Diderot's Photo Blog

Supporting the Standing Rock Sioux

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Sun, 5 Mar 2017 23:06:00 -0500

I was so sad when the Dakota Pipeline protesters left their campsite in flames on February 22. I wanted to do something to show my support. I wanted to bring some river water home to connect with them. The Hudson river flows into the ocean where all the rivers mingle eventually. The city has limited the access to its rivers over the years.

A friend who lives further north told me that the river was easy to get to near the Riverdale station. So off I went. We clambered over the mossy rocks and I got some water.

I have a lakshmi in my living room. I bring her gifts from the garden; an old blue bottle and a pine cone that a nearby tree tossed to me. I set up a little dish with a stone from the garden that has a lot of mica, like the rocks near the river and poured some river water over it.

Every day the water in the dish evaporates and I refill it. There are mineral traces in the dish, remains of the river's presence.

I wanted to march in support of the water protectors yesterday, but I had a class. My spirit is with them.

Revisiting Banksy

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 23:17:00 -0500

A few years ago, Banksy engaged in a 30 day residency in New York. Each day offered a new work or performance. It was all ephemeral as street art tends to be. One piece remains visible from the residency.

The streak of red on the boy's forehead and the flash of light under the hammer are reflections on the protective sheet of plexiglass covering the work. Many of Banksy's pieces from the residency were protected with plexi, or roll down metal gates before being removed. One piece, Geisha is still behind its protective gate, but it might as well be elsewhere.

The boy with the hammer was protected by Saul Zabar, of the Zabar's across the street. He is genuinely fond of the work and wants everyone to enjoy it. Still it seems so strange to have street art protected by plexiglass. It is maybe a little poignant.

For more about Bansky's work, check out this awesome page:

https://www.artsy.net/artist/banksy

Last Week's Snow

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 13:21:00 -0500

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.

Wu-Men

I am not usually the person who posts poetry, but I really liked this one. The first snow of the year was a week ago. It was delicate and charming, a welcome arrival for the beginning of the year.

These weedy little daisy flowers were still hanging on. My friend at the community garden said they bloom when everything else is brown, and here is the proof.

The garden looked seasonally appropriate.

The milkweed pods still had their seeds. I guess they disperse in the spring.

I gathered pots of snow which I melted down to water the houseplants with. They always enjoy rain showers in the summer, so I thought the snow would be beneficial. They seemed to like it. This was also the last day of the tree, seen in the corner.

The next day it snowed again, and what was forecast as a dusting quickly got out of hand.

It was Saturday, running the usual weekend errands soon became an ordeal.

The daylight drained away and everything got quiet.

The next day, the weather got warm, the snow started to melt, now it feels like spring.

Once Colorful City Fades to Gray

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 13:46:00 -0500

I have been working on these photos for a while but the subject feels oddly appropriate right now.

Over the years, I have noticed more and more buildings turning gray. Brownstones are resurfaced without the brown.

Gray painted brick looms over Miss Lily's Sunny Jamaican Diner.

While many Georgian townhouses are gray or black, they are usually next to other, lighter colored townhouses. Most new buildings are, of course, gray.

Sometimes it feels as if whole blocks are losing their color.

Two years ago, I posted this building in Williamsburg that was being gut renovated. There was nothing left but its cheery facade.

The graffiti creatures along the buildings base looked as if they were imprisoned in the construction shed.

A tumor building was constructed around it and it has been adorned with the most hectic graffiti.

Here is a closer look.

I am not sure what the misshapen lump in is, I think I see a footprint in there. I do not like this graffiti at all and not just because it was also temporarily adorning a Douglas Elliman office. There are so many better examples of graffiti murals. Once there were murals all around New York City. They are slowly disappearing as the gray buildings become more common. In Bushwick there ares still lots of beautiful walls.

This one is so nice we have to look at it twice

I love the image of this young woman. She is my inspiration.

Following with Chanel's descent into lipstick revolution is all the more depressing.

Let's clear our palette with a cat eating a bat.

I also love these odd chaotic spots of tags.

Near White St. and Moore, the warehouses are all painted with tags and art. It gets panted over with new work every few months.

La Borinquena

The Williamsburg Bridge is always getting tagged, with the dedication plaque as a favorite spot.

The city tried to clean the plaque, but it did not last. This was the first tag, the plaque is covered once again, but it isn't as nice as the Stay Human art above.

Summer, Some Strange Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Sat, 9 Jul 2016 18:15:00 -0400

Random Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Fri, 8 Apr 2016 14:36:00 -0400

Searching for spring as the weather refuses to cooperate, wet snow is forcast for tomorrow. These farmer's market daffodils reminded me of butterflies and they wilted spectacularly in small groups until only three were standing. They quickly joined their sisters, it was all very ephemeral.

These are pictures I have been taking over the last few months, when I have time to capture a few images.

This was from February, I think it was a a remnant of Mardi Gras.

Night Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 11:34:00 -0400

Things have been crazy. I have been taking photos, but no time to even look at them. My new camera has a function that makes hand held night shots a possibility. I have been playing around with it.

I am fascinated by this window, when I pass it on the J train, I can see inside. There are racks of clothes and people possibly sewing. There are plants and a bicycle hanging on the wall. The train passes quickly, I only catch a glimpse.

I want to play around some more.

Midwinter

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 19:07:00 -0500

I bought a new camera. I had been planning on buying a cheap video camera to mimic security camera footage for another project I am working on. But the man at B & H led me down the line of display cases to a beautiful camera with a Leica lens that also shoots video. His selling argument was that I could always shoot at a lower quality to imitate security footage.

The camera is a huge improvement over my 10 year old Canon. I wandered around a little bit trying out the camera. It makes me so happy that L'impasse (dead end) is still on 8th street. There used to be lots of crazy clothing stores and funky shoe stores, now only a few remain. I would love to see the Valentine's Day date involving these outfits.

A tropical rain storm interrupted my camera exploration, and despite various groundhog predictions of spring, winter returned. There has been a spate of decorative snow, sticking mostly on trees and grass, leaving passges clear. The best kind of snow for the city really.

The elm trees in Union Square were so pretty.

The sad blue building hasn't looked this good since the misguided addition of a glass curtain walll obscured all its cast iron details.

It was about here that I realized that I could change the image format between square, rectangular and panorama. Unfortunately, I also changed the image size so all these pictures are only good for the web.

I am getting more familiar with the camera controls.

A little later, the sun came out and all the snow melted off the trees, water cascaded down branches and the awnings sparkling in the light.

Finally a Good Blizzard

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 19:13:00 -0500

After that strange December with its mild temperatures and blooming flowers, we finally got some winter weather. I woke up yesterday with a cocoon of snow around me. I did not go outside while the blizzard raged. I worked on my dream images and made stew.

When the storm died down, the young son dragged us outside to see the transformed world.

Someone arranged a discarded tree giving us the festive holiday tableau that was missing four weeks ago.

This morning was crystal clear and beautiful. The neigbors wandered around smiling and greeting each other. New Yorkers really do like their snow, until it gets disgusting.

Taking Pictures With One Arm In A Sling

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 16:35:00 -0500

I was hit by an opening car door while I was riding my bicycle and I injured my shoulder. For a few weeks, I had to wear a sling when I went out. It limited what I could carry.

I could not even carry my little point and shoot camera. The only pictures I have taken with it were on this one afternoon when the light was pretty in the garden.

Instead I used my camera phone as I wandered around the city, staring forlornly at the cyclists reveling in the mellow autumn weather.

All of my pictures were a little tilted, thank heavens for Photoshop.

When I was photographing this post Halloween confetti of party fliers, a car drove up on the sidewalk just to my right. It made me feel as if the city was trying to kill me. Indeed, 13 pedestrians have been killed by cars since Halloween. According to the Gothamist, 4 of them were on the sidewalk when they were struck.

This is what Bike Snob NYC calls a hipster high lock.

I have been out of the sling for two weeks. This is actually from a week ago. I was about to post it when I heard about the attacks in Paris. The blog post didn't feel important so I left it a few days. Violence continues, even today, in Mali. I could wait forever.

A Little September Light

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 18:17:00 -0400

Summer stretched out languidly and I spent most of it focused on my seed planting project for Urban Demeter. It was more of a learning experience than a brilliant flowery success, but I learned a lot for next season. When I photographed the end of my three sisters planting, the light was so beautiful. I took some other pictures.

The days are clearly shorter and the light changes frequently.

The tape reminded me of a face, a bit like the snow god I captured a winter or two ago.

Some more pretty September light:

Garden In Flower

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 21:41:00 -0400

Sunflower about to bloom

Pollinator Flowers

Hydrangea flouncing around

Butterfly bush

Everything is overgrown

Milkweed on the left

This spot used to be shady before the neighbor cut down the tree. Now I may need to move the ferns.

Catnip also attracts pollinators

Plants on the patio

Midsummer

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 18:54:00 -0400

The Solstice was hot and moody. I suggested burning a small bonfire, but before we could, it started to rain.

It was a big cooling storm with lots of wind.

The sun made brief appearances lighting up the raindrops on the screens.

Today is midsummer's eve and another storm blew through, this time with some excellent thunder and lightning. Still no bonfires.

Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 9 Jun 2015 15:24:00 -0400

After a dry spell that lasted for most of May, we finally had a week of cool rainy weather. It started with a long deluge. The trees seemed to dance under the rain. All of the greens became more verdant.

I have not been trimming the little patches of grass that I haven't pulled up. They are growing very high. The wisteria has climbed the fence and begun to battle the neighbor's ivy for supremacy.

I am in a strange place with my work. I finished a virtual street art piece that I spent a few months on. I used the Domino Sugar factory to represent a building from a dream. The problem is that the factory is being slowly demolished. I am worried that if I put my piece up while the factory is still intact, it might distract from the point of my piece. I need to wait until more of the building is destroyed.

I am going in a new direction with my Urban Demeter project. I want to plant seeds in empty tree pits rather than put plants out. The picture above is the beginning of a Three Sisters Planting. The problem with growin from seed is that it takes a while and in the meantime there is nothing but dirt, and maybe some small green sprouts. The corn has come up on this spot but it is not growing very quickly. I may need to feed it. Many tree pits have compacted soil which is very hard to work with.

I am in a bit of a holding pattern so I have thrown myself into the garden.

We put some bamboo fencing on the walls of the patio to hide the ugly stucco.

It makes the light warmer.

I love lobelia, even though it rarely survives the July heat.

The milkweed I planted last year has come back. The plants are growing every day, one really tall, the other three smaller.

This is one of the beds where I planted flowers to attract pollenators.

Spring With Red Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 19:00:00 -0400

For a while it felt as if spring would never come. Finally, the trees started flowering, but the weather turned cold. Today seemed like the perfect spring day.

The oversized ad featuring Kate Moss did not irritate so much when framed by pear blossoms.

Something about the light made the reds pop out.

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 19:34:00 -0400

These are the only pictures I have from the past month where the snow does not dominate. I had beautiful pictures of the last winter storm. The snow melted so quickly this week that the pictures do not seem relevant.

It will rain tonight and tomorrow. I hope it will wash away some of the filth and detritus that the melting snow has uncovered.

I would see this tree from the J train in the morning. I love the graceful way it carries its plastic bags.

Just a little morning light on the discount store.

Blue February

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 08:02:00 -0500

Usually I like February. When the sun is out, the light is beautiful, there is usually a good blizzard, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day. But this year it has been so gloomy. Icy cold days followed by pitiful snow mixed with sleet.

The frozen sidewalk near my house has aquired a layer of grime that offers a little traction.

The piles of snow have strata of grey representing each miserable storm. Although I had work to do on my new street art idea, I could stay in the gloomy house. So I went to Central Park, which usually restores my sense of New York.

I started out near the Metropolitan which seemed like the right place to be on a cloudy day in February.

Everything felt different inside the park.

I have been noticing the bleached bark of the London Plane trees.

They are a bit luminous.

The sun fought its way out adding a little glitter to the frozen puddles. The day became brighter but the sun never really got free from the clouds. I hope the weather turns less punishing.

I really wish I had these bushes in my garden.

More Ice, More Cold

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 3 Feb 2015 17:30:00 -0500

Our latest winter storm varied between snow and sleet, leaving a fine icy glaze on everything and throwing the subway system into a Victorian swoon. I love the ice coated trees shining as if they were made of glass. It is only noticeable with the sun behind the ice, so it makes photographs difficult.

I am still scouting around the Holland Tunnel trying to find the right view for my dream picture.

It was so cold out, I get chilled when I look at this picture.

Silly Snow

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 12:17:00 -0500

Our historic blizzard turned into a nice little bit of snow. It is pretty snow, but perhaps not worth all the craziness or what Pat Kiernan of NY1 called placing "the entire city under house arrest"

Still, I was only moderately inconvenienced by the lockdown. I felt bad for people who get paid by the hour especially those who work in the evening.

One of the guys who lives at the shelter near my subway stop was hanging around yesterday while the storm was tapering off. He is a bit ravaged by drink or drugs, but he always smiles at me and says hello. He was watching the snow, his battered face lit with joy. He said, "isn't it beautiful? It's so clean, like a waterfall."

At 34th street, the city had totally vanquished the snow as it always does.

There were no cars, not even on 8th avenue leading into midtown.

Elm trees in Union Square park.

Ice Light

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 13:46:00 -0500

This is one of those winters of bitter dry cold followed by milder weather and rain. I have had a hard time settling back to work after the holidays. On one of the last icy days, I went out looking for inspiration.

People have been drifting into my pictures. I think it is because I have been using the phone on my camera, and I am not always aware of the the edges.

The quality is the same as with my point and shoot camera. The saturation is a bit intense, kind of like old Kodak non-professional film. Luckily I can tone it down.

I had planned on a new virtual street art site, but it was in one of those parts of town that is regularly scrubbed clean. I was wandering around Tribeca in search of a new spot.

This once gritty, edgy neighborhood has been taken over by strollers. Everywhere small children were being escorted on their morning outings. And it seemed that the women doing the pushing were their mothers and not the typical nannies one sees in other neighborhoods. Actually I think the woman above was someone's nanny, but everyone else seemed like catalog models.

I found a spot regardless, and it has the added benefit of being from a dream. I can make a dream image that will be virtual street art.

After that, I wandered around in the Village, capturing the icy cold light.

Pictures I Took Since August

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 21:58:00 -0500

I did not realize how long I had been working on my last art piece, until I posted the pictures to my blog.The last entry was in August. I have been taking pictures, but every time I was in front of the computer, I was working on that image.

These are some of the pictures I took.

I sometimes suspect that my phone camera increases the saturation on its images, but this silver fence really does throw some wild light and reflections around.

One morning in early October the rambling garden of the church arcross the street glimmered in the light.

Gentrification continues in Williamsburg. This brightly painted building facing the bridge is being eviscerated while its pretty shell remains.

I tried to photograph through the window to capture the sunlight filtering down through the roofless ceiling.

The graffiti monsters at the building's base looked forlorn behind the scaffolding, as if they were imprisoned. I wonder if they will be restored in the finished building.

This empty space will probably soon be filled in as well, the colorful tags hidden behind glass and steel.

A little November light

Virtual Street Art

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 22:29:00 -0500

Lost Mural Runs Free

On Cooper Square near 6th Street, I have placed a label with a QR code. It is right outside that shiny new silver Cooper Union building, on the lampost.

If you scan the QR code with your smart phone, you can see the image.

Nothing could console me after September 11^th, not the national day of prayer, or the Buddhist monks drumming in Union Square Park, the last spot before the streets were closed. We stood there in small groups talking in low voices, strangers at a funeral. The faces of the departed stared out at us from missing posters.

Weeks later, a mural appeared on the wall of a small old building on Bowery. It summed up everything I was feeling. It was a comfort to walk past it for a while.

The city recovered, the mural was painted over. The old 19th century building it was painted on was deemed unworthy of conserving and was torn down. Now a new building is rising up. It will be dormatories for the Cooper Union students who must now pay tuition for the first time since the university was founded over 150 years ago.

I wanted to let the mural loose on Cooper Square once again.

Virtual Street Art

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 21:24:00 -0400

If you go to Union Square East and 14th Street, across the street from the park, there is a label with a qr code. You can scan it with your smart phone and it will bring you to an image that I made of Union Square a few months ago.

This is a test run. I would really like to know how the image looks on your phones. I have to scroll to see the image, maybe it needs to be smaller. I would love some feedback on this.

There were not any labels pasted around Union Square, so there may be a regular scraping of illegal labels. If the label is gone, you can see the image here.

Dream #1

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 5 Aug 2014 17:42:00 -0400

The best way to view these is to click on the first image and go through them like a slide show. Or try to view them here.

France, lots of graffiti, a little JR

noreply@blogger.com (A. Diderot) — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 13:11:00 -0400

I was in Le Croisic for a wedding. My bedroom window offered a view of the ocean

The sky would melt into sunset.

Le Crosic graffiti

The wildest time on my trip was on my birthday when I was stranded in the walled city of Guerande with a lovely Spanish lady.

We wandered around the city and spent hours chatting on a cafe terrace about the importance of letting adventures happen. I tried to keep the spirit of the day throughout my trip.

Then to Paris, and this was the view from my window.

There was no light in the wc for a few days, which gave me a chance to take a picture by candlelight.

I went to see the JR installation at the Pantheon.

The photos were printed on plastic that would sometimes reflect the light.

All of those faces looking straight at the viewer were very intense.

I visited the petite ceinture which is like the high line in New York, but left to run wild. It is unlike the French to let nature do its thing but they were very proud of protecting the abandoned railway's ecosystem. I thought it was far better than the fussy nyc park.

Here are some thistles behaving a lot like weeds.

On the parapet walls of the railway, the graffiti blended with the vines.

Sometimes a tagger would paint over the dead branches.

I had planned on taking photos for my dream project, but the light was never what I expected

There always seemed to be additional layers things were never as they appeared. It was like living in one of my dreams.

I wandered through the neighborhoods where I lived, remembering lost adventures and enjoying the colors.

My dream project will just have to fit with the images I have.