Posts from the ‘photojournalism’ Category
The Three Kings Parade in Barcelona
Last Saturday I had an unexpectedly fun experience when I attended the Barcelona Three Kings Parade with my wife and her family. The Three Kings Day isn’t a holiday I’d ever heard of before marrying Laia, but for those of you who don’t know, the tradition is somewhat like Christmas, in that children write a letter to old, bearded men who then sneak into their homes and leave gifts for them. Kind of creepy now that I think about it.
Anyhow, the Three Kings Day takes place Jan 6 in most Spanish speaking cultures. As the story goes, the kings come from the Orient on their camels just to bring presents for youngsters. In Barcelona they arrive by boat in the Barcelona harbor, where they give a speech with the mayor of the city, and then are transported by fancy old cars to the start of the parade route, which is quite extensive and runs all throughout the city.
I was able to witness the boat coming into port along with the masses of children and their parents. I missed the speech, but was able to catch a glimpse of the kings as they departed in their fancy cars flanked by horse-bound police officers. Many of the various characters whom are part of the parade also preceded the kings as they set off for the start of the parade.
I’ve seen the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC a number of times as I live in the neighborhood in which that parade starts and I’d have to say the Barcelona Three Kings Parade gives it a run for it’s money, but without all the massive balloons. Unlike the Thanksgiving parade, the Kings parade is entirely set around a theme of “Hey kids, did you write the letters? The kings are coming! Go to sleep, it’s bedtime!”
The streets were jammed packed with exhilarated kids and equally trilled parents excited to share this tradition with their young ones. Barcelona is a city with many multi-story apartments, most of which have balconies. Adults and kids alike were in nearly every window as the parade made its way down the streets. Many residents with the higher balconies provided homemade confetti and kept a constant flurry streaming from above. Those who didn’t have confetti just threw rolls of toilet paper which became streamers coming from the sky.
The entire parade lasted about an hour and consisted of monster floats, the biggest being those that carried the kings. There were also bands and buses and horses and, my favorite, many characters with baskets either tethered to their backs or on long polls that could be reached out into crowds to collect last minute letters written by children to the kings listing all the presents they desired.
If you ever find yourself in Barcelona during this holiday, I recommend attending, especially with children. It’s worth the wait and fun for adults too.
The Barefoot Homeless Man in New York
Last night around 7:30 I received a call around asking if I was available to take a last-minute assignment in my neighborhood. I was told that one of the NY Times reporters had happened upon the now-famous barefoot homeless man, Jeffrey Hillman, who was given a new pair of boots by a generous NYPD officer last week. The exchange was caught on film by a tourist and the photo went viral after it was shared on the NYPD’s Facebook Page gaining hundreds of thousands of likes, shares, and comments.
Of course I had seen the photo as it was on the cover of many newspapers, magazines, and television shows worldwide. It painted a picture of generosity and sympathy for the homeless population and was great publicity for the NYPD and Officer DePrimo.
In taking the assignment, I was intrigued to meet him and see how his sudden celebrity had effected him. I was shocked, though, to find him just blocks from my apartment near one of my favorite grocery stores, Fairway Market, still standing barefoot and begging for change on the cold, dirty NYC sidewalk.
When I arrived, the NY Times reporter was already speaking with him as I approached. In the well-to-do Upper West Side neighborhood, Jeffery stuck out like a sore thumb in torn and soiled clothes that were hanging off of him. As I listened to him speak with the reporter and myself, I couldn’t help but feel a knot build up in my throat.
He explained that he’d hidden the boots because he feared they’d get stolen by other homeless if he was seen wearing them. He explained that he’d hidden them in a “safe place” somewhere outside and went on to say that there are many places one could hide objects that could never be found.
What gripped me was his genuine fear of being robbed of his possessions and the fact that he was very able to articulate those feelings to us. He was hesitant to give us his name at first or really dive into his past because he didn’t know what to make of this publicity, so it took some time to let him get familiar with me before I really started taking my photos.
He explained he’s been in NYC for about a decade, was from New Jersey, and previously was a cook in the Army where he served as a food specialist in the US and Germany. He even pulled out his tattered veteran’s card, which was hidden in a black plastic bag under his shirt by his heart, to confirm his story.
While Jeffery was being interviewed, I witnessed dozens of people walking by doing double takes as they realized he was barefoot in the cold. I could hear many of those people saying “oh that’s him!”…and maybe 4-5 people stopped to confirm it was. Some expressed concern for him and others said that he was crazy and refused to wear shoes, even offering stories about how they’d tried to help in the past to no avail, he always continued to walk barefoot and beg, and there was nothing that could be done to help him.
I was iffy about blogging about my experience because I don’t want to make it seem as though I’m exploiting a homeless man. Rather, I wanted to share with my readers the fact that folks like Jeffery need help. My hope is that someone who is in a position, perhaps with US Veterans Affairs, can step in and give Jeffery the help he needs, whether it’s food, a place to stay, or psychiatric evaluation. He is a veteran and deserves that much.
This was an experience I won’t soon forget. It made me really appreciate what I have. I hope my pictures and story do the same for you…and if you know someone that can help, please share!
Boylesque 101 – Probably Not Safe For Work
About a month ago I was on a shoot and received a phone call from my editor pal at the New York Times Styles Desk about an assignment the following day. Given that I was in the middle of another shoot, the call was quick and all I really remembered was the words “burlesque class tomorrow in Williamsburg”. I said, “sure, send me the info.”
The next morning I took a more detailed look at the assignment slip and realized it was a little different than I’d envisioned:
Instructions: The rise of “Boylesque” — that’s burlesque dancing for guys. There’s a class happening this Sunday in Williamsburg. Need scenes from the class, there will be 8 pupils. ***Please creatively frame the photos so that there is no blatant nudity.****
Ohhh…. BOYlesque, not BURlesque! And avoid blatant male nudity? Oh my, what did I get myself into?
I made my way to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and found myself in a large warehouse-style building searching for the dance studio within. I finally found the space, which turned out to be a very small studio with 9 sweaty men sporting only jock straps or thong underwear. Oh yeah, the room was hot, moist, and smelled like sweaty balls.
When I arrived the undressed men were sitting in a row of chairs watching as each student took a turn performing a short routine in which they pretended to give a striptease while taking off imaginary clothes. They were wearing only thongs for this portion. The goal was to get the rest of the group to guess what character they were representing and what sort of imaginary clothes they were taking off.
Afterward, the instructor provided various props and costumes that the students were to use for a striptease routine. Though only three students gave their OK for me to shoot, I still I got quite enough to work with.
I will say, though, the toughest part of this assignments was having to kneel behind the sweaty butt cracks of the seated students in order to frame the photo and hide myself from reflecting in the mirror. I won’t soon forget this assignment…
Election Night 2012 in Times Square
Yesterday was a long day covering various stories for the NY Times. I woke up early and excited that it was election day and promptly walked a block to my polling place to vote. Fortunately for me, it only took 15 minutes to wait in line and exercise my civic duty.
Afterward, I hit the city to work on a long-term documentary about an interesting fellow…but I can’t talk about that until it publishes…so stay tuned.
From there I was off to a late-night improv club where I was tasked to document one of the musicians for a profile on the NY Times around 10PM. It was a hilarious experience and I intend to go back to the club soon with my wife for an evening of fun!
At about 10:30, though, the NY Times Metro desk called me and asked me to get to Times Square where large crowds of people were gathering to watch the results of the presidential elections come in. Given NY, especially Manhattan, is a blue state, my editor was hoping I could get some jubilation shots if/when President Obama won.
I made my way to 47th Street to the red TKTS steps where CNN had set up an outdoor studio and large screen right in the middle of Times Square. Every video board in Times Square was carrying various network feeds of the election from CNN, ABC, to Fox News.
Surprisingly, Obama was declared the winner much earlier than expected to the cheers of the crowd. I made a handful of photos of the folks celebrating on the TKTS stairs and then decided to stick around until the president spoke. Little did I know I’d be waiting about two more hours.
Though tiring, yesterday was an exciting day full of picture-taking. I’m happy I was able to experience a special moment in US history in such a cool location.
Hurricane Sandy hits NYC
Four or five days ago I heard there was a hurricane named Sandy brewing and could possibly hit NYC. I wasn’t very concerned as I’d been through Hurricane Irene about a year prior with little or no inconvenience to us personally. I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan close to Central Park which is one the highest parts of the city. Also, I’m in an apartment building which is essentially a fortress of brick and stone as every building down a block touch each-other. It’s not like in the movies…there’s very few alleys in Manhattan. Also, for the most part, Manhattan doesn’t lose electricity from wind or storms because our entire electrical system is underground.
Anyhow, as the storm got closer, there was a little more panic setting in as I saw that the grocery store had massive lines, and the 24 hour fruit vendor on my corner was completely sold out…he never sells out. My wife and I decided to go ahead and get some extra food just in case the worst happened.
I spent the whole day in front of my computer working as the wind began to pick up. I watched the tree outside my window get bent nearly sideways with the continuous gusts of wind. I peeked outside briefly and took a few iPhone videos from the front entrance of my building. I needed to quickly move my scooter to a safer location next to my building in hopes the wind wouldn’t blow it over.
It ended up getting dark and I decided to go take another peek, this time I brought my camera to take a few quick snaps out the front door. The photojournalist in me kicked in when I noticed a downed tree at the end of my block, so I decided to throw on my motorcycle helmet and ran down the road to document the damage. Just after I took a few pictures, I heard a horn honking down the street and a loud noise. I turned around and looked back down the street towards my apartment and could no longer see the lights at the end of the intersection, just tree branches and leaves.
I ran back to my apartment to find that a 5-story tall tree had fallen across the street and onto the front of my apartment building, just where I was standing moments earlier. As the tree fell, it laid across multiple parked cars and just barley missed a taxi coming down the street. The driver braked just in time and rather than getting crushed, he slammed into the tree laying across the road. It was quite shocking as it really made me feel vulnerable and frankly stupid to be out risking my safety to take a few pictures.
Still, the photojournalist in me kicked in and in a matter of maybe two minutes I ran around the scene taking stills and video. I spoke with the taxi driver and my downstairs neighbor who gave their accounts of the incident. I came home and my wife was pretty freaked out because I’d gone down against her wishes and all she heard was neighbors freaking out and running through the halls. I felt bad that I put her through that.
This morning we woke up after a lousy night’s sleep hearing the wind blowing and rain banging on our windows. I jumped out of bed to and quickly ran out with some cameras to go see if there was much damage on my street and surrounding blocks. Only the same two trees were down on my street and the street was a blanket of green leaves and branches. Our block was clearly the worst damaged within a few block circumference due to the old, tall trees that our block is know for.
Last night I watched photos come in from my FB newsfeed and on NYTimes.com from my friends and colleagues who were out in the storm making photos. I give kudos to them, but just feel it’s not worth the risk. Seeing that massive tree laying where I was standing was a pretty eye-opening experience…there may be great pictures to be had, but nothing is worth getting yourself hurt or killed for a storm photo. Just my opinion.
One-on-One with NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg
I know I’ve said it before, but what I love about my job is the variety of assignments I get mostly on a moment’s notice. Since I’ve been back in NYC from a week in Ohio shooting for a college, I’ve had a range of assignments each day since I’ve been back: a jazz club, an author’s portrait, a scent museum exhibit, Barbara Cook’s 85th birthday at Carnegie Hall, a dress rehearsal of a Broadway play, and most recently a rare portrait opportunity with NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
It all started with a call around 10:15 AM asking if I could meet the Mayor on the Upper East Side across the park from where I live for a shoot that was still being arranged. It would be at either 11AM or noon. No problem. Quickly, I was told the shoot was at noon, so I thought I had some time to finish editing the previous evening’s shoot. At about 10:35 I get a call saying “change of plans, the mayor wants to meet you at City hall at 11AM. Now, I live on the upper West Side of Manhattan which is quite a trek from City Hall in the first place. To top it all off, I still hadn’t eaten breakfast or really gotten dressed for the day.
En route to the Upper East Side from City Hall with my subway friend.
So I had to quickly upload the photos I was editing while getting dressed and my gear ready to rush out the door in hopes of getting to City Hall by 11. I already knew the time was not going to work and told my editor as much, but I was their only hope of scrambling someone as the mayor’s schedule shifted. I grabbed a cab which took me to an express Subway station on 72nd Street and I took the 2 Train directly to City Hall. I was above ground right at 11, but after going through the security checkpoint outside City Hall, it was 11:15 by the time I was inside. At that moment I got a call from my editor just as a mayor’s aide said, “Sorry, he’s left!”
Ugh, so I spoke with my editor and she asked me to go back to the Upper East Side location, the offices of the Bloomberg’s charitable foundation, where the reporter and I would have about 45 minutes of the mayor’s time. After waiting a bit, we were led to a room where we (well, the reporter) sat down and spoke with Bloomberg about his reason for not endorsing either presidential candidate. It really was an interesting conversation which led to a decent amount of photos of the mayor sitting in a chair gesturing.
Towards the end of the interview, I stepped out of the room and asked one of the mayor’s aides if he’d stand in while I found a couple of locations for portraits if I could convince Bloomberg to give me a minute or two of his time. As the interview concluded I asked the mayor if he’d allow me to take a few quick natural light portraits in a large gallery room with floor to ceiling windows. I used the window light to make about 3 separate portraits with different and distinct looks: a full, medium, and tight shot.
I knew that my editors would have a really nice variety of options both from the interview and portrait session with the mayor. As it turned out, only a photo of the mayor sitting alone giving the interview was used, so I thought this blog would be a good way to share the rest of the take!
$95,000,000 Will Get You a Hell of a View!
Looking northwest from the west-facing terrace.
Funny story…last week I had an assignment to photograph the CEO of Estée Lauder from the 47th floor of the General Motors Building. As I do whenever I find myself in an office with a view, I went to the window and took some photos. The view looked northwest and the only building in the foreground was the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. I mentioned to the publicist how amazing it would be to check out the balconies on that building. Well, fast forward 18 hours, I got a call from the real estate editor of the NY Times asking me to take pictures of a co-op that just hit the market at $95 million. Unbelievably, I was assigned to shoot a residence in the very same hotel I’d photographed a day prior from that office window. What are the odds?!
View of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel from the General Motors Building.
I made my way across the park from my apartment on the Upper West Side and down 5th Avenue to the southeast corner of Central Park. The Sherry-Netherland Hotel is located on 59th street directly across from the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, catty-cornered from the infamous Plaza Hotel, and across Fifth Avenue from the southeast corner of Central Park. When I arrived multiple doormen greeted me graciously and showed me to the front desk. I was pointed to the elevators where I had the choice of 3 luxurious lifts with operators smiling at me attentively.
Lift operator in the luxurious elevators.
Elegant elevator lobby in the residence.
Once on the 18th floor, I opened a door to another world. Each of the three elevators open to a set of private entrances within a hallway of gold fixtures. Take a left and you’re headed to the professionally-equipped kitchen and dining room, or take a right and you’re headed toward a room with a wet bar made of solid mahogany.
Professional grade kitchen.
Dining room and solarium in the background.
Mahogany wet bar.
Though luxurious, the interior wasn’t quite my cup of tea. I’m sure every piece of furniture was an antique, beautifully crafted, and expensive, but a bit out-of-date for my taste. What I was truly taken by were the sweeping views from west-facing terrace of Central Park stretching as far north as the eye could see and, with one sweep of the head, you can see straight down Fifth Avenue to the Empire State Building. There are two identical terraces both spanning the south and west lengths of the building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street (Central Park South).
West terrace panorama. Click to enlarge.
South terrace panorama. Click to enlarge.
Looking south down 5th Avenue with Empire State in the distance.
The listing boasts over 7,000 square feet of interior space and over 2,000 square feet of outdoor space. There is a third smaller, but substantial north-facing terrace located off of the master bedroom suite. The master suite also has his-and-hers private baths and walk-in closets.
Master suite terrace facing north.
Master bedroom
Walk-in closet and vanity.
On top of what I mentioned above, there is a solarium, a hallway of closets leading to the west wing of the apartment with a guest suite with two bedrooms, two baths and a small kitchen, various other bedrooms, offices, bathroom, and two maids quarters on a separate floor.
After my tour I was invited to come back in the early-evening if I wanted to take some photos from the terraces at dusk. You see, I have a rule that I always take up an offer when invited to shoot from a $95 million terrace…it’s just common sense.
So I went back to my office to file the photos to the NY Times as they were promptly closing the section. I relaxed a few hours and scooted back down to my new oasis in the sky.
View of the Plaza Hotel looking west on the south-facing terrace.
I spent about 30 minutes snapping away as the day turned into night and the glow of the city was able to burn into my images. Standing on the south-facing terrace you’re able to look straight down on the Fifth Avenue Apple Store which is actually a massive glass skylight for the underground store. It just so happened to be the day before the new iPhone 5 went on sale, so if you look closely, you’ll see a queue of people waiting overnight to be the first owners.
Great view of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store across the street.
Bergdorf Goodman, left, and Plaza Hotel, right.
View looking west down Central Park South at Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Center.
Simply put, the view is what makes this listing so unbelievably amazing, rare, and pricy. Granted, having an entire floor of an old-school luxury hotel isn’t bad…but nothing beats 2,000 square feet of outdoor space and the breathtaking views of this dream home.
I’m just happy I got to live that fantasy world…if ever so briefly.
Covering the Central Park Rape
There are times as a news photographer that I cringe when I get an assignment from an editor…and this was one of them. Let me back up….a few days ago I received an email from my mother linking me to a news report about the awful rape and brutal beating of a 73-year-old birdwatcher in a secluded area in Strawberry Fields in New York. Truly horrible, especially being my neighborhood and the fact that it took place in broad daylight near a very popular tourist attraction, the John Lennon Imagine Memorial.
The next morning I got a call from the NY Times asking me to head into the park to take pictures in the more secluded areas known as The Rambles, which are especially popular among birders and nature photographers….and apparently shady sexual encounters according to the article.
I arrived at the entrance of Strawberry Fields where the rape happened and found police tape marking a wide parameter around the popular tourist destination. I made some pictures of the detectives and crime scene unit working before I walked around the entire parameter in search of photos to illustrate the story.
Now, I’m quite familiar with The Rambles in Central Park as I’m and avid walker/jogger and even got married on the north side of The Lake. Normally I hike the paths with enthusiasm, but as I walked the paths on this day, it was a bit haunting given the events of the previous day.
After making some pictures of folks walking through the most isolated areas, I made my way back to my apartment to transmit the photos.
Soon after filing my pictures from Central Park, my editor gave me a call to see if I could rush up to the Special Victims Unit in East Harlem to take pictures of the rapist who was arrested hours earlier. It’s typical for high profile cases that police departments arrange a “perp walk” in order to show off their arrest to the media.
I arrived on the scene and there were already numerous news crews, both stills and video, network satellite trucks, reporters, and many locals (including school kids) waiting for a glimpse of the rapist. There was a lot of anger building among the locals…and they all yelled at him as he was led from the SVU to the awaiting patrol car. I took some audio of the crowd reacting to the man.
As he was led out, he immediately looked like one scary dude. He quickly glared at the news media waiting to take is pictures and spit in our direction before being promptly placed in the car. Locals cursed and jeered at him as he was driven off…
Such is a day in the life of a NYC photographer…
Breakfast of Champions…at Tiffany’s
A few years back in 2008 I received a last-minute assignment to run to Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue to document a party already in process: the NFL Champion New York Giants were receiving their Superbowl rings. I quickly suited up and cabbed down to the famous jewelry store to find the entire team celebrating their new bling. As a freelance photographer, it’s always fun finding myself in these random situations…one minute I’m in my boxers watching TV on my couch and the next I’m in formal attire amidst the Superbowl-winning Giants.
That assignment stuck with me for years and I knew I wanted to shoot it again. So when I saw earlier this year that the Giants were again playing in the Superbowl, I called my friends at the New York Times with a pitch to again shoot the ring ceremony (should the Giants win), but this time with the idea to set up a photo booth. Fortunately for me, the Giants won the Superbowl and my editors at The Times liked the idea and made it happen.
The ring ceremony didn’t take place until mid-May, so I had to twiddle my thumbs for a while. When the date finally came, there was some difficulty getting access, even though it had been approved months in advance and even confirmed days/hours before the event itself. Sometimes part of making your way in the photography business isn’t just about creating pretty photos, but it’s also dealing with PR agents and being able to keep calm and work your way though issues that may arise.
Originally I was told I would be able to set up a photo booth on the floor where I’d have all the players walk through and snap their own photo with the help of my pal and assistant Mike Isler, while at the same time roaming the floor of Tiffany’s documenting the players having a good time. When we arrived hours in advance we were denied access and told to come back when the event started. When we returned, we were told that we didn’t have the access we were promised. This kind of thing happens all too often.
After a bunch of back and fourth, I was able to gain access, but far too late to successfully get the whole team through my photo-booth. Rather than dozens of players, I got three, but at least they were quality including Eli Manning himself! Thanks to my assistant Mike Isler, I was able to have him help set up the booth while I roamed the floor of the store snapping photos.
Hopefully the Giants will win the Superbowl again someday so I have the opportunity to celebrate with the team once more! Maybe this time with a little more communication I’ll be able to get the entire project completed.
And a few from 2008…
NYC Triathlon Underwear Run
Early this morning I had a NY Times assignment to photograph a lady named Caroline Gaynor who is a triathlete who helps blind athletes compete in triathlons. I always love an assignment in Central Park, so I decided to take an early walk before the heat of the day hit…it’s been in the upper 90’s and humid lately. While in the park I was passing the Turtle Pond and even came across a turtle laying eggs in the mud.
Anyhow, my shoot went well and Caroline told me about an Underwear Run that she was participating in later in the evening and I knew I had to witness it. I showed up at the 72nd Street Traverse and found a couple hundred men and women wearing next-to-nothing ready to to jog in the 90+ degree heat. Even the Naked Cowboy was on hand to be an official cheerleader. Next year if you’re around, I’d recommend checking out the Underwear Run….good times!
More photos from the Underwear Run in my archives.
