Merry Christmas

The Washington Square Arch and Tree. Photo by Michele.

Merry Christmas from New York. Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I hope you had a wonderful day.

American History Digitized

"Street scene at 38th Street and 7th Avenue, New York City" Russell Lee (1936)

For a period of ten years (1935-1945), the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information (FSA-OWI) hired photographers to document American life, particularly in areas hit the hardest by the Depression, and to show the effects of the government’s relief programs. The result was some of the most iconic images of the 20th-century, many taken by photographers like Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks. 

Stored at the Library of Congress, 170,000 of these images have recently been digitized by a group at Yale University and uploaded to Photogrammar, an archive site that allows for easy searching and viewing. It also includes an interactive map that shows the location of roughly 90,000 images.

These are just a sampling of some of the images I found when I looked up New York City.

"Children playing in the gutter on 139th Street just east of St. Anne's Avenue, Bronx, New York" Russell Lee (1936)

"Strike pickets, New York, New York" Arthur Rothstein (1937)

"42nd Street and Madison Avenue, Street hawker selling Consumer's Bureau Guide, New York City" 

Dorothea Lange (1939)

"Grand Central Terminal, New York City" John Collier (1941)

"New York, New York. Dancing and music on Mott Street, at a flag raising ceremony in honor of neighborhood boys in the United States Army" Marjory Collins (1942)

"New York, New York. Drinking fountain in Central Park" Marjory Collins (1942)

 I could spend hours looking through these. To check out Photogrammar, visit here.

The First Portrait

"Self Portrait" Robert Cornelius (1839). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Today is World Photography Day. To honour the occasion, I’d like to look at an important photo in photography history—the first photographic portrait. 

The oldest known surviving photograph dates from either 1826 or 1827 when a Frenchman named Nicéphore Niépce took “View from the Window at Le Gras,” which depicted the view of his property from an upstairs window. After his death in 1833, his business partner, Louis Daguerre, continued their work and in 1839 announced to the public the creation of the daguerreotype, which would become the main photographic process used for the next 20 years.

In America 30-year-old Robert Cornelius, who specialized in silver plating at his family’s Philadelphia lamp manufacturing company and had an interest in chemistry, became interested in this new invention. A few months after Daguerre's announcement, Cornelius set up his own camera (whose lens was taken from a pair of opera glasses) behind his family’s store and took a self portrait. He wrote on the back, “The first light Picture ever taken. 1839.” He had successfully taken the first portrait of a person with a camera.

In the image Cornelius is off center and his hair is a bit of a mess but it’s a pretty good first attempt. (Sidenote, is it just me or does he not look like actor David Morrissey?) It’s also striking how modern Cornelius looks or maybe that's from seeing so many daguerreotypes of old Victorian men.

Cornelius continued to hone his skills as a photographer and opened the second photography studio in the US with chemist Paul Beck Goddard, who would improve on Daguerre’s process by adding bromine to iodine, which lessened exposure time. Yet after a couple of years Cornelius gave up photography and returned to the family business where he created new inventions including the first kerosene lamp. 

Only a few dozen of Cornelius' photographs are known to still exist. Luckily his self portrait is one of them. 

Bastille Day in New York

Bastille Day on East 60th Street, New York City. Photo: Michele.

Allons enfants de la patrie,

Le jour de gloire est arrivé!

East 60th Street was in full swing today celebrating Bastille Day two days early. Presented by the French Institute Alliance Française, the street fair had dancing and singing, drinking of wine and eating of fine foods, face painting and balloon animals for the kids, and loads of booths with raffle prizes and French products for sale. It even had a very sassy mime. (All photos below by Michele).

Did I mention food? Loads of items to choose from including fruit tarts, brioche, crepes, tri-colour macarons, canneles, and more. It was a fun day and a perfect excuse to celebrate everything French.

Burt Glinn Retrospective

"Delinquents run from a cop, Snoqualmie, WA" Burt Glinn (1956)

Contact sheet images of a bikini-clad Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Suddenly Last Summer (1959) cover the windows at Milk Gallery. Compelling to look at, they are the work of Burt Glinn.

“Burt Glinn: Retrospective” is a sampling of images taken by the noted photographer. From American high school students and British aristocrats to Fidel Castro and Robert Kennedy to the Beats and the Rat Pack, Glinn captured some of the defining people and moments of his day.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1925, he received his first camera—a Kodak Monitor folding camera—from his aunt on his 12th birthday. From then on photography became his passion. He served as an artilleryman in the US Army during World War II and studied at Harvard where he shot photos for the Harvard Crimson. After graduation Glinn worked as an assistant at Life Magazine before he, Eve Arnold, and Dennis Stock were asked to join Magnum Photos in 1951, the first Americans to be invited. Three years later he became a full member and would later serve twice as Magnum’s president. During his half-century long career, Glinn's work took him around the globe and earned him high praise including the Mathew Brady Award for Magazine Photographer of the Year in 1959 for his colour series of the South Seas. The man who once said, “The most important thing that a photographer like me can have is luck” passed away in 2008.

The photos in the exhibit are striking and leave you wanting more (I’d especially like to see some of Glinn’s colour work). While I enjoyed the images of famous people—Jack Kerouac flirting at a party, an exquisite portrait of Twiggy—my favourite may have been this image above, “Delinquents run from a cop, Snoqualmie, WA.” The shadowy figures seem like something out of Peter Pan, two lost boys being chased by Captain Hook (look at the cop’s right hand). And you can almost hear the scream coming from the one boy's open mouth. It’s just wonderful and a perfect example of why Glinn was such a great photographer.

“Burt Glinn: Retrospective” is at Milk Gallery through May 10. For more info, visit here.

The Answer

Washington Square Park. Photo by Michele.

Some days you wonder why you live in New York. The high costs, the crowds, the stress, the smells, the studio the size of a closet that you call home can cause you to question your life decisions. And then one sunny day you find yourself sitting on a bench in Washington Square Park listening to a man play Beethoven on a piano and you know the answer.

Joan

"Joan Didion. Hollywood." Julian Wasser (1968)

In 1968 photographer Julian Wasser was sent by TIME Magazine to shoot a young Joan Didion at her home in Hollywood. The resulting black and white images of the author—staring directly at the camera, cigarette in hand; with her daughter, Quintana Roo, on her lap; in her new Corvette Stingray—remind us (as if we needed reminding) that Didion has always been cool.

The Danziger Gallery currently has an exhibit of these images including outtakes and contact sheets (I always find these so fascinating to look at). The show closes on March 21, so get over there if you can. 

For more information about the exhibit, visit here.

Night at the Museum

The Roman Sculpture Court at the Met. Photo by Michele.

One of my favourite books when I was a little girl was From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the story of siblings Claudia and Jamie Kincaid who run away to live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Monday night I was able to experience my own version of sorts when I attended an after-hours Instameet at the museum sponsored by the Met and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The evening began with cocktails and a chance to meet some fellow instagrammers. After that we were given a tour of the museum by the Met’s Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreenivasan. He was a perfect guide, pointing out some of his favourite pieces and relaying amusing anecdotes about various works. Everywhere we went cameras snapped away, capturing the art, selfies, and each other. There was even a group photo taken in the American Wing Courtyard of everyone lying on the ground.

 "Colossal Seated Statue of Amenhotep III, Reinscribed by Merneptah" (ca. 1390–1353 B.C.). Photo by Michele.

"The Temple of Dendur" (completed by 10 B.C.). Photo by Michele.

"The American Wing Courtyard." Photo by Michele

"Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii" Randolph Rogers (carved 1959). Photo by Michele.

Shadows in the Museum. Photo by Michele.

"Adam" Tullio Lombardo (ca. 1490-95). Take a good look. Once he's placed 

in his new niche later this year, you'll only get a front view. Photo by Michele.

"The Demidoff Table" Lorenzo Bartolini (1845). Photo by Michele.

"Marble portrait bust of the Empress Sabina" Roman (ca. A.D. 122-128).

 
Being in the museum at night with such a small group of people was exciting. Besides the bonus of not having to deal with crowds and their accompanying noise, there was the opportunity to see the museum literally in a different light. With no natural light and the electric ones dimmed (at least they seemed that way), shadows appeared and pieces took on a different look. During the day the Sackler Wing, home of the Temple of Dendur and the “Nile," is normally flooded with light from a glass wall but at night in the dark the place becomes more mysterious: the temple seems larger than usual, the "Nile" murkier (next time they should turn the overheads off completely and have lit torches at the temple entrance—just a suggestion). And I couldn't help but think that being in the Roman Sculpture Court, one of my new favourite spots in the museum, might be a bit unnerving if you were there alone at night (too many empty eyes staring at you). 

Going to an instameet and exploring the museum after dark are two things I'd love to do again. Thank you to the Met and Bloomberg Philanthropies for hosting such a wonderful event.

To see the museum at night, try visiting on Friday or Saturday evenings when the Met stays open until 9 pm. You may not get a private tour but the crowds will be thinner. And to find out what’s going on at the Met, download their new app here.

Life Across America

"Little Leaguers (including their formidable leader, Dick Williams, center), await missing parts of their uniforms, Manchester, New Hampshire" Yale Joel (1954).

This afternoon I caught the last day of the "Life Across America" exhibit at the Leica Gallery. Comprised of iconic images from the pages of Life Magazine, the exhibit served as a reminder of the importance of the publication whose mix of celebrity and everyday people photos made it one of the great chroniclers of the 20th century. With just one image Life's photographers, who ranked among the best in the field, could convey the American experience to readers around the world.

A perfect example is this image by Yale Joel that originally ran in the June 28, 1954 issue. These Little Leaguers, waiting in a classroom for the missing parts of their uniforms, appear to be bored, restless, or just tired (look at the boy yawning in the back). Yet one boy, Dick Williams, clearly fed up with having to wait, stands in defiance, voicing a complaint on behalf of his fellow teammates. We've all known a Dick Williams. He was the kid you could always count on to speak up when everyone else was too shy or indifferent. He didn't care about getting in trouble; he just wanted to right a wrong whether it was complaining about unfair treatment or simply trying to get a pair of pants. What a brilliant photo.

The exhibit is now over but to find out more about the Leica Gallery and upcoming events visit here.

Pilgrimage

"Annie Oakley's Heart Target" Annie Leibovitz/Contact Press Images

“Pilgrimage” at the New York Historical Society is an Annie Leibovitz show without a single movie star in sight. That’s because the photographs in the exhibit represent a two-year journey that Leibovitz took documenting places and objects associated with people from the past who have inspired her.

Beginning at Emily Dickinson’s home in Amherst, Massachusetts, she travelled across the US and UK seeking out the homes and haunts of people like Eleanor Roosevelt, Georgia O’Keefe, Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, and even the King himself, Elvis Presley. She shot images of their homes, places connected to their stories, their personal possessions. Among the 78 images on display we see the hat and gloves that Abraham Lincoln wore the night of his assassination; Henry David Thoreau’s bed; a gown that belonged to singer Marion Anderson (one of the most impressive of the photos); Virginia Woolf’s ink-stained desk; one of Annie Oakley's target hearts, which she would shoot through the middle and pass out to fans; and Ansel Adams’ darkroom. There are also some locations that she found moving like Gettysburg and Niagara Falls, which she was visiting with her children when she came up with the idea for the project.

If you’re used to Leibovitz’ celebrity shots and are expecting glamour, this may not be the exhibit for you. But if you’re a history nerd like me who would gladly take the time to visit Julia Margaret Cameron’s house to see one of her camera lenses (like Leibovitz did) then you just might enjoy “Pilgrimage.”

“Pilgrimage” is at the New York Historical Society through February 22, 2015. For more information, visit here.

Darkened Cities

"Paris 48° 51’ 03’’ N 2012-07-19 lst 19:46" Thierry Cohen

One of the downsides of living in a major city is the lack of stars—not the movie kind but the ones in the sky. The amount of light and pollution produced by cities virtually blots out any chance of seeing the stars above us. Look up in New York for example and the blinking lights you see are probably from a passing plane.

"New York 40° 44’ 39’’ N 2010-10-13 lst 0:04" Thierry Cohen

In his series “Darkened Cities,” French photographer Thierry Cohen imagines what the evening sky in these cities would look like if we could see the stars. He manages this feat by first shooting the cities during the day when no lights are on and then shooting the skies over less-populated areas that share the same latitude. For example, the stars shining over Paris in his photo are from Montana. The results are stunning and beautiful.

"Rio de Janeiro 22° 56’ 42’’ S 2011-06-04 lst 12:34" Thierry Cohen

To see more images from the series, visit here.

Couple at the Opera

"Metropolitan Opera, New York" Garry Winogrand (circa 1951) 

At first glance this couple at the Metropolitan Opera (circa 1951) appear to be just another well-to-do couple enjoying some champagne between acts. Yet on closer inspection, one notices a few things. There is the tight cropping of the image that pushes them to the side, making the woman the center of attention. There is the woman's heavy make-up, her face a white mask compared to the muted shades around her. And then there are the raised glasses. Did they strike a pose, aware of the photographer, or did they just happen to be raising their glasses in a toast? And if so, what were they toasting? 

The photo is the work of Garry Winogrand (1928-1984), one of the great street photographers who documented life in New York and the rest of the country from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was a relentless chronicler of post-war America, shooting 26,000 rolls of everyone—the rich and poor, the famous and the unknown, animals at zoos and people at airports. Winogrand, who called himself a “student of America,” famously showed no interest in editing his work, preferring instead to be out shooting, forever on the hunt for his next subject. When he died, he left behind thousands of undeveloped images and contact sheets of work that were never exhibited, including this photograph.

Earlier this fall, I saw this in the Garry Winogrand retrospective at the Met. Of the 175 images on display, 65 were never seen during Winogrand’s lifetime. It was a fabulous exhibit that was also very inspirational. And it introduced me to this photograph that I find so intriguing.

The Met show has closed but if you’re in Paris, you can see this photo along with the rest of the retrospective at the Jeu de Paume through February 8, 2015. Or check out the catalogue here.

A Visit to the Mount

The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts. Photo by Michele.

On my recent trip to the Berkshires, I was able to spend a day at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s former home in Lenox, Massachusetts. I had been once before, years ago when the Mount was still being worked on, and was eager to see the home and gardens fully restored.

Author of more than 40 books and the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature (1921), Edith Wharton was also a keen interior designer and gardener. Her first book was actually about design, The Decoration of Houses, which she co-wrote with architect Ogden Codman, Jr. in 1897.

When she and her husband, Teddy, purchased 113 acres of land in Lenox for $40,600 in 1901, she decided to design and build a house based on the principals of her book. Recruiting Codman and Francis L.V. Hoppin as architects and R.W. Curry as builder, Wharton conceived of a home with classical Italian and French influences and none of the heavy, Victorian excesses popular at the time. Finished in the fall of 1902, the Mount would be Wharton’s home for the next ten years and her last address before leaving Teddy and America to live in France.

The walk up to the entrance of the Mount. Photos by Michele.

Turning down the unfortunately named Plunkett Street, we parked near the front of the estate where the gatehouse and stables are located. A quarter-mile walk down a maple-lined drive brings you to the entrance of The Mount, which actually appears to be at the side of the house. You can go inside for a tour but we chose to explore the grounds first before the rain became too heavy.

The Italian walled garden, the lime walk, and steps up to the house. Photos by Michele. 

Continuing past the house, you come to an Italian walled garden with its arched walls and rock-pile fountain. Wharton called this her giardino segreto or secret garden. Steps lead up to a lime walk that runs behind the house, which makes you feel as if you've stepped into the past and are on the grounds of a French castle. Looking up, you find the back of the Mount with its wide terrace and distinct green and white striped awnings.

The French flower garden and grounds of the Mount. Photos by Michele.

At the end of the Lime Walk is the French flower garden with its dolphin fountain. Wharton originally planted the garden with hollyhocks, phlox, snapdragons, and stocks, among others. Many of these same flowers are planted today, and we were fortunate to still find some blooms even late in the season. 

Looking out beyond the gardens the lawn slopes down to the trees and a small body of water courtesy of the some busy local beavers. To step out onto the terrace and look down onto the gardens and the trees beyond would never get old.

The Pet Cemetery. Photos by Michele.

Leaving the flower garden and walking down a path in the woods we came around to the other side of the house and a small rise on which one finds a small cemetery where Wharton's dogs are buried. Wharton loved her dogs and was often photographed with them. Here lies Modele, Mimi, Miza, Jules, and Toto too. We discovered afterwards that Wharton had a view of the cemetery from her bedroom window.

The Gallery. Photo by Michele.

Looking down the long Drawing Room. Photo by Michele.

The Library. Photo by Michele.

Treats for the dogs on the dining room table. Photo by Michele.

Back at the house, we decided to take the guided tour, which begins in the entrance hall created to resemble a grotto. Here visitors would wait to see if Mrs. Wharton was entertaining people (she famously disliked large parties; no surprise then that the Mount only has two guest rooms). If she was, the visitors were often greeted by their hostess bearing champagne. 

Side note, I was told when entering the house that I could take photos with my camera but no flash. No problem. I was shooting with my camera when I decided to take a quick shot with my phone so I could post an image on Instagram. My phone was dead. The guide noticed and said that it happens all the time, and they think it's the ghosts acting up. Later, when we stopped somewhere in town, I plugged my phone in to find it charged at 50%. Ghosts? 

Anyways, the tour continued through the rooms on the main floor, which include the Gallery where the Whartons displayed treasures from their travels; Teddy's Den; the Drawing Room, which reminded me of sitting rooms at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh; and the Dining Room where a jar with dog treats sits on the table, ready for one of Wharton's little friends.The library is also on this floor with oak panelling and shelves filled with books from Wharton's personal collection. It was a room where Wharton liked to engage in conversation with close friends like Henry James not, contrary to her publicity photos, where she wrote (she did that in her bedroom). 

A distinctly modern touch to the staircase. Photo by Michele.

The bathroom has its original tub and wallpaper. Photo by Michele.

Mrs. Wharton's Bedroom. Photos by Michele.

Mrs. Wharton's Boudoir. Photos by Michele.

It should be noted that when Wharton moved to France, she emptied the house of its belongings. When the Mount was restored, a select group of interior designers were invited to reinterpret a room, keeping Wharton's ideas in mind. This accounts for why the furniture is not original to the house and why there are some decidedly modern elements to be found like the leopard print carpeting on the staircases. 

Upstairs on the bedroom level is the West Guest Suite, the Henry James Suite (the room with the best view), Teddy's Suite, and Wharton's Suite, which is comprised of her bathroom,  bedroom, and boudoir (or sitting room). It was here in her bed that Wharton would write every morning, flinging each page to the floor for her secretary to collect and type up. Her boudoir next door, the most elaborate of all the rooms on this floor, acted as her office and the current furniture in the room mimics what was originally in the room including a table and chair, and chaise lounge by the window. 

It was at the Mount that the Whartons' marriage finally disintegrated. Although it was long and unpleasant, Wharton managed to write some of her best material during this time including Ethan Frome and my personal favourite, The House of Mirth. I like to think that that the house helped, giving her the space and quiet that she needed to work. 

Back down two flights to the ground floor is where you find the Kitchen, Scullery, and Laundry Room. The Whartons were good employees and made sure that their longtime cook, Mary Bagley, and staff were equipped with the latest gadgets. And speaking of staff, there were other small rooms in the house, including on the bedroom floor, where servants either did work (like sewing) or had their own bedrooms.

After finishing the tour we got a cup of much needed hot tea and sat outside on the terrace admiring the view. Such a lovely home and gardens. I can't wait to visit again, perhaps in the spring to see all the flowers in bloom. Until then, I'll just have to read some Edith Wharton.

For more information about the Mount, visit their website here.