Miscellany #4 - short and sweet and a little bit of self-promotion

Last week I left my camera on the train when I got off at my northern Westchester station. I felt this wass sort of fate, since I was starting to shop for a new one but put it on hold because during the past six months I ran into a bunch of large bills when I had to replace items that all wore out around the same time. In all, I sent close to $15000 cash and drained my saving for a camera and lenses account. And since I still had my old camera I wasn't desperate. And then that was gone.

So I went home, made a few calls until at last I connected to a Metro North Police officer who had me describe what I'd lost, what train where I was sitting, etc. He took my phone number and promised to get back to me when he had news. 

I sat down at my computer and started a GoFundMe campaign.

As it happens, a few hours later, thanks to the efforts of the MetroNorth police, I had my camera back, minus the lens cap. But I still need a new camera, I don't have the handy cash to buy it, and so I am leaving the campaign active if you feel inclined to contribute.

Here's the link - https://www.gofundme.com/photographer-needs-to-upgrade

All contributions of $40 or higher will receive a print of the photo of the contributors choice, when I make the goal. 

Additionally, fine prints - mostly on 8 1/2 x 11 inch photo paper, some larger, are available for sale. If you are interested you can email me at camera at jommelli dot org.

And with that bit of self-promotion out of the way, here are four more for your enjoyment.

I will only comment on the second. It was shot at Eisenberg's, probably one of the last old-school luncheonette's in Midtown Manhattan. They have two catch phrases, Either you get it or you don't and, Raising New York City's Cholesterol since 1929. I imagine that, except for the celebrity photos on the walls, it pretty much looks the same as it did 90 years ago.

I hope you enjoy these.

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Miscellany 3 - Maybe the blog's title is more appropriate than I thought.

I had dinner tonight with one of my kids. One of the ways they describe themself is as non-binary weirdo. I pitched in to say I'm weirder and they agreed.

One of the ways I am weird is I talk to strangers on the street, with neither fear nor embarrassment. I kid around by saying my mother always told me to never talk to strangers and I answered her by saying, "Mom, then I can't talk to myself because nobody's stranger than me."

These four photos were taken on Fifth Avenue in NYC on the sidewalk outside the New York Public Library. In the first, I told this guy he really rocked his look and he nodded, wordlessly agreeing.

The next three is a family grouping, a tourist family pausing in front of a building that combines great beauty, considerable significance and an amazing amount of human knowledge.

I took the first two of these three while they were in the act of selfying - is that a word? If not it should be - and asked as they shot themselves if I could get a family portrait. I ended up with three, together capturing the essence of 21st Century tourists and casual portraiture.

I happen to love these as a group and when I print them, I'm putting them on one large sheet. They belong together.

Comments are welcome.

If you are interested in quality signed prints, please let me know and we can discuss it.

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A miscellany - how many will it be?

Since I will never catch up with all the photos I've been taking and only recently started to look at them seriously again, as much for printing as for on-line publishing, there will be more miscellanies and fewer thematic posts.

This, I think, is good.

Let me start with two shots of one of my cats. 

Her name is Bits. It isn't the name she had at Pet's Alive, the shelter where I got her from, which I cannot remember. When I took her home, she was over a year old, though exactly how much older nobody knew for sure. She was found in someone's yard, bedraggled, abandoned and pregnant. Her kittens were born and weaned in the shelter. All of them had been adopted in the month before I spotted her. It was immediate friendship, maybe even love, though her trust had to be won. She came into my arms and looked me in the eye and signaled that she wanted to go home with me.

She was a little leery at first, concerned, I imagine, that we were not going to keep her for the rest of her life. She didn't need to be, she was a perfect companion: polite, playful and always hanging out wherever we were. 

It's been 2 1/2 years now and she is still addicted to the laser dot. She jumps into my lap when I'm reading at the dining room table, lies down on me when I'm in bed, and is always hanging around the humans. Lucky cat, lucky humans.

In the first picture she is looking out at something, probably a bird or squirrel, in the snow in the backyard.  The second picture was taken on New Year's Eve 2017-2018.  She likes to watch for me through the kitchen window, so I might have just come into the house.

This photo was shot a few months ago in the Park Ave. tunnel between E. 45th and E. 46th St. It doesn't matter what was there before, and it doesn't matter what it is now. This was the intermediate stage, and to my eye it looked like a robotic face and it seemed to be looking at me.

This is a typical December scene in midtown Manhattan. That part of the island is flooded with people from somewhere else - during an average week NYC gets more than a million visitors - and they clog the sidewalks, block the intersections and in general behave as if this is a place where they don't have to behave. That sign, "Rough Road"describes the pedestrian's lot in NYC.

And finally, three people standing on a corner in Midtown. I like this picture. You can tell me what you think it's about.

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I will never catch up but I can at least post from time to time

This is what I will call a miscellany.
Some of these photos were taken some time ago, some are very recent.
Some of them will have more description than others.

I'll start with two very recent photos.
The first I shot on a Metro-North Commuter RR train heading toward Brewster, which is where these four very nice people were heading.

They are from a couple of places in west and central Connecticut, were on their way home from one of their occasional outings to NYC together. From left to right, Lynn, Vinnie, Claudia and Renee. I hope I got those names right. They told me they all met at the gym they go to.

I was taking a walk on Madison Avenue. I'd offered some directional assistance to a seemingly turned-around family from Germany and watched them off. Before I could continue my walk, one of these pleasant women asked if I could help them. I pointed them in the direction they needed to go, gave them a quick tutorial on street addresses in Manhattan, and asked where they were from. The woman on the right told me they are from Kansas and her name is Dorothy. I wondered how they enjoying the wonderful city of Oz because it sure isn't Kansas. The woman with her is not named Toto.

Mackenzie was looking a little lonely at her tasting station at Park Avenue Liquors. I'd gone in to say hi to Marlon Paltoo, one of the most knowledgable people I know when it comes to  scotch and the owners, Jonathan and Eric Goldstein. I stopped to taste the Nautilus gin and chatted briefly with the brand rep. She moved here from Philadelphia. The gin, by the way, was very tasty.

These next three are street photos. Now the photo of the women from Kansas is a street photo too, and I guess the first one is too, but they are different. I got to know a little about the people in them. For these, all I know is what I imagine.

 And though I don't know these young folk, I do know that skateboarding is not a crime.

This photo was taken in the studio at the International Fusion Arts museum in Easton, PA. Jozef Dian, a Czech artist is here working on fabric, and his fabrications are fabulous

And finally, a one photo and one paragraph tribute to Juris Jurjevics. He passed away recently and if you do a web search on his name you will find several obituaries, including one in the NY Times. He was a good man, someone I knew for about forty years. In his lifetime he was a refugee in the USA, a Vietnam War veteran, a book editor and publisher and a novelist. He was also a much loved father and husband and the sort of friend you want to have.

I shot this photo during the summer of 2018. We were meeting for beer and conversation at a bar in the East Village of Manhattan. I did not know then I'd never see him again. I will miss him.
He was the cofounder of the Soho Press and they have a loving appreciation of him on their web site.


If you are interested in art quality prints of any of these contact me via email or the comments and we can discuss it.


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Radomer Holocaust Survivors Project - April 27, 2014 NYC

If you have followed this blog, you have seen some sets of photos taken at either the annual Holocaust Memorial Service in the spring of every year, or the annual Yizkor held at the Radomer Mutual Culture Center cemetery on Long Island, the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur every year.

I am working on a project to re-edit and print photos of the survivors with friends, family or alone. I have been asked to re-present these as I finish a batch. It's a process and won't happen over a short period of time.

I've been asked if I can make prints of individual photos for family members. I am willing but have not yet determined pricing.

Here are photos from the memorial service held May 4, 2008 - New York City

Click on the photo to view it larger.

April 27, 2014 - NYC

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Radomer Holocaust Survivors Project - April 22, 2012 NYC

If you have followed this blog, you have seen some sets of photos taken at either the annual Holocaust Memorial Service in the spring of every year, or the annual Yizkor held at the Radomer Mutual Culture Center cemetery on Long Island, the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur every year.

I am working on a project to re-edit and print photos of the survivors with friends, family or alone. I have been asked to re-present these as I finish a batch. It's a process and won't happen over a short period of time.

I've been asked if I can make prints of individual photos for family members. I am willing but have not yet determined pricing.

Here are photos from the memorial service held May 4, 2008 - New York City

Click on the photos to view them larger.

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April 22, 2012 - 1

April 22, 2012 - 2

April 22, 2012 -3

April 22, 2012 - 4

Radomer Holocaust Survivors Project - October 2, 2011 - Pinelawn NY

If you have followed this blog, you have seen some sets of photos taken at either the annual Holocaust Memorial Service in the spring of every year, or the annual Yizkor held at the Radomer Mutual Culture Center cemetery on Long Island, the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur every year.

I am working on a project to re-edit and print photos of the survivors with friends, family or alone. I have been asked to re-present these as I finish a batch. It's a process and won't happen over a short period of time.

I've been asked if I can make prints of individual photos for family members. I am willing but have not yet determined pricing.

Here are photos from the memorial service held October 2, 2011 - New Montefiore Cemetery, Pinelawn, NY

Click on the photos to view them larger.

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Oct. 2, 2011 -1

Oct. 2, 2011 - 2

Oct. 2, 2011 - 3

Radomer Holocaust Survivors Project - May 4 2008 NYC

If you have followed this blog, you have seen some sets of photos taken at either the annual Holocaust Memorial Service in the spring of every year, or the annual Yizkor held at the Radomer Mutual Culture Center cemetery on Long Island, the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur every year.

I am working on a project to re-edit and print photos of the survivors with friends, family or alone. I have been asked to re-present these as I finish a batch. It's a process and won't happen over a short period of time.

I've been asked if I can make prints of individual photos for family members. I am willing but have not yet determined pricing.

Here are photos from the memorial service held May 4, 2008 - New York City

Click on the photos to view them larger.

May 4, 2008 NYC - 1

May 4, 2008 NYC - 2

May 4, 2008 NYC -3

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No puking in the mail box

In preparation for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade on 5th Ave. in NYC, the USPS has secured all post-boxes in the vicinity of the parade.

So there will be no puking in the mail boxes on 3/17.

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