Abraham Lincoln by Sarah Fisher Ames, 1868 Although I liked Greta Pratt’s Lincolns at MASS MoCA–like Elvis impersonators at an Elvis convention–I was happy to see Sarah Fisher Ames’s bust of Lincoln from 1868. Ames’s Lincoln, while idealized, is familiar, human, and there seems something wry and knowing about his expression. The artist clearly views […]

18 Lincolns, MASS MoCA by Greta Pratt(no photos allowed in galleries) The museum is an impressive adaptation of a factory complex along the Hoosic River containing large spaces with 19th century wood beams and columns. Large spaces dictate outsized art, or at least that’s the way most curators approach things. Which means, generally, installation art. […]

We left New York for a week in the Berkshires, the mountains in western Massachusetts. Drove up, via the Taconic Parkway, we are staying at The Porches, a hotel in North Adams across the street from MassMoca, the factory turned modern museum. The Porches is comprised of a row of former workers housing. The Porches […]

Brendan finds Osama We were in Central Park on Tuesday, and my 7 year old son Brendan scampered up on one of the many rocky outcroppings in the park. As he reached the top a man seated cross-legged below spoke in a loud voice: “I am in New York to…” Then someone yelled “Cut!” I […]

Blue condominium on the Lower East Side Back in New York I’ve done a lot of walking around. My friend Anamarie from Berlin was in town, and we strolled the Lower East Side where both of us lived when we were in school at Cooper Union. I wanted to check out the progress of Blue, […]

Sidewalk shed, the New Museum, under construction on the Bowery Flew to New York on the weekend with my family. Plan to do more Lower East Side photos as well as begin printing the Amsterdam, Berlin, New York portfolio series that I’ve been working on. The Berlin images will include one or two of the […]

River Spree, Dutch Embassy on right (4×5 film) A couple of final pictures of Berlin before I turn my attention back to New York. I was looking for the Dutch embassy, designed by Rem Koolhaas, which was completed in the last year. I came across this scene across the Spree from the building. The Fernsehturm […]

I began my Berlin photographic odyssey in 1985 when the city was divided in two–the western part was surrounded by the Wall–and I’ve returned numerous times over the years. Like most visitors to Berlin I still look for remnants of the Wall and the DDR (East German) past. At Potsdamer Platz there is an exhibition […]

Back to the Berlin scans. One of my goals while in Berlin was to get a good photograph of the Holocaust Memorial designed by Peter Eisenman. I spent several hours there–a somewhat blustery day with more cloud than sun. The obvious “photographer’s” view of the monument is to emphasize the abstraction of the black slabs. […]

Pulling down statue of King George III, New York City, July 9, 1776 The following song is loosely based on the Declaration of Indpendence. Lines taken or adapted from the original text are highlighted. The recording was done straight to computer without any benefits of a recording studio. But the quality should be listenable to […]

Dutch Indian on the road to the beach at Ijmuiden

Since I’ve begun photographing the city in 1985, much of Berlin continues to lie exposed, whether ruined and abandoned, or under construction and in transition. I stepped into a hinterhof (rear courtyard) of a building between Mauerstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse in the heart of the old government quarter. A number of art galleries had taken over […]

I have finally gotten my recent Berlin film developed and scanned. The pictures came out well, and there’s a lot to work with. Primarily, I am interested in two or three images to round out the portfolio I am working on: New York, Amsterdam, Berlin. The Jewish Museum, Berlin (4×5 film)One of the images has […]

Shop window, Prince Street, New York

Anselm Kiefer: Velimir Chlebnikov, The Aldrich Museum On Saturday, drove with friends Art and Eve to Ridgefield, Connecticut to see an exhibition by the German painter Anselm Kiefer who has created a huge multi-paneled piece inspired by the Russian poet Velimir Chlebnikov (1885-1922), one the founders of Russian futurism, the modernist art movement. To quote […]

Since I left Amsterdam I’ve been been dealing with necessary business stuff, and continuing to work on my portfolio. I picked up the film shot in Berlin, and will post some of the images in the coming days. On Friday I went up to Connecticut to visit friends Art Presson and Eve Kessler. I’ve know […]

Brendan, my son, in front of the Silodam, our apartment building inAmsterdam Back to New York with my film from Berlin and the scans I’ve been working on for the past several weeks. These I will be printing for my portfolio. Had a brief visit from my sister, Cathy Rose, who was on her way […]

Amsterdam, cruise ship on the way to the North SeaFlew back to Amsterdam. My thoughts now turn to the next trip to New York. Develop film from Berlin and scan last batch of Lower East Side pictures. Waiting patiently for architectural photography commissions to come through.