tradition

i wonder what requires more character and courage: to respect tradition, or to step away from it.

(model: sommelier)

hands

you can tell a lot by a person's hands. the gentle strength in his caught my attention.

chance

do you ever wonder why people meet? is it simply chance, or is it kismet?

i like these candid sequences also as they remind me we don't live in the worlds of Albee or Camus. at least we shouldn't be...

(left work 15 mins earlier than normal. first the woman's purse caught my eye, then the lack of expression on her face. unexpectedly, she moved into the camera's view just before the train reached my stop. now i have 1/365!)

Music

I can paint my emotions onto canvases or put them into words, but nothing fills silence like music can.

model: Jake Ishler, musician, 11/2009.

perfection (dawn - take 2)

a certain amount of frailty shows just how close to perfection a person is.

sequence #5

sometimes i wonder if sub-sequences could be made by simply deleting some elements, like in maths...
#56 bus; 10/2009

pause

i grew up in a city focused on progress, where is time is money and everyone hurries through every day... so i like to just stand still and see what/who comes into my camera, and make time last a little longer.

corners

i like shooting views of street corners - they show a lot about a place (and sometimes make me ponder the different corners in life). meanwhile, panoramas are growing on me.

jen #3

meanwhile, some friends would overlook that it was you who had let the pink elephant into the room; then there are those who would grab whatever necessary to help you banish it.

devyn (take 2)

I'm fortunate to have people in my life who inspire me - even more so when they do so by their example.

connie (take 2)

some friends make you see the pink elephant sitting in the room. then there are those who give you a pink tutu and show you how you can teach the elephant ballet and make it work for you - and make you laugh.

absolute (jacqui & paul)

when it comes to love between two people, i'm an absolute cynic: doubting any couple can stay in love with each other forever...

looking at these friends of mine, i'm beginning to think i might be absolutely wrong.

(J&P's wedding and reception; 10/31/2009)

compulsion

perhaps love is just a disorder without cure.

and, it's strange (and perhaps somewhat metaphoric) that my cat always feels compelled to scratch at the mirror to get to my reflection even though I'm standing right behind him.

autoportrait 10/22/2009

smile

sometimes it makes me sad that people don't.
(top: N train; bottom: blue line; 10/2009)

sequence #4

i like these single shot sequences; they make me pay attention and see things i normally don't. (Blue Line; 10/2009)

carnivale

at myself the camera lens can be a strange and scary mirror.
(autoportrait circa 1989)

clarity (sequence #3)

then moments like this - when i met my friends' 2 year old daughter for the very first time - they give me clarity.

change (jen #2)

those rare, magical moments - when the other person lowers her/his walls and I see the essence of who s/he is and how s/he feels - they change something in me.

connection (me #4)

It's good too, to love your own skin, but you can't make a connection with it.
(autoportraits circa 1990, reworked in 2009)

crush

It's a very good thing crushes are temporary by definition.
(Time Square; 10/2009)

caught

Regardless of the emotions conveyed, I think it's a privilege when someone holds your eyes, and gives you something of him/herself.
(Promenade at the Rock, Bryant Park, Time Square; 10/2009)

Rabbit Riders

the rabbit loved well.
well loved the rabbit.
loved the rabbit well.
(Bryant Park; 10/2009)

sequence 2 - the lover

Is beauty any more or less true in the eyes of the lover? (Time Square; 10/2009)

me #3

I think it's interesting how untruths and fantasies blend in art.
(autoportrait; 10/2009)

sequence

I love how often they spiral out of control. (N train; 10/2009)

red

(Queens; 10/2009)

blue

(on N train; Queens; 10/2009)

me #2

Talking about my art sometimes feels like Confession. (auto-portrait from the 90's)

devyn

sometimes camera lenses see more than naked eyes.

mom

i don't always like sharing my work - you see way too much.

connie

i think honesty makes the best images.

amy

if eyes are windows to the soul, i think smiles are windows to the heart.

me

i think the camera lens is some sort of magic mirror.

sarah

the desire for image for me is a bottomless pit - always craving for more.

daniela

i make pictures, because it's easier than talking.

tanya

always wondered if the images would come out better if either the imagee's or the imager's barriers were down.
maybe it takes both?

steve

interactive art-making makes me nervous!

stolen

i don't know about cameras stealing one's soul, but sometimes they do bare it.
mta n train, 9/2009

candids

have you ever fallen in love even though you know you shouldn't? taking candid photos is like that:
the risks of unhappy subjects and the thrills of forbidden secrets.

Jen

sometimes 10,000 words and a bunch of pictures don't say enough.

and that look, that smile, that moment... a photograph lets you hold it closer.

kids

Children are scary, in a very good way.

(Santa Maria Incoronata anniversary celebration in Chinatown; taken with Blackberry 8900)