Body Art

Body Art
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

There is a lot of infrastructure construction happening on lower Broadway. Centers of streets are torn up and construction workers are digging holes and laying huge pipes. To separate this dangerous work from the average Joe, plastic barriers are constructed, sometimes with green mesh behind. The plastic is in bright yellow, green and orange colors. Holes let you see through (it's probably cheaper also as holes are free).

This photograph shows a spot where two of the colored plastic strips come together. This guy's arm and his striped shirt turned out to be a great compositional element. I like this on its standalone art value, it really means nothing so I would consider it an "abstract".

Top and Bottom

Traffic gloves
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

The traffic cop stands for hours at a time. He get ignored, passed by, and sometimes respected. Some are bored, aloof, or relaxed. I think this guy has all three of those traits.

The two shots here are the same guy. I originally thought they were taken from the same source photo. But, now that I have them up, you can see they were different shots (the other legs don't match). But, it is definitely the same guy.

Restless Legs Syndrome
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

There's the top of him above, and then there is the bottom of him.

Dramatic Look

Dramatic Look
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

I originally called this picture "Podiatry Man", but then as I started look at it further, I realized that it reminded me of a famous YouTube video called "Dramatic Look".

See the original video below. (Make sure your sound is turned on).

Smoking Women

It's not quite clear to me why, but I've noticed that the most popular pictures that I've posted on the Flickr site are related to women smoking cigarettes. Yes, there is a style and personality related to these women, but most of these are found by direct search by putting in searches for "Woman" and "Smoking", so they are being specifically sought out. These pictures jump statistically in the "view" statistics, and they have style but they are not necessarily more remarkable than other less "popular" photos.

Click the sideshow and see the ones that have gotten the most attention:

Preparing for 9/11

The park at Liberty Plaza is now a gathering ground and showplace for the annual September 11th ceremony. The park is just opposite from the World Trade Center site, and last year's activities for the families were held here. (This year, I think, the pit of the site is a little bit more prepared for visitors and they will be doing some or all of it down there). At any rate, last year, before the ceremonies a team of workers came to work on maintenance of the embedded lights that are part of the park's floor.

I noticed that the workers have returned, which reminded me that we are coming close to another 9/11 anniversary and another ceremony. Last year I emerged from the PATH train while the ceremony was in process and had this direct observation.

Sotheby's

I was contacted by the Sotheby's auction house in London.

They wanted to buy this picture of the Berlin Wall that they found on my website. They are going to put it in some 20th Century Italian Sale catalogue, which is sent to their clients worldwide.

I'm not quite sure what their intention is, but they will send me a copy of the final book. They said it was for a "comparable".

As it was taken 25 years ago, and they wanted a high quality version of it, I had to go on a scavenger hunt through my old old negatives to find the original. And, I found it within 5 minutes, imagine that.

This shot wasn't really of the wall, it was really showing the space in between the "wall", as there were actually two walls and this gap between.

I had a rather creepy feel when I first approached the wall. But, it was nice that they had a platform constructed to be able to look across from West Berlin, to the East Berlin side. I later did make the trip across and did have a rather creepy day.

Cigarette swing

Cigarette swing
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

A rainy day around 6pm. I went up some side streets looking for something to shoot and I saw this woman walking purposely. As she walked, she did a full arm swing with her cigarette in hand. I rattled off about ten shots and this one was my favorite. I like the balance between the various levels of umbrellas and the woman looking on (probably looking at me).

Below is a color version of this which is a little less standard.

Reflex Shot

Synchro Dogs
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

I was on my cell phone talking to a relative about a family health issue (solved) as I walked along the street. With my camera at my belt I was reflexively taking pictures whenever something seemed of interest. I typically have the camera pre-set for street photography.... fast shutter, higher ISO, smaller aperture for extended focus, etc. Sometimes I put it on sports mode. Anyway, I saw these dogs in a flash and took one quick shot.