Painful Concerns

A favorite book on my shelf is "Stems" by Lee Friedlander. The book's introduction begins, "... in the throes of aching knees and painful concern about them, I decided I had better prepare myself for a sedentary life..."

As a photographer, how would you prepare for a sedentary life, a radical reduction in mobility? My in laws live in a retirement community, a land-based cruise ship of sorts. What would I photograph if I were living in such a place? Frankly, I've never seen anyone documenting life in that place, so I guess there is an opportunity waiting. A chance for a famous photo essay, should I only be brave enough to seize the opportunity. Stay tuned. In the meantime, would I be up to the challenge? I'd probably start with still lives, as I wouldn't want anyone to know I had been shuffled off to a 'home'.

 

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

I wish I could remember the details, but I've heard it said that if you want to get classic images of a city like NYC, you should aim your camera to the third floor or higher when you shoot. I thought it would be fun to test that hypothesis by comparing an old photograph I made on a visit to NYC several decades ago with something current from Google Street View or Apple Maps.

So, here we go. Shown below is a photograph from the mid 1980s shot on the corner of Lafayette and Bond Streets looking roughly east along Bond. Great Jones would be the first street you came to if you went to the left. Canon AE-1, 50 mm f/1.4, Tri-X, Rodinal.