Over the last 20+ years, commissioned public art has become much more commonplace in the City’s transit hubs.  The art is usually added to rehabilitated stations.  This time, the art and the stations where designed with each other in mind and the result is stunning!

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Sarah Sze’s monumental “Blueprint for a Landscape” at the 96th Street station

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Some of the murals and mosaics can be viewed by simply entering the stations before one reaches the turnstiles, like this one, by Chuck Close.

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To see all of the art work, one can pay only $2.75, ride up to 96th Street, and then visit each stop: 86th, 72nd and 63rd  on the way back downtown. There’s no need to pay $25 to visit a local art museum!

The slideshow below features images by Chuck Close at the 86th Street Station

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Kudos to all who worked to complete these stations.  They are worth a visit!

*For more on the history of the Second Avenue Subway: http://nyti.ms/2iGcmey

Season’s Greetings

Posted on by NicholeS

As we gather together at the end of a troubled year, I wish to offer this sentiment:

Attempt to up-cycle the past, reconstructing it into something more positive and shining in 2017.  Hug your friends and family, note your recent accomplishments, and be glad!

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A light fixture made of upcycled auto tail lights illuminates the Montreal Science Centre

Daily Prompt: Missing

Posted on by NicholeS

via Daily Prompt: Missing

Missing/Loss

On 9/11/16, about 100 other New Yorkers and I went to a pier on Manhattan’s west side to dance Argentine tango.  The event takes place every Sunday, weather permitting, but this evening as the sun went down we were also in a prime spot to view the annual commemoration, via a beam of light, of that tragic day now 15 years in the past, when our city was attacked by terrorists.

Now that the new Freedom tower is up, the light beam memorial looks a little different. This is a quick photo taken on my phone that doesn’t do the image justice, but I feel it definitely conveys the concept of Missing.

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