Chicago - bean another "view"

2006-09-06 Chicago - bean 1003 lo-res
Originally uploaded by finefoto.

Found this old post in drafts from 2006

Just lying on your back in the very center and watching the changing distortions and comings and goings of people's multiple reflections is a great pastime. (I am directly dead center in the bright center on my back wearing a black turtle neck and blue jeans). On a busy weekend or holiday this can be a very highly trafficed area and I probably not be able to accomplish this. and the reflections would all be people and less shinny chrome.

Bob Seeley Boogie Woogie pianist at Piano Forte

Found this in old drafts!
Saturday, June 7, 2008 I caught Bob Seeley and Bob Baldon at a Piano Salon event at Piano Forte in the Fine Arts building at 400 S. Michigan Avenue here in Chicago. Just sheer joy! (They have since moved to around 1300 S. Michigan.

You never know who or what you will run into in front of the Bean (Cloud Gate) in millennium Park in Chicago's front yard! These very nice teenagers were from Virginia. (shot with a Canon s100)

The painted fire curtain of the Chicago Opera House. It depicts the parade scene from Aida. The interior decoration details were created by American artist Jules Guerin in a palette of salmon pinks, roses, olives, golds and bronzes. Come early to examine the interior decor and bring binoculars!

Here are a few photos of the interior of the Oriental Theater in downtown Chicago. Enjoy. Shot with a Canon s100. I shot some more a month or so later and will post them when I have time.

I happened to be over along the lakefront for a 5:56am sunrise in early September and thought you folks would enjoy seeing a photo. The gentleman who often sits on a bench facing this breakwater was there. We spoke a little bit. Don't know his story. Some day I will pause longer and learn.

Warm February walks along the lake

Yesterday, and the day before were quite warm for the end of a February -- in the high 40's and 50's!
I took two long walks along the lake from Berwyn to Inspiration Point pier and then down to dog beach at Lawrence. Today was very windy, 20 to 25mph direct from the west. A flag was straight out. A number of brave women were only in jog bras and shorts as they ran the path along the lake!

Here are some rock carvings I walked over during my ramble. If you click on any image, you are taken to a slide presentation of larger images.

Who would have thought!

Some humor, smiling over the years, in all seasons.

Up until the mid 60's you could ride horses in Lincoln Park

Buildings from 5600 North

Aztec Mexican carving in stone that has been there for at least 10 to 20 years

Not as happy as the clown carving.

The walk was a good physical and visual experience.

Bee in my eye!

During my morning bike ride along the lake, as I was going around the totem pole, I became aware of a flying black insect just to the left of my left eye. The next thing I knew was I had an excruciating pain just above my left eye. I turned to the right to get off the bike trail directly in front of the totem pole. I literally threw the bike down as I jumped off. I was cursing and at the same time feeling my eye lid in the left corner. I did not not locate a stinger, but was in great pain.  I sat down on a bench for a few minutes and then biked a short distance south to the drinking fountain and bathed my eye in the the cool water for about five minutes. When I got home I applied a cold compress of a small can of juice that proved to be quite helpful.

Joe Sterling, photographer, passes & photo philosophy

Photographer Joe Sterling died earlier this week.he was a graduate photography student at the Institute of Design when I was an under graduate in the 1960's. His thesis was about the teen age adolescent experience in the inner city of Chicago. He came from Texas and was about as tall as the state of Texas, where he came from, is large.

I going to Joe's wake and funeral with Bob Tanner and Tom Knutson, both fellow students with him at the same time period.

Stan, my interviewer has changed his plan to write about my experience walking steel during the construction of high rises in the 1970;s in Chicago to my photo documentation of the civil rights movement and anti-war movement in Chicago at the same period. I am much happier that he chose that because it represents a philosophy of art, where as walking steel not so, unless you consider it a form of zen concentration, although that is open to discussion.

Stan Getz and Zoot Sims are two of my favorite mainstream jazz saxaphonists from the 50's to the 90's. Vocalist Stacey Kent's husband, Tomilson carries on the tradition.


Zoot Sims






Stan Getz










Stacey Kent

Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943 – Plog Photo Blog

Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943 – Plog Photo Blog

Absolute phenomenal 4x5 kodachrome transparencies taken during during the depression and WWII on the home front by FSA photogs. Must see! Brings back that period quit well. Being kodachromes, they didn't fade over the years, and probably won't.

Two photos from a morning walk

Sheridan and Thorndale.

Monday, June 21, 2010 first day of summer and my dad’s birthday

This afternoon Susan and I visited with the Lill's. I biked down. On the return trip I passed many young teenagers on skateboards going along the bike path. I discovered they were headed to the rink in Lincoln Park just north of Lawrence Ave. in celebration of National Skateboard day. There was a mob of the dedicated groupies there along with some participants in a competition that I grabbed some shots. Very difficult since although the Canon S90 is a fabulous camera it is not intended for this sort of thing. It has a shutter lag that makes it impossible to shoot a decisive moment. Even many DSLRs have shutter lags. In addition, although I have a 8GB class 6 SDHC card, it is not very fast at buffering, so when I shot multiple sequence shots, they all missed. I finally pushed the shutter ahead of the peak moment and managed to capture a few frames that hit the action right on. All the time avoiding having the skater land on me, which happened almost three times anyway – and that doesn’t count the skateboard!

http://www.chicagobotanic.org/exhibitions/close.php

http://www.chicagobotanic.org/exhibitions/close.php
Seems like a good reason to trek out to the Chicago Botanic Jarden. Photos look excellent on the Jarden's website. Unfortunately, today, it is raining all day long and chilly - good for a Shetland sweater and rain gear - just like Scotland!

Pic snapped on Hollywood Pier, Chicago

Interesting couple on an extremely foggy morning about a week ago.

Where I have traveled on a map

This map is located on Virtual Tourist. I've been to most of the states, some islands and Great Britain, Wales, Scotland and France.

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Back in "Sweet Home Chicago!'

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

sunny, but cold and a bit windy. typical Chicago winter morning

Had a fabulous breakfast at Ina’s on Randolph to celebrate our return to "Sweet Home Chicago."

New York City - Day 14 - Return to Chicago

Monday, December 14, 2009 Absolutely beautiful sunny day!

We had a nice long luxurious breakfast at the Leo House and spoke with Sister Katherine Reis for sometime. She informed us that in 1960 Mother Theresa visited NYC and stayed at the Leo House!

We then finished packing and thought it wise to catch a cab to the airport at 11:33am. Our flight leaves at 3:05pm, scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 4:55pm CST.

The flight was delayed over an hour because of the weather in Chicago departing. I was constantly texting Ms S to get updates on the weather.

4:20pm. We left the gate and are cued up waiting in a long line of other planes. All a sudden a woman got up and started to go to the aisle! A stewardess ran down the aisle to put her back, but discovered she was “sick” and led her to the rear of the plane. They cleared a few seats somehow so she could lie down. Later, it was apparent she was probably drunk or on drunks and having a bad reaction. As the pilot said, “She seemed to be pretty much out of it.”

We stayed cued up, and then to our relief we started to move. Ah, but we made two, not one left turns. This meant, to me that we were returning to the gate, and sure enough the terminal building came into view. And we were close. We taxied all the way back to our departure gate and sat there while we waited for the paramedics to arrive.

4:35pm. The paramedics arrived and removed the ailing woman from the plane by supporting her as she “walked” the entire length of the plane to the front.

4:48pm. All of this time the plane was running and had used up too much fuel to be allowed to take off and fly to Chicago, so a refueling truck had been ordered and arrived.

5:08pm. We were still at the gate.

5:28pm EST. We finally left the ground and are air born! Hooray, we are on our way to “Sweet Home Chicago!”

6:45pm CST. We just bounced on the tera firma of O’Hare. Our pilot must be a former Navy pilot used to landing hard on carrier decks! Shortly after our return, two or three other American Airlines planes landed hard and either crashed or had trouble. The government is investigating. Hope the investigators are not Navy pilots.

Ms S had done a bit of shopping for us, so we had some fresh food available upon arrival.

New York City - Day 13 - fabulous Neue Galerie - Klimt, Schiele and other artists working in Vienna, etc.

December 13, 2009, a dreary rainy day which became heavy in the afternoon

I am writing this at 8:16am after a half hour conversation with yet another Ozzie! I have lost track of how many I/we have met this trip. Many are staying at our place of lodging, but I can spot their accent and so usually approach them. They are a great bunch and quite friendy.

This fellow was on the hotel computer doing research in the final phase of writing a book on the Madoff ponzie scandal. He is interviewing all levels of people involved in the prosecution as well as some victims. I learned that anyone who got out of the fund up to six months prior to the filing for bankruptcy are liable by law and that they will be gone after to recover money to distribute to those who were left hanging holding the bag.

We talked a lot about the case.

Susan and I had breakfast at Breadstix again at the corner of 23rd and 8th Avenue and then took two subway trains up to Lexington and 86th and proceeded to walk 3 blocks east to 5th ave in rain to spend most of the day at the magnificent Neue Galerie housed in a magnificent old four story mansion at the corner across from Central Park. It was completed in 1914 by Carrère & Hastings, who did the New York Public Library. It features the great collection of Serge Sabarsky, a collector and art dealer. It features Austrian artists Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka, and German artists Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, among others working in Vienna and Germany just before and after WWI. The only word to describe it is a gem of collection in gem of a building.

After touring the artwork we couldn't resist visiting the bookstore in the former library of the mansion. The books are displayed in the original glass doored cabinets lining the walls. OMG! We could have purchased 25 books! One was on the cabaret and musical reviews of that period and included 4 CD's. Next to the library was the exquisite tiny "Design Store" featuring repros of many of the elegant silver ware of that period. OMG 2x!

We then cued up at their Sabarsky restaurant operated by renowned chef Kurt Gutenbrunner to partake of German - Viennese food. The approximately 25 x 40 foot room is panneled in a dark walnut. The decor includes lighting fixtures by Josef Hoffmann, furniture by Adolf Loos, and comfortable banquettes that are upholstered with a 1912 Otto Wagner fabric of white roses with pale green leaves on a rich burgundy background. We were seated in one of those by windows looking out on 5th Avenue and Central Park. Our table was graced with beautifully designed salt and pepper shakers and a sugar dispenser. The well worn floor is of a herringbone design. The center area featured black and white marble topped "cafe" tables with black bentwood chairs by Loos. Hanging in the tall windows are 18 inch Christmas wreaths with red ribbon bows. The windows featured fantastic brass hardware that I couldn't photograph because it was so dark in the room. They need romantic candles on the tables.

Susan started with a beet salad with goat cheese with a refreshing lemon vinaigrette dressing followed by Beef Goulah with spatzel which was excellent.
Stef started with a large bowl of Beef Goulash soup with potatoes that was tangy with just a bite of spice. This was followed by Wiener Snitzel with potato salad and lingon berries in a sauce. Very good.

This was followed by special Viennese torts and exquisite rich hot chocolate.
I had hoped to visit some special chocolate shops and sample some goodies as well as have hot chocolate, but have managed to have some hot chocolate at a number of restaurants been lucky: it has been top notch.







When we left the light was a deep blackish grey accompanied by endless rain drops dancing in the streets, water running in the gutters and on glass roofs. You could see the rain back lit in the auto headlights.

Allow me an aside observation. We have noticed everywhere folks texting at inappropriate venues and times, at least in our opinion. Here we are in a romantic environment and even the woman is texting while her date is stilling there waiting to converse with her. Enough already!

New York City - Day 12 - A tiny taste of Brooklyn - Greenpoint and Williamsburg

Saturday, December 12, 2009

I took two subways to get to Brooklyn and meet Jonathan Lill for breakfast at a great brunch place, Enids, on Manhattan Ave. We got their when they opened, but within a half hour the place was extremely busy.

Ran into many people dressed up as Santa Claus on the subway, as well as walking the streets of the area. They were all going somewhere to "Santacon." I missed some great hilarious shots as an endless stream of men and women, dressed in Santa costumes, some rented, others purchased or home made, streamed past the window on their way to one central bar to begin their pub crawl.

After a long brunch, Jon graciously led me on a great walk all over Greenpoint. Where Jon lives is an Italian neighborhood. But the neighborhood is often called "Little Poland" due to its large population of working-class Polish immigrants, supposedly the second largest concentration in the US after Chicago. We stopped in some of the cafes and grocery and pastry shops. A few of the shops made their own sausage. One featured marzipan in any food item you can name. Not only fruits and vegetables but sandwiches and hot dogs!

One shop we stopped in was Huitzilli Mexican Handicraft at 624 Metropolitan Ave. It was very similar to Casa Azul where Stephanie works at in Evanston. I spoke to Emily Cantrell the owner who operates very much like the owner of Casa Azul does. Another was Old Made Stuff a vintage shop at 441 Metropolitan Ave. owned by Leah Adams-Kroll and Frances Pezik. They had clothes and old retro stuff from various eras. Seemed geared very much to the 20’s – 30’s crowd.

I stopped into Hickoree’s which had a sign for Crown Overalls, the company my uncle Harry Levine worked for many years in Cincinnati, OH. On the rear, I think, it said Norwood. They sold hip clothes. It was temporary, since they mostly sell on their web site. They were in Metropolitan Green inventable space at 439 Metropolitan Place. I think they offer or rent space to emerging enterprises.

After I left him I walked down to the Williamsburg area. On the way I discovered an excellent bicycle shop and dropped in and had a conversation with the owner. Since it was Saturday, it was appropriate that is the day Don and I go early morning biking.

There was little activity since it was Saturday, but I did see some Hasidim returning from services.

New York City - Day 11 - Robert Frank Photography show at the Met Musee' Art & Man Ray show at Jewish Musee'

Friday, December 11, 2009

Early this morning I spent about 25 minutes discussing art and photography with an art teacher from Melbourn, Austraila. She was leading a tour of students. She has been to NYC many times. I have met many "Sheilas" since landing here. ( Sheila, Australian slang for "woman", is derived from the Irish girls' name Síle.)

Winter has finally arrived! It is cold in the low 30's with a strong wind creating a knife cutting wind chill. Not good for Susan. Because of the weather and because Susan is quite exhausted from traipsing and around yesterday she has decided it wise to take a day off to re-coop her energy and ensconce herself at the hotel.

I took two subway trains, getting off at Lexington Avenue and 96nd street to go to the Jewish Museum to see the Man Ray show.

On the walk over, around 56 E. 93rd street, I struck up a conversation with a high end furniture dealer - gallery owner, Carlton Hobbs. The area is very upscale, similar to the Gold Coast in Chicago. There seemed to be quite a few tiny French bistros. I saw a Rolls and a Bently parked on Madison Avenue. I got a very nice photograph of buildings reflected in the trunk lid of the Bently which included the distinctive medallion of the Bently B with wings.

I wandered the area finally ending up having breakfast at Sarabeth's at Madison and 92nd street.I had Lox and scrabbled egges with a croissant along with hot chocolate for $22 before the tip. Sitting at the next table was a loving couple holding hands. They had two small bottles of J. Roge champagne, hot chocolate, french toast, quiche, and OJ. The bill before tip was $78. For breakfast!

The Man Ray show was very good as will as through. For me it was an insight into his time and activities with the dadaists and the surrealists and that fertile period in Paris between the wars. Ah yes, and then there was Kiki! Etc......

They really didn't include enough of his photography in the depth I would have preferred. Instead featured was an enormous amount of his paintings, which I personally don't think highly of. Too much thinking and not good execution. But lots of dada, which I love, and some surrealism. Also letters to some of the luminary's of the time including Duchamp and the one to Tristan Tzara from NYC in which famously he writes: "NYC is all Dada so there is nothing to be accomplished by bringing it to NYC." Further on he concludes with "I am doing nothing of interest now to anyone or to myself. Most Cordially, Man Ray." I found reading these documents of great interest. There was one knock out mobil hanging from the ceiling, probably the first, made from wooden clothes hangers with an old suit case on the floor. It had a spot light on it casting great shows on the white wall behind it. It was quite complex.

I also visited an exhibition about contemporary interpertation of Jewish religion and life. A bit of a stretch for me since I don't know everything Jewish. Never the less it was a great challange.

The museum building itself is something special, an old four or five story mansion right on the north east corner of 5th Avenue and 92nd.

The museum has an incredible gift shop feature Judica arts and crafts. A fantastic collection of modern menorahs to die for. I snuck a few shots, one of which features the statue of liberty for each candle holder. In brass. How I wished Susan was with me.

I had gotten to the area early, so walked about a bit as I sought out Sarabeth's, this one at Madison and 92nd street. As I wandered about I discovered numerous small intimate French bistros along the way. One was down a few steps into an English basement. I spoke to the owner who assured me that if I intended to have dinner there that I must make reservations. -- from Chicago, a bit before coming to NYC, I would guess!

I finally got to the Robert Frank exhibit at the Met around 4pm. On Fridays it is open till 9pm. I didn't hang out there that long!

I had my Eagle River bag with me with that old Domke bag pad for the shoulder strap that actually was a US postal carriers pad. Domke know about them and made them available for their bags. No one uses these now of course. LOL

I was looking at photo books that had been published before the Americans. He approached me when I entered the next room and confronted me with, “Who ARE you?” I responded with the same question.

He told me he was the Fantastic Fernaz. I didn't recognize this "promotional nickname." My excuse was that I've been in NYC for two weeks and suffering museum fatigue. LOL!

Finally, he told me his real name. I sure as hell knew who Ben Fernadez is because of his images of M L King.

I was aware of him at that time in the '60's and remember very clearly many of his Dr. King images. They are very fine! The caliber another photog wishes they had been there to capture as well. The only trouble was he was a late comer to the game, only documenting the last year and half of King’s life. That was a different time of activities- less on the street.

In an email I sent him morning I related the following story. Beginning in about 1962 or 63 I documented many of King's appearances on the south side (where the image I showed him that I had on my cell phone was taken) and west side. I remember a huge rally at Soldier Field downtown that featured the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. I have a monumental image (not size, but in style) of her listening to Dr. King. That image does accomplish what I had mentioned to him during our conversation; that of combining strong visual / graphic structure and arrangement in a photo documentary environment to communicate even stronger the moment being captured.

An interesting side light. During that period it was common to loan or borrow equipment from your competitors, even while out in field. John White, who was one of the early black photo journalists in Chicago and I would often run into each other often at these King events. He did not own a 28mm angle lens. I owned an incredibly sharp Schneider Curtagon. At the 47th street rally and at Soldier Field we were next to one another often and he would shoot virtually the same shot I did with my lens! The image described above is blown up to at least 30" x 40" and is on permanent display at a Black museum in Chicago in Washington Park.

Sadly John died of a heart attack in the 70's, I think, and society lost a vital image maker. I attended his funeral.