A Thought Bubble...

I'm thankful that..

Hurricane Irene didn't hit the upper East coast as bad as the media were making out. NYC was completely shut down, and I was worried that it would disrupt my flight to LA today. Unfortunately, 25 people died in the storm which makes me more thankful that it lost power the further it moved up the country as it could have been a lot worse.

I loved...
going to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. I love Modern Art museums as you never come across anything the same in each one and you discover new installations that blow your mind. One in particular was the Carlito Carvalhosa installation, Sum of Days that combines sound and space. You walk through this sheeted maze that has speakers and microphones hanging down that records and plays back sounds from previous visitors. The older the recording, the quieter it gets until it becomes a whisper. It was pretty eerie but I could have stayed in there for a while. It was strangely enchanting.

I watched...

The Martin Scorsese film, Shine a Light; a recording of a Rolling Stones concert in Central Park. It was so cool to lie on the grass on a summer evening watching one of my favourite bands that I grew up listening to.

I bought...
new Vans trainers. Mine got pretty ruined from the rain in Massachusetts while I was working at camp. I was a fool to take my wellies.

I miss...
The Pinkhill girls. These are the girls I lived with whilst working at camp and we all got along so well and we all became great friends. I'm going to miss them!



I'm going...
to LA today for two days. My plan: beach! I need to relax before my epic flight to the Land of the White Cloud, New Zealand. I'm so excited for my trip and to see my family over there.

From here..

To here!

I'm listening to...

Florence and the Machine's new song 'What the water gave me'. If her new song is anything to go by, I'm really looking forward to her new album being released.

A photo...

I love the fact he's throwing Wilson....

Never eat Oreo cookie popcorn...

The thing I love about modern art museums is how the plethora of obscure and vivid works of art from across the world can transform the life of an inconspicuous building. Take the Tate Modern for example. Having been an old factory, it was transformed from a place made for  monotonous construction into a place for reflection and eye opening experiences. The MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, in New York City is no different. From the outside, it looks like a banal office block that joins all the other towering buildings of NYC that stand to attention like obedient soldiers. Looking down the street, it feels like the buildings follow the curvature of the earth; they go on for so long.

My preferred section of the museum was, of course, the photography gallery. It offered a wonderful collection of photographers work with no definitive theme in mind. The photos in the gallery themselves range from the early 1900's to the early 80's, providing a satisfyingly interwoven voyeuristic view into cultures and society through the decades.

One particular part of the gallery that I adored was the unknown photos; photos lost or unclaimed joined together through an owner's carelessness or misplacement by a loved one. Unattached through a death or absentmindedness, perhaps.

But the unknown photos, dating in this section mostly from around the 30's and 50's, all gave a window into a moment in the photographers life, the subjects of the photos endearingly immortalized in joy, tribulation and fond love. While the other photos in the gallery gave the viewer a look into a particular world they wouldn't otherwise see, these photos were different. The characters in the pictures had some connection to the photographer which gave them an air of personal attachment and affection that was easy to relate to. We've all been behind the camera with a want to capture a special memory to be able to look on in years to come. A photo of family, friends, lovers. Each of these photos had a beautiful nostalgic characteristic. The now vintage fashion, culture, the fact it's printed in black and white film ( a favourite of mine!) gives them a time capsule feel to the fact that even though they were taken over 50 years ago, people could still enjoy them now. Lost photos finding a new found appreciation.

I have always taken to appreciating street photography and these photos, in a way, followed that line. They still have a story behind them but perhaps in these photos it was more obvious to who the people were, or their background.  The fact that these photos can give a personal connection to the viewer is what I loved about them. A comedic line up of friends or family reminded me of my Dad lining up with his brothers and sisters which had become somewhat a sibling tradition whenever they were together captured of course in photos throughout the years. A group of friends captured laughing uncontrollably over a clumsy fall or an in-joke gave me flashes of memories with my friends and the times I've had with them where I've laughed till my ribs hurt, or being amongst them and feeling right at home with them.

Although these photos are all from a little way back in the past, each one could easily transpire in modern times. The time we live in moves fast and sometimes we can loose track of what is important amidst the want for technology and other materialistic commodities that fill our lives. Fashion, society and cultures may have changed dramatically but the way friends and families work hasn't. That's why photos like these are important, so that they can symbolise what has been or is part of ourselves and what we will look back fondly on as nothing else, really will suffice.

*Apologies for the quality of my pictures of the photos. My iPod camera doesn't quite do them justice.

The land of Stars and Stripes in Black and White

I've been an absolutely terrible blogger, so here's a new update that will hopefully be followed by more in the future now that I have more time on my hands. So, I'm currently working at Camp Eisner as a Creative Writing and Journalism specialist so it's all been crazy and fun this summer. One thing I love about camp is meeting new people from whom you can learn new skills and lessons from. Above all the skills I've learnt this summer is one particularly skill I've been over the moon with gaining; using the Darkroom and  film photography. My friend Sam who was the Darkroom Specialist and also an amazing photographer, taught me all the in's and out's of the long process of developing film and printing photos. I absolutely fell in love with it because watching an image coming to life in the printing process is such an exciting and fulfilling time. And after all that effort of process, it feels great having a beautiful product at the end of it. I loved not knowing what an image would look like after taking it, the fact you can pick and choose and delete images in the digital photography world feels a little bit banal comparing it to film.Black and white and even colour film prints feel more rewarding and the fact you have to pick and choose what to take pictures of gives the photo a lot more value of thought.  Downside of film photography, it's more expensive to process and you'd have to find a darkroom which is becoming somewhat a rarity in this technological age. But, it's become my favourite thing to do and something I will definitely pay more attention to in the future. It's a much longer process than I had originally thought so it makes me wonder how long it will take those who are printing Vivian Maiers' work (see below)! I tried my hand at film photography and processing and developing film this summer and I thought I'd share my efforts with you. The photos are a mixture of New York City, Camp Eisner, and Great Barrington, MA (the town near the camp). I find I like capturing images of people when they least expect it, and also pictures of different characters I come across in different places. An explanation as to why I like Vivian Maier so much!

Johnny and Kate

Katie and Kate

Double exposure-Tree at camp and Rail line

The hustle and bustle of Times Square

Natalie in Times Square

Vicky on subway

Moody self portrait

Tattooed man sleeping on subway

Natalie

Camp Eisner lake

Empire State

Paying homage to my home county

Violinist in Great Barrington

NYC

Captured by Sam