Taj Mahal

Too low to behold, a child fills his idleness unperturbed by the glut of white marble.

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When upon the Taj Mahal, where does one gaze?

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Degrees of separation: 30. Outside to inside.

Taken: 03/12/2011 at The Taj Mahal, India. The line of people stretched, baking in the sun, three quarters of the way around the building. Baking even in shade. Unsatisfied with the usual front shot of the Taj (not due to the cliche nature, but due to the fact that the shot was very crowded from that angle), I had to figure out a way to take what I wanted from it. What I usually want is a panorama. I got it.

Curiosity

Pinned to the line, pined for the edge.

Fastened to the fascinating line, holding fast the light, the dark.

Taken: 02/23/2011 in Kensington, Brooklyn. Years ago I saw a painting at a modern art museum. It was two tiny triangles, taking up about 1% of the canvas, but painted such that the remaining white space resembled the letter N. I was filled with anger and confusion. And here I am, photographing shadow.

The edge that light and shadow share between them is so enigmatic. What lies between the two respective edges (ignoring the graded transition that'd be revealed if you look close enough)? Rod Sterling also couldn't let it go (and at this very moment I just realized this sentiment is in the opening lines of the Twilight Zone).

The Garbage

In the margins, unviewable territory, sprawled the lumped and gelatinous bags of trash. They make this photo work if only because they were cropped out.

Taken: 04/09/2010 in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, NY. The silent tree stood proudly, unsniffling, unsniffing, towering over the garbage that had been tossed at its feet like so many ill-conceived offerings.

Checking

In the calamity of Times Square I saw this reporter taking her breaths, smoothing her hair, carefully stuffing the bag within her frame but out of frame.

Taken: 06/21/2010 in Times Square, NY.

Dialed Down

In the rain I finally discovered what I was to do with this downed Verizon pay phone. The phone has been in the sad state since early March or so. The cones appeared a few weeks later.

The interesting thing is the commentary. The cones prop up the destroyed phone with their bright color--screaming out "we are Official!"But the downed phone has eluded capture much the same way as it eluded utility.

Taken: 05/18/2011 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY. Waiting for the bus, I didn't want to end up like the stationary cellphone, so I went for a shot.

Tunnel

The bassist is minimal, discreet, loud--the water rushing underfoot, the tide easing back--felt, not heard.

Taken: 10/31/2010 at Blue Note in Manhattan, NY. Snehasish Mozumder & SOM rained over the night (not reigned). This was a lucky shot taken through the dim din.

Round Up

All flight took steps. First step was to look up, the second to hunker down. The brandished quills scare some to ground, to seed.

Taken: 04/30/2011 in Chesea, Manhattan, NY. At the New Amsterdam bicycle show, the staircase was the artery that connected three full floors of hipsters and other bike lovers.

Looking Up

Things are looking up for ants everywhere. First palm trees then giant sequoias. All things will be brought down to scale.
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Breaking new ground is never easy. Harder still when you're raising twins--they never seem to agree on anything.

Taken: 04/24/2011 in Glendale, Queens, NY. The soil beneath my feet was rather ripe with options. I've never caught a plant at the earliest stages so I thought I'd make a play for it.

Picked

"Dim a dozen wines." "Dine a little din with me." "Dime on your friends."
--the unrepentant catcalls of wines held at the ready in their torpedo tubes.

Taken: 12/08/2010 at Via Emilia in New York, NY. A lovely Italian restaurant whose claim to fame, in our book, is never serving a bad meal and the Maitre D' refusing outright to put parmesan on my steak "Chef wouldn't like that."