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(More details later, as time permits)
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As I've noted in other sets of photos here on Flickr, I've been lucky enough to visit Rome dozens of times since I first celebrated a solitary birthday there back in 1972. Since then, I've often come alone (usually on business trips to lecture about various aspects of software development), and I've sometimes managed to bring various children and/or my wife. This time, like many other trips, I was alone.
On most of my trips, I make a point of visiting Piazza del Popolo at least once -- because there are always interesting scenes to photograph, with a combination of tourists, students, lovers, and amateur musicians. This time, there was a Michael Jackson impersonator -- who, at least from a distance, seemed to mimic MJ's fluid moves pretty well. And there was an electric guitarist, but it turned out that he could only play instrumentals -- and he tended to play the same songs, over and over again.
I photographed people in Piazza del Popolo on the first and last days of my visit; but I also spent a couple hours in Piazza Santa Margarita in Trastevere, where there was a wedding underway. And I strolled a block or two from my hotel to Piazza Cavour, where the entire piazza had been off-limits for years because of reconstruction work. But the reconstruction is over, the piazza is open, and I was lucky enough to be there during the "golden hour" before sunset, where I got some interesting photos of the local people enjoying a balmy early-summer evening.
On Sunday morning, I decided to visit the enormous "flea market" at Porta Portensa, where I did my best to get a few interesting shots of the shoppers, tourists, and long rows of merchant stalls filled with various forms of cheap, tacky merchandise. It was quite an experience...
As I have on past occasions, I took thousands of photos during my week-long visit, from which I select a few dozen to upload to Flickr. Hopefully they'll give you a sense of what it's like here in the Eternal City ...
(more details later, as time permits)
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I’ve been to Venice once or twice for brief business trips during my life, which had the same characteristics as the business trips I described in a separate Flickr album about Paris — i.e., they basically involve flying into a busy airport at night, taking a taxi to a generic business-traveler’s hotel (a Hilton in Venice looks just like a Hilton in Cairo,except perhaps for the canal outside the main entrance), and then spending several days working in the hotel (if the purpose of the trip was a seminar or computer conference), or at a client’s office (also “generic” in most cases — you can’t even tell what floor you’re on when you get off the elevator, because every floor of “open office” layouts is the same). The trip usually ends in the late afternoon or evening of the final day, with a mad dash back to the airport to catch the last plane home to NYC. Thus, a business trip to Venice is almost indistinguishable from a business trip to Omaha. Or Albany. Or Tokyo.
But Venice is different from almost any other place in the world, and I’ve had a couple of vacation trips to experience that side of the city. But it’s been a long, long time: the first such visit was back in 1976 (which you can see here on Flickr), and the second visit was in 1983 (pictures of which do exist on Flickr, but have been restricted to family-only access, since they consist mostly of boring pictures of drooling babies and kids sticking their collective tongues out at me).
Thirty years is a long time between visits … but for a city like Venice, I doubt that very much has changed. Well, perhaps there wasn’t a McDonald’s outlet in Venice when I first came here (and I did photograph one such outlet on this current visit, which you’ll find in this album), and you can certainly guarantee that people weren’t walking around with cellphones and smartphones the way they are today. And while the tourists typically did have cameras back in the good-old-days, they were typically modest little “Instamatic” film-based gadgets, rather than the big, garish, DSLR cameras that everyone now seems to carry around with them, complete with advertising logos all over the camera-straps and bodies to remind you that they, too, can afford to buy an expensive Canon or Nikon gadget that they really don’t know how to use properly. (Sorry, I got carried away there …)
But the buildings, and the people, and the canals, and the gondolas … all of that is the same. And that’s what I’ve tried to capture in this set of photos. The tourist crowds are now so thick (even in May!) that I didn’t even bother going to the square at San Marco, and I didn’t bother taking any photos from the Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal; but you will see some photos of tourists in this album, along with photos of the local people who are still here …
I don’t expect to come back to Venice again in the next year or two … but if it turns out to be 20 or 30 years before my next return, I suspect it will all look pretty much exactly the same as it did on this trip, and in 1983, and when I first saw it in 1976.
Anna is now fully deboxed. Her skirts are stiff enough to permit her to free stand, although she a bit unstable this way. She is posed standing, supported by her included doll stand. All photos were taken with the built-in camera flash.
Anna is in her coronation gown, with a velvet black bodice and green skirt. The bodice is form fitting, with multicolored embroidery and jewels, with a dark green satin shoulder straps. Her outer skirt is made of panels of yellow green embroidered and jeweled satin alternating with plain dark green satin panels, the pattern repeating ten times. The lighter green panels are tacked together with plastic T-tabs, so we don't see the full extent of the skirt. When the sections are freed, the skirt can expand to a full semicircle. Under the skirt is a full length yellow green satin slip, with a wide lacy hem. Under that is a 3/4 length stiff tulle petticoat. Under that are yellow green satin knee-length bloomers. Finally under that are full length stockings or leggings. Anna is certainly dressed for cold weather. Her legs are wired to the doll stand at the ankles and knees. Her feet are posable, and she is wearing black flats, which is rather disappointing given the gorgeous and unique shoes that Elsa is wearing. She is wearing a necklace, with the pendant stuck to her chest.
Her face is very movie accurate. She has a round face, with huge blue green eyes, long gently curving rooted eyelashes, thin dark brown eyebrows. She has a small pointy nose, thin dark pink lips in a slight smirk, and large round ears. She has orange freckles all over her face, extending down to her neck, shoulders and chest, and even on her upper back. She has a very pale complexion, but her sister Elsa is much, much paler. Her body is the usual LE Princess body, with full articulation in her arms and legs, and an upper torso joint. Her rusty red hair is fashioned into a large bun in the back of her head, with a spiraling braid around a small bun in the middle, out of which comes several thin ponytails, including two very skinny braids, and also several satin ribbons. In front are long curly bangs, and a tight flat braid over it. There is a streak of white hair from her right side, and ending in one of the thin pony tails hanging off the small bun.
Anna is very beautiful and elegant, very much a Disney Princess.
First look at the Harrods special edition of the Disney Store's Limited Edition Anna and Elsa Doll Set. I purchased it through a reseller, as it was only sold at the Harrods London store. It was released on November 1, 2013, in an edition of 100. The retail cost is more than four times that of the separately sold LE Anna and Elsa dolls (which will be released worldwide on November 20, 2013, in an edition size of 2500). My set is #39 of 100, and I received it on November 11, 2013.
They are 17'' fully articulated dolls, with doll stands and certificated of authenticity. Anna is in her coronation gown, Elsa is in her Snow Queen gown. As might be expected, the dolls are considerably different in details than the ''regular'' limited edition dolls. In particular there is considerably more crystals on the outfits, and embroidered snowflakes completely cover the outer gown (cape) of Elsa. Also, Elsa's skin has a pearly shiny surface, very similar to the skin of LE Ursula, although it has a much paler purplish color. She has unique shoes, iridescent blue high heeled shoes with a snowflake design. She also bucks the trend of fully articulated legs in the Limited Edition dolls, by having fixed angled feet. She looks much more elegant with fixed feet in the high heels.
"No permitas que nadie diga que eres incapaz de hacer algo, ni si quiera yo. Si tienes un sueño, debes conservarlo. Si quieres algo, sal a buscarlo, y punto.
¿Sabes?, la gente que no logra conseguir sus sueños suele decirles a los demás que tampoco cumplirán los suyos"
Original Caption: Hikers Rest at Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park. Ranger Naturalists Take Tourists There through a Maze of Narrow Canyons. Without an Expert along the Inexperienced Visitor Can Easily Get Lost, Hence Only Guided Tours of the Area Are Permitted, 05/197
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-3270
Photographer: Hiser, David, 1937-
Subjects:
Arches National Park (Grand county, Utah, United States) national park
Environmental Protection Agency
Project DOCUMERICA
Persistent URL: catalog.archives.gov/id/545757
Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.
For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html
Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
(more details later, as time permits)
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Sometimes the most amazing things happen when you’re walking around the Center of the Universe with your camera. If you’re lucky, you realize that a miracle is happening in front of you, and you point your camera in the right direction, and hopefully capture a few scenes for posterity.
In my case, I didn’t realize what was going on at first. I had decided to cover part of 14th Street during my “streets of New York” project that has been underway since the spring of 2013 (if you haven’t seen what I’m up to in this area, take a look at this Flickr album: www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/sets/72157634242250833/ ). I was walking back to my starting point, on the south side of 14th Street between Avenue B and Avenue A, when I happened to notice an intriguing bit of … well, I hesitate to call it “graffiti” … apparently written in large chalk letters on a green-painted sheet of plywood “wall” that stood between the sidewalk and a construction site. It’s the first photo that you’ll see in this set. I was particularly amused by the Facebook-style “Like Share Comment” appendix at the end; but I just chuckled, took a quick photo, and kept walking.
A couple blocks later, I had returned to my starting point, at the south end of Union Square. To my enormous surprise, the same chalked version of the First Amendment had been written on a large section of sidewalk … and then I saw the artist hard at work inscribing the Fourth Amendment right next to it. A moment later, someone congratulated him on the eloquence of his words, and he responded, “It’s not mine. It was written by Thomas Jefferson.”
The artist who did this work is S. C. Shryock, and you can reach him by email at acs@scshryock.com or on Facebook at fb/sc.shryock. He’s also got a website at www.scshryock.com
I spoke briefly to Mr. Shryock and asked him if he sprayed any kind of sealant on the chalk after he finished, so that the words would remain intact after a rainstorm (or, as I witnessed later, after people had obliviously walked right over the writing). He shook his head, and said that he expected the writing would only last for a few days before it washed away, or faded. Sometimes he comes back to the same spot and writes the words again; he has apparently done several more of these messages up in Washington Square Park — as well as the occasional plywood wall, as I had noticed earlier.
After he finished and faded into the crowd, I spent nearly an hour sitting on the steps leading into the Union Square Park, and simply watched the reaction of passers-by as the walked past the two inscriptions. Most instinctively avoided walking over the words, but a few simply didn’t see what they were walking over. The large majority of people simply ignored the message; only a few stopped to read … and one guy smiled when he finished the First Amendment, and tapped his foot on the “Like” at the bottom. “I like, I like,” he said.
Keep in mind that Mr. Shryock only wrote the words of the First and Fourth Amendments; these were just two of the ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution that are generally referred to as the “Bill of Rights.” At this point, you want to have your memory of the other amendments refreshed, and you also want to know how all of this came about back in the early days of the United States. You might have forgotten, for example, that Congress actually proposed *twelve* amendments, and only Articles 3-12 initially received enough state votes to ratify. Article 2 was not ratified until May 7, 1992 — 202 years and 225 days after it was approved by Congress.
The first amendment has *still* not been ratified; it reads “That there be prefixed to the constitution a declaration that all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from the people. That government is instituted, and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their government, whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purposes of its institution.”
You can find all of these details in this Wikipedia article:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights
Meanwhile, take a close look at the reaction of ordinary New York citizens to two of the most important amendments. It seems that some don’t care at all, and some don’t even notice…. it’s a sad commentary.
(more details later, as time permits)
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I'm spending the winter months of 2014-2015 in a warm spot on the beach in Indialantic, FL (if I have Internet access, it doesn't matter too much where I'm physically located).
I'm trying to get up about an hour before sunrise every morning, and be out on the beach for a morning walk just as the sun peeks up above the horizon.
On the very first morning, and every morning thereafter, I've immediately noticed that I was not the only person on the beach. There are joggers and walkers out getting their exercise, and *lots* of fishermen casting their lines out into the surf. But down by the 5th Avenue boardwalk -- where you can park your car and get a cup of coffee/latte/whatever from the local Starbucks -- there are lots and lots of people who clearly come down here just to watch the sunrise
These are some of the people...
(more details later, as time permits)
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About a year ago, I created Flickr album for photos that I had started taking with my iPhone5s; and now I’m creating a new Flickr album for photos that I’ve begun taking with myiPhone6, which just arrived from T-Mobile this morning.
In last year’s album, I wrote, "Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s hard to walk around with a modern smartphone in your pocket, and not be tempted to use the built-in camera from time-to-time. Veteran photographers typically sneer at such behavior, and most will tell you that they can instantly recognize an iPhone photo, which they mentally reject as being unworthy of any serious attention.
"After using many earlier models of smartphones over the past several years, I was inclined to agree; after all, I always (well, almost always) had a “real” camera in my pocket (or backpack or camera-bag), and it was always capable of taking a much better photographic image than the mediocre, grainy images shot with a camera-phone.
"But still … there were a few occasions when I desperately wanted to capture some photo-worthy event taking place right in front of me, and inevitably it turned out to be the times when I did not have the “real” camera with me. Or I did have it, but it was buried somewhere in a bag, and I knew that the “event” would have disappeared by the time I found the “real" camera and turned it on. By contrast, the smart-phone was always in my pocket (along with my keys and my wallet, it’s one of the three things I consciously grab every time I walk out the door). And I often found that I could turn it on, point it at the photographic scene, and take the picture much faster than I could do the same thing with a “traditional” camera.
"Meanwhile, smartphone cameras have gotten substantially better in the past few years, from a mechanical/hardware perspective; and the software “intelligence” controlling the camera has become amazingly sophisticated. It’s still not on the same level as a “professional” DSLR camera, but for a large majority of the “average” photographic situations we’re likely to encounter in the unplanned moments of our lives, it’s more and more likely to be “good enough.” The old adage of “the best camera is the one you have with you” is more and more relevant these days. For me, 90% of the success in taking a good photo is simply being in the right place at the right time, being aware that the “photo opportunity” is there, and having a camera — any camera — to take advantage of that opportunity. Only 10% of the time does it matter which camera I’m using, or what technical features I’ve managed to use.
"And now, with the recent advent of the iPhone5s, there is one more improvement — which, as far as I can tell, simply does not exist in any of the “professional” cameras. You can take an unlimited number of “burst-mode” shots with the new iPhone, simply by keeping your finger on the shutter button; instead of being limited to just six (as a few of the DSLR cameras currently offer), you can take 10, 20, or even a hundred shots. And then — almost magically — the iPhone will show you which one or two of the large burst of photos was optimally sharp and clear. With a couple of clicks, you can then delete everything else, and retain only the very best one or two from the entire burst.
"With that in mind, I’ve begun using my iPhone5s for more and more “everyday” photo situations out on the street. Since I’m typically photographing ordinary, mundane events, even the one or two “optimal” shots that the camera-phone retains might not be worth showing anyone else … so there is still a lot of pruning and editing to be done, and I’m lucky if 10% of those “optimal” shots are good enough to justify uploading to Flickr and sharing with the rest of the world. Still, it’s an enormous benefit to know that my editing work can begin with photos that are more-or-less “technically” adequate, and that I don’t have to waste even a second reviewing dozens of technically-mediocre shots that are fuzzy, or blurred.
"Oh, yeah, one other minor benefit of the iPhone5s (and presumably most other current brands of smartphone): it automatically geotags every photo and video, without any special effort on the photographer’s part. Only one of my other big, fat cameras (the Sony Alpha SLT A65) has that feature, and I’ve noticed that almost none of the “new” mirrorless cameras have got a built-in GPS thingy that will perform the geotagging...
"I’ve had my iPhone5s for a couple of months now, but I’ve only been using the “burst-mode” photography feature aggressively for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the initial batch of photos that I’m uploading are all taken in the greater-NYC area. But as time goes on, and as my normal travel routine takes me to other parts of the world, I hope to add more and more “everyday” scenes in cities that I might not have the opportunity to photograph in a “serious” way.
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Okay, so now it’s September of 2014, and I’ve got the iPhone 6. They say that the camera is better, and that the internal camera-related hardware/firmware/software is better, too. Obviously, I’ve got the newer iOS, too, and even on the “old” phones, it now supports time-lapse videos along with everything else.
I’ve still got my pocket camera (an amazing little Sony ERX-100 Mark III), and two larger cameras (Sony RX-10, and Sony A7), but I have a feeling that I won’t even be taking them out of the camera bag when I’m out on the street for ordinary day-to-day walking around.
That will depend, obviously, on what kind of photos and videos the iPhone6 is actually capable of taking … so I’m going to try to use it every day, and see what the results look like …
Like I said last year, “stay tuned…"
(more details later, as time permits)
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A couple weeks ago, I arrived about an hour early for a photography class at the International Center for Photography (ICP) in mid-town Manhattan. Knowing that I'd have some time available, I was planning to wander through Bryant Park (behind the New York Public Library) to see if there was anything interesting to photograph. But there was a massive construction project underway (the details of which I still haven't figured out), occupying almost all of the block-square park area. It was also bitter cold, and the sun had dropped behind the office buildings on the west side of the park, casting everything into gloom and shadow ... so there were almost no people at all in the park area, and really nothing at all worth photographing.
So I decided instead to get a cup of hot chocolate at a tiny coffee/snack stand near the northwest corner of the park, and simply park myself at one of the outdoor tables near the corner, to see what kind of people might wander by. Specifically, I was at the southeast corner of 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas; and it was about 5 PM, so the after-work commuter rush was well underway. Buses, taxis, and cars were moving rapidly up the avenue, and back and forth along 42nd Street -- with drivers honking madly, slamming on their brakes, and revving their motors to vent their frustrations. Commuters, workers, students, and tourists (judging from their accents) -- as well as a few haggard people who looked homeless and cold -- were dashing west towards Times Square, east towards Grand Central, and north/south towards ... well, who knows where.
Because of the shadows and gloom, I had to turn the ISO setting on my D300 up to 3200; but that made it possible to capture most people without a flash, and without too much blurriness. I took a little over a hundred photos, and ended up with the 10 that I've collected into this Flickr set. I don't know if I can say that this collection is a truly "representative" set of New Yorkers (and visitor/tourists) ... but it's at least one "snapshot" that will give you a rough idea of what it's like at the end of the work-day on a cold winter's afternoon.
(more details later, as time permits)
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Months from now, if people stumble onto this set of Flickr photos, they won't know or care when the photos were actually taken. After all, rain is a fairly universal phenomenon, and it can happen in any of the four seasons of the year.
Still, it's an odd experience to be writing these notes a week after the photographs were taken -- at an altitude of 35,000 feet, on a flight to Miami that lifted off from JFK airport just as the first snow flurries hit the runway at the beginning of what promises to be the first major snowfall of the 2009 season. Twelve inches of snow are expected by the time the storm stops, which makes this collection of water-soaked individuals seem like they got stuck in the wrong place and the wrong time.
But a week ago, the temperature was about ten degrees warmer -- and what could easily have been a foot or two of snow was instead just a couple of inches of cold rain. Rain, of course, brings out the umbrellas; and on a couple of earlier occasions this year (which you can see here and here on Flickr), I began to see that -- notwithstanding the typical stories about New York fashions -- people were not restricting themselves to black raincoats and black umbrellas. My winter coat (courtesy of North Face) is black, and just about every umbrella I've ever owned has been black; my suitcases are black, my backpacks and briefcases have always been black, and even my camera bag is black. Since it's promising to be a cold winter, I just bought a new pair of gloves and a new woolen cap ... in black.
But that's apparently not true for many other New Yorkers. While you'll see a few black outfits in the photos collected here, the range of vivid colors continues to surprise me. Somehow, it's something you would expect to see at the beginning of the spring season -- signifying the rejection of the dark gloom of clouds and rain, and celebrating the imminent arrival of flowers and blossoms, of emerald-colored trees and thick green grass and the chirping of birds. But this collection of photos was taken in mid-December, only a week before the official beginning of winter. You'd think that people would be carrying black umbrellas and somber raincoats that marked the season of death and darkness, but I guess that's just not the way things are here in New York City.
On the previous occasions when I've photographed umbrellas in the rain, I've deliberately used a "pocket camera," albeit a fairly sophisticated one such as the Canon G-10. I wanted something that would be compact enough that I could stick into my jacket pocket if the rain got heavy, and I didn't want to risk damaging the electronic components a really expensive, sophisticated camera by getting it wet. The results were usually fairly good, but I always wondered if I could do a better job with one of my high-end DSLR cameras...
... so that's what I used for this collection of photos: my Nikon D700 camera, with a big, heavy 70-300mm zoom lens. I attached a lens hood to the lens, to minimize the chances of raindrops falling directly onto the lens itself; and I stood beneath the awning and overhang of various storefronts and buildings along Broadway as the rain poured down steadily all around me. Next time, I might be even more adventurous, since I've got a professional waterproof bag-thingy that should keep the camera dry even if I'm standing out in the middle of a torrential downpour. But for now, this was a good start.
Because of the rain, most of the people I photographed paid no attention to me at all; they were too busy concentrating on where they were walking, where the puddles were deepest, and whose umbrellas were about to poke them in the face. On the rare occasions when they did see a crazy guy standing under an awning, pointing a camera in their general direction, they frowned or gave me a quizzical look, and just kept going...
So that's the way it was, on this rainy Sunday afternoon. At this point, I'm going to assume that winter has officially arrived, and that the precipitation during the next few months will take the form of snow, not rain. I don't know how well it will turn out, but one of my future projects will be a series of photos during a blizzard. Stay tuned ... and in the meantime, stay dry.
(more details later, as time permits)
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I’m writing these notes about halfway through the 2014 World Cup, and I can’t help wondering if anyone will have the slightest interest in seeing photos about a bunch of guys running around the streets of New York as they hit a small pink rubber ball with what looks like a broomstick. Indeed, the Wikipedia article on stickball (which you can find at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickball ) tells us that
"Stickball is a street game related to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensy pinky, high bouncer or tennis ball. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation, for example, a manhole cover may be used as a base, or buildings for foul lines. The game is a variation of stick and ball games dating back to at least the 1750s. This game was widely popular among youths growing up from the 20th century until the 1980s."
So, what I was photographing here was definitely not soccer; nor was it the more “traditional” American sport of baseball … and definitely not (American-style) football either. It’s a game of its own, though the particular game that I happened to watch and photograph was a variation typically referred to as “fungo” — where the batter tosses the ball into the air and hits it on the way down, or after one or more bounces.
Like many of the other really, really good days on my 1+ years of photo-walking in NYC, today’s experience was completely unexpected. I was trudging along 109th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side — and shortly after walking through a tunnel that supports the overhead train tracks carrying MetroNorth trains (and Amtrak/Acela, too, I guess) up and down Park Avenue to the final stopping point in Grand Central — I found myself at a corner that has come to be known as the “Stickball Hall of Fame Place,” at 109th Street and Third Avenue. Two different stickball games were underway, but I was reasonably safe as long as I stayed on the sidewalks. (If you’re interested in the Stickball Hall of Fame, check out this web site: northattan.com/2013/10/07/keeping-a-tradition-alive-in-ea... )
As I’ve learned, you can never tell when unexpected occasions like this will happen — and they may indeed happen only once a year. Most days out on the street with my camera are relatively blah; and many (like most of Manhattan's west side, especially the area from 57th Street down to 14th Street) are frustratingly unproductive. There are a few good days, and a few good shots — but a concentrated burst like today happens only on rare occasions …
Thus, when such occasions do occur, it's important to exploit them for every bit they’re worth. Thankfully I realized that today — and decided that I’d be happy to stay on that one street (109th, between 2nd and 3rd Avenue) for the entire afternoon. In particular, I made no effort whatsoever to leave quickly in order to walk 108th Street, too; after all, it will be there tomorrow (and the next day, and the day after that), whereas the photo opportunity may never come back again.
Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to meet some of the stickball players, chat with them, learn about their friends and relatives (several told me of starting to play the game with their own fathers, many years earlier) and offer to send them some photos (which, thus far, nobody has done). Maybe one of the reasons that I have not gotten involved with many NYC people on the street before is that I really wasn’t particularly interested in what they were doing, and there was no obvious way they could continue doing what they were doing without my being an obvious intrusion. Not so today …
In addition to the still photos, I took about a dozen video clips, though I didn’t actually think of doing so until roughly halfway through the photo episode. But in retrospect, it should have been obvious: it’s a sports-game, so it depend on motion; and the yelling, shouting, and overall noise is a very important part of the experience, too. So I finally started shooting short 10-20 second clips when each of the batters was about to wallop the ball, and then run on to first base …
I was tempted to go back to watch the game again next weekend, weather permitting; but I already had other commitments for those days, so it didn’t happen. Maybe 2 weeks from now, or 2 months … or whenever.
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This set of photos is based on a very simple concept: walk every block of Manhattan with a camera, and see what happens. To avoid missing anything, walk both sides of the street.
That's all there is to it …
Of course, if you wanted to be more ambitious, you could also walk the streets of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. But that's more than I'm willing to commit to at this point, and I'll leave the remaining boroughs of New York City to other, more adventurous photographers.
Oh, actually, there's one more small detail: leave the photos alone for a month -- unedited, untouched, and unviewed. By the time I actually focus on the first of these "every-block" photos, I will have taken more than 8,000 images on the nearby streets of the Upper West Side -- plus another several thousand in Rome, Coney Island, and the various spots in NYC where I traditionally take photos. So I don't expect to be emotionally attached to any of the "every-block" photos, and hope that I'll be able to make an objective selection of the ones worth looking at.
As for the criteria that I've used to select the small subset of every-block photos that get uploaded to Flickr: there are three. First, I'll upload any photo that I think is "great," and where I hope the reaction of my Flickr-friends will be, "I have no idea when or where that photo was taken, but it's really a terrific picture!"
A second criterion has to do with place, and the third involves time. I'm hoping that I'll take some photos that clearly say, "This is New York!" to anyone who looks at it. Obviously, certain landscape icons like the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty would satisfy that criterion; but I'm hoping that I'll find other, more unexpected examples. I hope that I'll be able to take some shots that will make a "local" viewer say, "Well, even if that's not recognizable to someone from another part of the country, or another part of the world, I know that that's New York!" And there might be some photos where a "non-local" viewer might say, "I had no idea that there was anyplace in New York City that was so interesting/beautiful/ugly/spectacular."
As for the sense of time: I remember wandering around my neighborhood in 2005, photographing various shops, stores, restaurants, and business establishments -- and then casually looking at the photos about five years later, and being stunned by how much had changed. Little by little, store by store, day by day, things change … and when you've been around as long as I have, it's even more amazing to go back and look at the photos you took thirty or forty years ago, and ask yourself, "Was it really like that back then? Seriously, did people really wear bell-bottom jeans?"
So, with the expectation that I'll be looking at these every-block photos five or ten years from now (and maybe you will be, too), I'm going to be doing my best to capture scenes that convey the sense that they were taken in the year 2013 … or at least sometime in the decade of the 2010's (I have no idea what we're calling this decade yet). Or maybe they'll just say to us, "This is what it was like a dozen years after 9-11".
Movie posters are a trivial example of such a time-specific image; I've already taken a bunch, and I don't know if I'll ultimately decide that they're worth uploading. Women's fashion/styles are another obvious example of a time-specific phenomenon; and even though I'm definitely not a fashion expert, I suspected that I'll be able to look at some images ten years from now and mutter to myself, "Did we really wear shirts like that? Did women really wear those weird skirts that are short in the front, and long in the back? Did everyone in New York have a tattoo?"
Another example: I'm fascinated by the interactions that people have with their cellphones out on the street. It seems that everyone has one, which certainly wasn't true a decade ago; and it seems that everyone walks down the street with their eyes and their entire conscious attention riveted on this little box-like gadget, utterly oblivious about anything else that might be going on (among other things, that makes it very easy for me to photograph them without their even noticing, particularly if they've also got earphones so they can listen to music or carry on a phone conversation). But I can't help wondering whether this kind of social behavior will seem bizarre a decade from now … especially if our cellphones have become so miniaturized that they're incorporated into the glasses we wear, or implanted directly into our eyeballs.
Oh, one last thing: I've created a customized Google Map to show the precise details of each day's photo-walk. I'll be updating it each day, and the most recent part of my every-block journey will be marked in red, to differentiate it from all of the older segments of the journey, which will be shown in blue. You can see the map, and peek at it each day to see where I've been, by clicking on this link
URL link to Ed's every-block progress through Manhattan
If you have any suggestions about places that I should definitely visit to get some good photos, or if you'd like me to photograph you in your little corner of New York City, please let me know. You can send me a Flickr-mail message, or you can email me directly at ed-at-yourdon-dot-com
Stay tuned as the photo-walk continues, block by block ...
(more details later, as time permits)
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In the spring of 2014, we came to Paris for a week of relaxed vacationing, mostly to wander around and see some old familiar places. It was a “return” trip for both of us, though in my case I think it’s probably been more than 15 years since I was even here on a business trip.
Business trips to any city don’t really count as a “visit” -- since they basically involve flying into a busy airport at night, taking a taxi to a generic business-traveler’s hotel (a Hilton in Paris looks just like a Hilton in Cairo), and then spending several days working in the hotel (if the purpose of the trip was a seminar or computer conference), or at a client’s office (also “generic” in most cases — you can’t even tell what floor you’re on when you get off the elevator, because every floor of “open office” layouts is the same). The trip usually ends in the late afternoon or evening of the final day, with a mad dash back to the airport to catch the last plane home to NYC. Thus, a business trip to Paris is almost indistinguishable from a business trip to Omaha. Or Albany. Or Tokyo.
But I did make a few “personal” visits to Paris in the 1970s and 1980s, so I looked forward to having the chance to walk through some familiar places along the Left Bank. I’m not so interested in museums, monuments, cathedrals, or other “official” tourist spots (but yes, I have been to the Eiffel Tower, just as I’ve been to the Empire State Building in NYC), so you won’t see any photos of those places in this Flickr set.
As a photographer, I now concentrate mostly on people and street scenes. The details of the location don’t matter much to me, though I do try to geotag my photos whenever I can. But for the most part, what you’ll see here are scenes of people and local things in Paris that made me smile as I walked around …]
A Aldeia da Mata Pequena é um pequeno povoado rural, composto por uma dezena de habitações, situado a escassos 30 minutos da cidade de Lisboa. Tão perto da capital e tão longe do stress e do bulício urbano...
Trata-se de um lugar enquadrado na denominada Zona de Protecção Especial do Penedo do Lexim onde se ergue um vulcão já extinto que acolhe uma importante estação arqueológica. O vôo dominante da águia e o esgueirar furtivo da raposa, contracenam com uma paisagem natural extremamente rica e preservada, convidando ao descanso, ao lazer e ao contacto com a natureza. HISTÓRIA... E HISTÓRIAS DE OUTROS TEMPOS A presença humana na Mata Pequena remonta ao periodo da ocupação romana, como atestam os vestígios aí encontrados. Contudo, dos 70 habitantes que viviam na aldeia no século XIX, já só restam uma dezena e meia que teimam em manter vivos os usos e costumes de outrora. TRADIÇÃO...
UMA IDENTIDADE FORTEMENTE VINCADA Esquecida no tempo, a Aldeia da Mata Pequena beneficiou do seu isolamento, que evitou intervenções menos "esclarecidas", descaracterizadoras da sua autenticidade. Deste modo, como que despertando de um longo periodo de hibernação, a Mata Pequena afirma-se hoje como um dos raros exemplares da Arquitectura Tradicional da Região Saloia mantendo fortemente vincada a sua identidade original. COM RIGOR ... RECUPERANDO O PASSADO O trabalho de recuperação das casas foi exaustivo e gratificante. A conjugação entre o conhecimento técnico e o respeito pelo passado permitiu executar uma intervenção rigorosa e harmoniosa.
Os materiais utilizados são os originais: alvenaria de pedra, argamassas de cal, madeiramentos de choupo, cedro e casquinha, telha de canudo, pavimentos em lajedo de pedra, tijoleira cozida em fornos a lenha, caiação de paredes...
Estas soluções, para além de assegurarem a coerência estética do conjunto, garantem um bom comportamento ao nível das condições de habitabilidade. RESPEITAR A ALMA DE OUTROS TEMPOS Elementos tradicionais tais como capoeiras, poços, currais, cortes de porco, pombais... foram preservados, assim como os fornos, as salgadeiras, os poiais, entre outros.
A Decoração dos interiores segue os mesmos padrões de rigor, conferindo às casas a alma de outros tempos. www.aldeiadamatapequena.com/aboutmatapequena.html
NOTE: You are not permitted to use this image for any purposes without contacting me first.
The private course built by jeweller Michael Hill will host the Open for the next three years in a deal that will be music to the ears of the sport's stakeholders.
After losing almost $1.2 million in two years, and four days after revealing a $695,472 loss on the 2006 edition of the Open, New Zealand Golf has handed over the financial risk or reward of the event to Australian promoter Tuohy Associates NZ. European and Australasian co-sanctioning will be retained, but already the balance sheet looks brighter for what will be New Zealand's 100th national open.
Hill has generously waved the six-figure venue fee that had been attached to Gulf Harbour and Bob Tuohy has already predicted this year's event will break even.
But while there can be no doubt the first South Island Open since 1985 has the potential to restore the tournament's tarnished image, and NZG's balance sheet, there will be some uncertainty about the venue.
Hill is the sole member of his private Arrowtown course and aside from his close friends and a small group of New Zealand's top players, few have played the course.
Recently completed after five years in the making, it will have no track record come November, but Turner, a former European PGA professional, said any concerns were unfounded.
"I went and had a hit with Michael (Hill) a few weeks ago and I can tell you it's a true championship course. It's going to be a real test," he said yesterday. "It's difficult, there's lots of water, lots of tussock and undulating greens."
Turner said it would provide the players with a unique challenge and believed it would draw good crowds despite being outside Auckland for the first time since 2002.
"I can't think of anything like it in New Zealand. It's unusual. It's a lot of rock out crops and tussock grass. I think it will be a really good venue. I think a lot of people will come. The Queenstown area is rising right now, but also I think people will come from Invercargill and Dunedin and possibly from Christchurch as well."
Hill said there had been enough feedback to allay any fears the course would not meet PGA standards.
"All the top New Zealand players have had a crack. Phil Tataurangi was first and he gave a lot of advice, then Greg Turner in the early stages too."
Their main advice had been to lengthen the course to combat technology, but they had been more than happy with the layout, he said.
"One hole is over 600 yards all up hill into the wind, so it will be quite a challenge."
Hill said it was a "thinking man's course" with many holes providing players with two options.
"You can go over the bunker, which is harder, but you get a kick down the hill. Several holes are split in two where you can go for the green over waterways or vile swamps, or go around the fairway, which is longer, but more conservative."
He had no plans to host any other tournaments on the course and believed the "curiosity value" created by keeping it closed to the public would enhance the appeal of the Open.
The 2007 tournament will be held from 29 November to 2 December, following the co-sanctioned MasterCard Masters in Melbourne with Kiwi No1 Michael Campbell the official tournament ambassador.
It will be up to Campbell, Tuohy and Hill to leverage Queenstown's tourist appeal to both players and the pubic alike. If successful, New Zealand's premier golf tournament could again become a jewel in the country's sporting crown.
[text courtesy The Dominion Post]
NOTE: You are not permitted to use this image for any purposes without contacting me first.
Construction permits - but no demoliton permit - have been issued for the 1941 house, which sold for $1.025 million in May 2020. The three-story residence will contain five units. The house was owned by the founder of a nearby restaurant, who passed away in May 2021.
(more details later, as time permits)
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About a year ago, I created Flickr album for photos that I had started taking with my iPhone5s; and now I’m creating a new Flickr album for photos that I’ve begun taking with myiPhone6, which just arrived from T-Mobile this morning.
In last year’s album, I wrote, "Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s hard to walk around with a modern smartphone in your pocket, and not be tempted to use the built-in camera from time-to-time. Veteran photographers typically sneer at such behavior, and most will tell you that they can instantly recognize an iPhone photo, which they mentally reject as being unworthy of any serious attention.
"After using many earlier models of smartphones over the past several years, I was inclined to agree; after all, I always (well, almost always) had a “real” camera in my pocket (or backpack or camera-bag), and it was always capable of taking a much better photographic image than the mediocre, grainy images shot with a camera-phone.
"But still … there were a few occasions when I desperately wanted to capture some photo-worthy event taking place right in front of me, and inevitably it turned out to be the times when I did not have the “real” camera with me. Or I did have it, but it was buried somewhere in a bag, and I knew that the “event” would have disappeared by the time I found the “real" camera and turned it on. By contrast, the smart-phone was always in my pocket (along with my keys and my wallet, it’s one of the three things I consciously grab every time I walk out the door). And I often found that I could turn it on, point it at the photographic scene, and take the picture much faster than I could do the same thing with a “traditional” camera.
"Meanwhile, smartphone cameras have gotten substantially better in the past few years, from a mechanical/hardware perspective; and the software “intelligence” controlling the camera has become amazingly sophisticated. It’s still not on the same level as a “professional” DSLR camera, but for a large majority of the “average” photographic situations we’re likely to encounter in the unplanned moments of our lives, it’s more and more likely to be “good enough.” The old adage of “the best camera is the one you have with you” is more and more relevant these days. For me, 90% of the success in taking a good photo is simply being in the right place at the right time, being aware that the “photo opportunity” is there, and having a camera — any camera — to take advantage of that opportunity. Only 10% of the time does it matter which camera I’m using, or what technical features I’ve managed to use.
"And now, with the recent advent of the iPhone5s, there is one more improvement — which, as far as I can tell, simply does not exist in any of the “professional” cameras. You can take an unlimited number of “burst-mode” shots with the new iPhone, simply by keeping your finger on the shutter button; instead of being limited to just six (as a few of the DSLR cameras currently offer), you can take 10, 20, or even a hundred shots. And then — almost magically — the iPhone will show you which one or two of the large burst of photos was optimally sharp and clear. With a couple of clicks, you can then delete everything else, and retain only the very best one or two from the entire burst.
"With that in mind, I’ve begun using my iPhone5s for more and more “everyday” photo situations out on the street. Since I’m typically photographing ordinary, mundane events, even the one or two “optimal” shots that the camera-phone retains might not be worth showing anyone else … so there is still a lot of pruning and editing to be done, and I’m lucky if 10% of those “optimal” shots are good enough to justify uploading to Flickr and sharing with the rest of the world. Still, it’s an enormous benefit to know that my editing work can begin with photos that are more-or-less “technically” adequate, and that I don’t have to waste even a second reviewing dozens of technically-mediocre shots that are fuzzy, or blurred.
"Oh, yeah, one other minor benefit of the iPhone5s (and presumably most other current brands of smartphone): it automatically geotags every photo and video, without any special effort on the photographer’s part. Only one of my other big, fat cameras (the Sony Alpha SLT A65) has that feature, and I’ve noticed that almost none of the “new” mirrorless cameras have got a built-in GPS thingy that will perform the geotagging...
"I’ve had my iPhone5s for a couple of months now, but I’ve only been using the “burst-mode” photography feature aggressively for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the initial batch of photos that I’m uploading are all taken in the greater-NYC area. But as time goes on, and as my normal travel routine takes me to other parts of the world, I hope to add more and more “everyday” scenes in cities that I might not have the opportunity to photograph in a “serious” way.
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Okay, so now it’s September of 2014, and I’ve got the iPhone 6. They say that the camera is better, and that the internal camera-related hardware/firmware/software is better, too. Obviously, I’ve got the newer iOS, too, and even on the “old” phones, it now supports time-lapse videos along with everything else.
I’ve still got my pocket camera (an amazing little Sony ERX-100 Mark III), and two larger cameras (Sony RX-10, and Sony A7), but I have a feeling that I won’t even be taking them out of the camera bag when I’m out on the street for ordinary day-to-day walking around.
That will depend, obviously, on what kind of photos and videos the iPhone6 is actually capable of taking … so I’m going to try to use it every day, and see what the results look like …
Like I said last year, “stay tuned…"
flickriver.com/photos/javier1949/popular-interesting/
Nave 16 (espacio de exposiciones)
Arquitectos: Alejandro Vírseda, José Ignacio Carnicero e Ignacio Vila Almazán, 2011
Un versátil espacio expositivo de más de cuatro mil metros cuadrados, capaz de acoger grandes proyectos multidisciplinares, cuya rehabilitación ha sido finalista de los premios FAD de arquitectura 2012. El espacio puede ser fácilmente dividido en módulos independientes separados por grandes paneles de acero y permitir así la programación de contenidos de forma simultánea: proyecciones, grandes exposiciones, conciertos, talleres de producción de obra, charlas, propuestas escénicas o actividades sociales. El proyecto transforma la nave en un gran espacio expositivo versátil y polivalente, que puede funcionar como la mayor sala de exposiciones, instalaciones o actividades de artes vivas de Madrid o como un conjunto de espacios independientes de menor tamaño (hasta 5 salas). Esta flexibilidad se logra mediante la introducción en los dos espacios de doble altura de unos recintos de puertas de dos alturas, concebidos como una gran instalación efímera que contrasta con el carácter tectónico e imperecedero de la envolvente arquitectónica de la nave. Estas puertas, que garantizan mediante sencillos giros la total polivalencia del espacio interior de la nave, dotan igualmente a los mismos de la versatilidad lumínica y ambiental requerida en cada uno de los espacios según las características de la actividad realizada (Las instalaciones del edificio también han sido sectorizadas para colaborar con esta versatilidad espacial). El material utilizado para realizar estas cajas de puertas es el acero, cuyo cromatismo contrasta con la superficie interior de los paramentos de la envolvente, caracterizándose así, de modo particular los dos espacios en doble altura de la nave. Cuando las puertas se abran los paramentos puros y herméticos de la caja oscura desaparecen, apareciendo la envolvente actual con su característica estructura de finos perfiles metálicos. El estrecho cuerpo adosado a la nave en su fachada hacia el río Manzanares alberga las dotaciones de servicio.
MATADERO MADRID - CENTRO DE CREACIÓN CONTEMPORÁNEA Antiguos Matadero y Mercado Municipal de Ganados
Pº de la Chopera, 2 a 14 C/V a Pza. de Legazpi 8, Vado de Santa Catalina y Av. del Manzanares. Madrid.
Actuación inicial: Luis Bellido González, arquitecto y José Eugenio Ribera Autaste, ingeniero. 1910 (Proyecto) 1910-1925 (Obras).
Matadero de aves y gallinas: Luis Bellido González y Francisco Javier Ferrero Llusiá: 1926 (Proyecto) 1932-1933 (Obras).
Acondicionamiento de la Casa del Reloj, Nave de Terneras y pabellones de acceso para Junta Municipal del Distrito de Arganzuela y salas culturales y deportivas: Rafael Fernández-Rañada Gándara: 1983 (Proyecto) 1983-1984 (Obras).
Rehabilitación de la “nave de patatas” para Invernadero-Palacio de Cristal, antiguo parque del matadero y consolidación estructural de naves del recinto sur: Guillermo Costa Pérez-Herrero: 1990 (Proyecto) 1990-1992 (Obras).
Adaptación de naves para sedes del Ballet Nacional y Compañía Nacional de Danza: Antonio Fernández-Alba y José Luis Castillo-Puche Figueira 1990 (Proyecto) 1993-1999 (Obras)
Vestíbulo y Espacio Intermediae. (nave 17c) Arquitectos Arturo Franco y Fabrice Van Teslaar en colaboración con el arquitecto de interiores Diego Castellanos 2006-07
Naves del Español (naves 10, 11 y 12) Arquitectos Emilio Esteras 2007-10 y Justo Benito 2009-10
Central de Diseño (nave 17) Arquitecto José Antonio García Roldán 2007
Taller y Oficina de Coordinación (parte de la nave 8) Arquitecto Arturo Franco 2010
Calle y Plaza Matadero Arquitectos Ginés Garrido, Carlos Rubio y Fernando Porras 2011
ESCARAVOX Andrés Jaque Arquitectos 2012
Depósito de especies y nuevo acceso por Legazpi. BCP Ingenieros -Luis Benito Olmeda y Francisco Calderón- con María Langarita y Víctor Navarro arquitectos. 2011
Nave 16 Arquitectos: Alejandro Vírseda, José Ignacio Carnicero e Ignacio Vila Almazán, 2011
Nave de Música (Nave 15) Arquitectos: María Langarita y Víctor Navarro, en colaboración con el diseñador mexicano Jerónimo Hagerman, 2011
Cineteca y Cantina Archivo Documenta (nave 17 c, d, e y f) Arquitectos: José María Churtichaga y Cayetana de la Quadra Salcedo 2011
Casa del Lector. Centro Internacional para la Investigación, el Desarrollo y la Difusión de la Lectura de la Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez. (naves 13 y 14, 17b y tres crujías de la nave 17. Arquitecto Antón García Abril. Diseño gráfico y señalización: Alberto Corazón. Interiorismo Jesús Moreno y Asociados 2012
El arquitecto Joaquín Saldaña resulta ganador del concurso convocado por el Ayuntamiento de Madrid el año 1899 para la realización de los nuevos matadero y mercado municipal de ganados en la Dehesa de La Arganzuela, junto al Manzanares, si bien, finalmente las obras se realizan de acuerdo con el proyecto redactado en 1910 por Luis Bellido, arquitecto de propiedades del Ayuntamiento, con la colaboración de J. Eugenio Ribera, ingeniero de reconocido prestigio. El conjunto arquitectónico se compone de 48 edificios agrupados en cinco sectores de producción: dirección y administración, matadero, mercado de abastos, mercado de trabajo y sección sanitaria, cuenta además con viviendas para el personal y capilla; también de sistema de circulaciones y ferrocarril propios... una autentica ciudad laboral.
Sigue el sistema alemán de pabellones aislados, relacionados por medio de viales y presididos por un edificio administrativo, la "Casa del Reloj" situado sobre el eje principal de la composición. Por sus características arquitectónicas y por su escala es uno de los conjuntos edificados más significativos de Madrid. Se advierte en él una unidad estilística y constructiva derivada del uso racional en sus fábricas de tres materiales esenciales ladrillo, mampostería y cerámica, y una cuidadosa introducción de elementos metálicos en la estructura; además de otros aspectos significativos como el empleo de un lenguaje de inspiración neomudéjar muy atenuado, habitual en la arquitectura industrial de la época. El matadero de Madrid sirve de modelo para la construcción en España de este tipo de edificios.
Para el crítico González Amezqueta "Es un ejemplo de gran calidad de arquitectura industrial perfectamente insertado en los procedimientos del ladrillo, con derivaciones hacia el neomudéjar. La mecánica funcional de los procesos laborales no impide discretas acentuaciones ornamentales, ya que todo el proceso constructivo es estrictamente artesanal, con predominio de las técnicas fabricadas del ladrillo en las partes más acertadas".
En 1926, en zona próxima al Vado de Santa Catalina, proyecta Bellido el matadero de gallinas y aves, siendo realizadas las obras, entre 1932 y 1933, bajo la dirección de Francisco Javier Ferrero con la introducción de una clara y cuidada estructura de hormigón pionera en la ciudad y en la que reside uno de sus valores principales.
A partir de 1940 se llevan a cabo diferentes remodelaciones y ampliaciones, entre ellas la de la nave de patatas, el pabellón de autopsias y los abrevaderos.
En la década de 1980, perdida su función original, el Departamento de Conservación de Edificios del Ayuntamiento comienza la rehabilitación sistemática de los edificios del conjunto para su uso como contenedores de actividades culturales, sociales, deportivas y administrativas propias del Ayuntamiento; primero bajo la dirección de Rafael Fernández-Rañada, que acondiciona la Casa del Reloj para Junta Municipal del Distrito de Arganzuela y la nave de terneras para sala cultural y deportiva, y después, de Guillermo Costa que realiza el Palacio de Cristal (rehabilitación de la nave de patatas para invernadero) y el parque del matadero, con la colaboración del ingeniero, también municipal, M. Ángel Martínez Lucio.
Desde 1996 Costa continúa la consolidación estructural de fachadas y cubiertas de 7 naves del recinto sur, sin un uso predeterminado y en distintas fases, a la espera de la realización del proyecto para su adecuación a nuevas actividades de carácter cultural, comercial o de ocio. Finalmente, el conjunto edificado se incluye en el catálogo de bienes a conservar dentro del Plan General de Ordenación Urbana de 1997.
En el extremo norte parte de las antiguas naves de estabulación son cedidas al Instituto Nacional de Artes Escénicas y de la Música (INAEM) para establecer en ellas las sedes del Ballet Nacional de España y de la Compañía Nacional de Danza, según proyecto de Fernández Alba y Castillo-Puche, concluyéndose las obras de adaptación en 1999.
En 2005 se aprueba la modificación del Plan Especial de Intervención, Adecuación Arquitectónica y Control Urbanístico-Ambiental de Usos del recinto del antiguo matadero municipal, que incrementa el uso cultural hasta el 75% del total.
A partir de 2006 el Ayuntamiento se plantea rehabilitar en distintas fases, mediante proyectos derivados de concursos de arquitectura, este inmenso contenedor de casi 150.000 m2, para albergar multitud de eventos y encuentros, fomentando la creatividad de artistas de múltiples especialidades. El conjunto se convierte en un núcleo de actividad cultural que alberga las más importantes citas de la ciudad. Así, se inician actuaciones para convertir el recinto en centro de apoyo a la creación, en campo de experimentación de la nueva arquitectura, pero siguiendo los criterios de intervención del Plan Especial, que establece la preservación de la envolvente de las naves. La línea maestra que ha guiado las intervenciones es la reversibilidad, de modo que los edificios pueden ser fácilmente devueltos a su estado original. Las actuaciones mantienen expresamente las huellas del pasado para reforzar el carácter experimental de las nuevas instituciones que alojan. Se ha buscado el equilibrio entre el respeto máximo al espacio, y una dotación específica, que lo distinga, a través del uso limitado de materiales industriales directos y que, al mismo tiempo, dé servicio a los diferentes usos que pueda albergar.
En 2012, tras la visita del jurado de los premios FAD a Matadero Madrid, decidió reconocer la labor en conjunto de todos los arquitectos que han participado en el proceso de reforma. El fallo valora “tanto la actitud global de la propuesta, que apuesta de una forma valiente por la experimentación y el respeto a los espacios de libertad gestionados desde la sociedad civil, como la conceptualización del proyecto, desde su inicio en el 2007 con la rehabilitación del vestíbulo y el espacio Intermediae, hasta las recientes intervenciones de la Nave 16 y la Nave de Música finalistas en la presente edición de los Premios FAD”. Así mismo, el jurado destacó de Matadero Madrid “la inteligencia colectiva, la unidad que le viene inferida por la arquitectura industrial preexistente, y que con un mínimo de protagonismo exterior de las nuevas intervenciones, en el interior resuelve con rigor y autenticidad las diversas necesidades del extenso programa del centro, buscando no sólo mantener los espacios arquitectónicos y formas estructurales, sino también el carácter, la atmósfera y sobre todo el irrepetible paso del tiempo”.
Ese mismo año el Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid otorgó uno de sus premios a las intervenciones en la Cineteca y Archivo Documenta, y en la Nave 16. Por último, destaca la interconexión de Matadero Madrid y Madrid Río mediante la urbanización de los espacios públicos -Calle y Plaza Matadero- por el mismo equipo de arquitectos -Ginés Garrido, Carlos Rubio y Fernando Porras- que proyectó Madrid Río. Está previsto además que dicha conexión, gracias a dos nuevos accesos, se amplíe entre diciembre de 2012 y julio de 2013. Madrid Río ha recibido, entre otros premios, el International Architecture Award 2012 del Chicago Athenaeum of Architecture and Design y el European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, el Premio de Diseño Urbano y Paisajismo Internacional otorgado por el Comité de Críticos de Arquitectura CICA, en el marco de la XIII Bienal de Buenos Aires; o el Premio FAD de Ciudad y Paisaje 2012, entre otros galardones.
(More details later, as time permits)
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This is a continuation of a Flickr set that I started in the summer of 2009, and continued in 2010 (in this Flickr set), 2011 (in this Flickr set), 2012 (in this Flickr set), and 2013 (in this Flickr set). As I noted in those earlier sets of photos, I still have many parts of New York City left to explore -- but I've also realized that I don't always have to go looking elsewhere for interesting photographs. Some of it is available just outside my front door.
I live on a street corner on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where there's an express stop on the IRT subway line, as well as a crosstown bus stop, an entrance to the West Side Highway, and the usual range of banks, delis, grocery stores, mobile-phone stores, drug-stores, McDonald’s, Two Boots Pizza, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Subway, 7-11, and other commercial enterprises. As a result, there are lots of interesting people moving past my apartment building, all day and all night long.
It's easy to find an unobtrusive spot on the edge of the median strip separating the east side of Broadway from the west side; nobody pays any attention to me as they cross the street from east to west, and nobody even looks in my direction as they cross from north to south (or vice versa). In rainy weather, sometimes I huddle under an awning of the T-Mobile phone store on the corner, so I can take pictures of people under their umbrellas, without getting my camera and myself soaking wet...
So, these are some of the people I thought were photo-worthy during the past few weeks and months; I'll add more to the collection as the year progresses ... unless, of course, other parts of New York City turn out to be more compelling from time to time.
(more details later, as time permits)
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I love to stroll along Riverside Park, on the western edge of Manhattan by the Hudson River, during almost any season of the year (and you can see the photographic results in this Flickr collection). However, I've never been south of 70th Street nor north of 125th Street on these strolls -- even though I know the park extends all the way up to the George Washington Bridge, a couple miles further north.
Actually, it had not been possible to walk the entire distance between 70th and 125th, at least not right along the river, because there was a section between 82nd and 96th Street that had once been a very narrow, rough, rutted footpath between the river and the ever-busy West Side Highway ... until the New York Parks Department decided to close it off and build a properly paved, somewhat wider, pathway for bicyclists, skaters, joggers, and people just out strolling along, like me. Of course, it took the Parks Department a couple years longer than originally planned, and after a while, nobody paid any attention to the signs indicating that they were definitely going to be finished this spring ... no, this summer ... no, well, maybe this fall.
But then, all of a sudden, they did finish ... and word circulated around the Upper West Side that it would be officially opened, thus connecting "Riverside Park South" with "Riverside Park North," sometime just before Memorial Day weekend. So we decided to check it out, starting with a nice lunch at an outdoor cafe at the base of the pier that extends out into the Hudson River at 70th Street.
After lunch, I was planning to walk north and check out the new pathway ... but first, there was an old abandoned freight elevator at the edge of the water, which I decided I should photograph. It was just to the south of the 70th-Street cafe, and after taking the photos, I looked a little further south, and saw that there was a broad pathway, carefully mowed grass, and lots of people strolling ... where? further south!
So I followed the path, and found that it expanded into a complex web of sidewalks, mini-gardens, mini-piers jutting out into the river, wooden-slat chairs, picnic benches, and boardwalks leading through wild grass and flowers that had been carefully planted. All of this continued, block after block after block, down below the elevated West Side Highway, all the way down to 59th Street. And it turns out that that is where "Riverside Park South" actually starts.
So that's where most of the photos in this set were actually taken. There are some strange sights along the way, because the whole area used to be occupied by working piers that loaded and unloaded ships filled with freight and cargo, on and off railroads that snaked their way along the west side of Manhattan. But as ship-borne cargo was gradually replaced by truck, rail, and air cargo, the piers and docks gradually fell into disuse; and when the Penn Central Railroad went bankrupt, they really fell into disuse.
It turns out that there was a massive fire along this area back in June of 1971 (a time when I lived in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, and was more-or-less oblivious to what was going on in Manhattan), and the fire was so hot that it melted and warped the steel girders of many of the docks, cranes, and loading structures. When the whole area was renovated recently (apparently part of a required "civic contribution" by Donald Trump when he acquired the rights to build condos and apartment buildings along the stretch of the far West Side of Manhattan, from 72nd Street to the mid-60s), the city planners initially intended to remove all of the old twisted metal and rotting wooden piers. But local civic groups prevailed upon the city to leave some of it intact, as a reminder of what was there before... I could go on with more details, but you can check it out for yourself here on Wikipedia.
Anyway, I eventually strolled back to my starting point at 70th Street, and then up to 82nd Street, and finally along the newly-opened pathway connecting the southern stretch of park with the northern section that starts at 96th Street. Alas, it turned out to be utterly boring: absolutely straight, with a northbound bike lane, a southbound bike lane, a thick garish yellow line dividing the two, and a narrow 3-foot path by the railing for pedestrians to creep along. No benches, no tables, no mini-piers jutting out into the river; no curves, no artistic flair, no flowers, no grass, no nothing. You can see for yourself in the final two or three photos in this set ...
But all in all, it was a pleasant afternoon. One of these days, I'll go back down to Riverside Park South around sunset, and see if I can get some good pictures of the sun disappearing into the smoggy haze of New Jersey, across the water...
(more details later, as time permits)
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I’ve been to Venice once or twice for brief business trips during my life, which had the same characteristics as the business trips I described in a separate Flickr album about Paris — i.e., they basically involve flying into a busy airport at night, taking a taxi to a generic business-traveler’s hotel (a Hilton in Venice looks just like a Hilton in Cairo,except perhaps for the canal outside the main entrance), and then spending several days working in the hotel (if the purpose of the trip was a seminar or computer conference), or at a client’s office (also “generic” in most cases — you can’t even tell what floor you’re on when you get off the elevator, because every floor of “open office” layouts is the same). The trip usually ends in the late afternoon or evening of the final day, with a mad dash back to the airport to catch the last plane home to NYC. Thus, a business trip to Venice is almost indistinguishable from a business trip to Omaha. Or Albany. Or Tokyo.
But Venice is different from almost any other place in the world, and I’ve had a couple of vacation trips to experience that side of the city. But it’s been a long, long time: the first such visit was back in 1976 (which you can see here on Flickr), and the second visit was in 1983 (pictures of which do exist on Flickr, but have been restricted to family-only access, since they consist mostly of boring pictures of drooling babies and kids sticking their collective tongues out at me).
Thirty years is a long time between visits … but for a city like Venice, I doubt that very much has changed. Well, perhaps there wasn’t a McDonald’s outlet in Venice when I first came here (and I did photograph one such outlet on this current visit, which you’ll find in this album), and you can certainly guarantee that people weren’t walking around with cellphones and smartphones the way they are today. And while the tourists typically did have cameras back in the good-old-days, they were typically modest little “Instamatic” film-based gadgets, rather than the big, garish, DSLR cameras that everyone now seems to carry around with them, complete with advertising logos all over the camera-straps and bodies to remind you that they, too, can afford to buy an expensive Canon or Nikon gadget that they really don’t know how to use properly. (Sorry, I got carried away there …)
But the buildings, and the people, and the canals, and the gondolas … all of that is the same. And that’s what I’ve tried to capture in this set of photos. The tourist crowds are now so thick (even in May!) that I didn’t even bother going to the square at San Marco, and I didn’t bother taking any photos from the Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal; but you will see some photos of tourists in this album, along with photos of the local people who are still here …
I don’t expect to come back to Venice again in the next year or two … but if it turns out to be 20 or 30 years before my next return, I suspect it will all look pretty much exactly the same as it did on this trip, and in 1983, and when I first saw it in 1976.
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(more details later, as time permits)
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Virtually everyone in America, as well as millions of other people around the world, know that Thanksgiving is one of the main occasions for organizing a huge parade.
It’s especially true in New York City, where I live — hundreds of parade workers converge on a one-block stretch between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West on 77th Street on the night before Thanksgiving to assemble the floats, and pump the huge balloons full of helium, so they’ll be ready to go the next morning. The parade itself lasts for hours, and stretches all the way down Central Park West and Broadway, and ultimately through Herald Square and past the main entrance to Macy’s on 34th Street. The whole thing is televised for the benefit of viewers all around the world, with TV commentators and an endless procession of marching bands, baton-twirlers, singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians, Broadway actors, and other forms of entertainment…
While New York City may be the only example of a Thanksgiving-Day parade that people around the world actually see on their TV screen, it’s definitely not the only such parade that takes place in this country. I’m sure that every big city has its own version of the turkey-day parade, as do most of the medium-size cities, and quite a few smaller towns and villages, too. They may not be visible on television, but a lot of local citizens and visitors turn out to watch such parades, if only because their sons and daughters are typically marching in the high-school bands that form a big part of the event.
On this particular occasion — in November of 2013 — I happened to be in one such medium-size city, where the parade took place on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It was in Portland, Oregon where we were spending the holiday period with one of our sons and his family; the parade took place in the “Pearl District” of downtown Portland … and, to our amazement, we were able to park our car about a block from the parade route, and walk right up to the corner (at Davis St and NW Park, if you want to track it down on Google Maps) where all of the bands and floats and costumed marchers walked by. In fact, I was able to take the “parade experience” even one step further: the people were friendly enough, and the security was light enough, that I was able to walk right out into the middle of the street with my camera, to photograph the floats and bands and marchers as they approached me … scampering out of the way only at the last moment.
Admittedly, Portland is a much bigger city than a tiny village of a thousand people somewhere in the midwest … but it still felt like “small town America” to me, and it was a great spectacle to watch. I got the impression that many of the visitors and observers standing along the street actually knew the people marching past them … and in any case, the marchers laughed and smiled and walked right up to us, handing out little pieces of candy to all of the children. Maybe next year I’ll go looking for a really small Thanksgiving parade in one of those tiny midwest-America villages, before retreating back to the Big Apple to watch the spectacle of thousands of marchers parading past millions of observers, and a TV audience of tens of millions …
I wish that I had taken some video clips of the parade, because the sounds and the music and the motion were a big part of what we experienced. But for better or worse, all I took was a bunch of traditional still photos. Actually, I took a LOT of still photos — nearly a thousand, altogether — but I’ve winnowed the collection down to 50 “keepers” that I hope will give you a sense of what Thanksgiving is all about…
Actually, if you live anywhere besides New York City here in the U S of A, you already know what Thanksgiving is all about, at least to the extent that it’s symbolized by the parade. But for those of us who spend most our time in New York City, it was a very pleasant experience indeed. After an hour, it was all over; we walked back to our car a block away, and drove back to our son’s house … and a day later, we were back in New York City. And thus ended another Thanksgiving holiday, at least until 2014.
Only a minute and a half (as permitted by flickr) of fairly average video, but one which aught to be of some interest to our Portuguese friends and indeed anyone who enjoys scenic narrow gauge railways.
The Metre gauge Tua Valley line was the most easterly of the three surviving narrow gauge tributaries to the main Douro Valley line which just about made it into the 21st century. In recent times it ran from it's interchange through some initially spectacular scenery to a truncated terminus at Mirandela.
As local roads improved with the aid of EU cash at a similar time to CP (Portuguese Railways) feeling the financial pinch, the line ... and indeed all three, were unceremoniously closed.
This little video piece was recorded in the late 1990s when the meagre service was loco hauled using two or three coaches and a 1000hp Alsthom built Bo-Bo Diesel Electric. In the last days, it became the province of a single railcar.
Such was the carefree attitude which prevailed in Portugal at the time, I was able to film away from the open vestibule door whilst my travelling companion held onto my collar! I'd expected we might be in bother when it came time for a ticket check, but a quick glance from the guard at ours and away he went leaving us to do as we pleased. The line and particularly the trip up this spectacular gorge is much lamented ... Such a potential tourist draw in 90% of other EU countries would have ensured the operation would have had a secure future in that sector, but sadly, not in Portugal.
(more details later, as time permits)
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About a year ago, I created Flickr album for photos that I had started taking with my iPhone5s; and now I’m creating a new Flickr album for photos that I’ve begun taking with myiPhone6, which just arrived from T-Mobile this morning.
In last year’s album, I wrote, "Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s hard to walk around with a modern smartphone in your pocket, and not be tempted to use the built-in camera from time-to-time. Veteran photographers typically sneer at such behavior, and most will tell you that they can instantly recognize an iPhone photo, which they mentally reject as being unworthy of any serious attention.
"After using many earlier models of smartphones over the past several years, I was inclined to agree; after all, I always (well, almost always) had a “real” camera in my pocket (or backpack or camera-bag), and it was always capable of taking a much better photographic image than the mediocre, grainy images shot with a camera-phone.
"But still … there were a few occasions when I desperately wanted to capture some photo-worthy event taking place right in front of me, and inevitably it turned out to be the times when I did not have the “real” camera with me. Or I did have it, but it was buried somewhere in a bag, and I knew that the “event” would have disappeared by the time I found the “real" camera and turned it on. By contrast, the smart-phone was always in my pocket (along with my keys and my wallet, it’s one of the three things I consciously grab every time I walk out the door). And I often found that I could turn it on, point it at the photographic scene, and take the picture much faster than I could do the same thing with a “traditional” camera.
"Meanwhile, smartphone cameras have gotten substantially better in the past few years, from a mechanical/hardware perspective; and the software “intelligence” controlling the camera has become amazingly sophisticated. It’s still not on the same level as a “professional” DSLR camera, but for a large majority of the “average” photographic situations we’re likely to encounter in the unplanned moments of our lives, it’s more and more likely to be “good enough.” The old adage of “the best camera is the one you have with you” is more and more relevant these days. For me, 90% of the success in taking a good photo is simply being in the right place at the right time, being aware that the “photo opportunity” is there, and having a camera — any camera — to take advantage of that opportunity. Only 10% of the time does it matter which camera I’m using, or what technical features I’ve managed to use.
"And now, with the recent advent of the iPhone5s, there is one more improvement — which, as far as I can tell, simply does not exist in any of the “professional” cameras. You can take an unlimited number of “burst-mode” shots with the new iPhone, simply by keeping your finger on the shutter button; instead of being limited to just six (as a few of the DSLR cameras currently offer), you can take 10, 20, or even a hundred shots. And then — almost magically — the iPhone will show you which one or two of the large burst of photos was optimally sharp and clear. With a couple of clicks, you can then delete everything else, and retain only the very best one or two from the entire burst.
"With that in mind, I’ve begun using my iPhone5s for more and more “everyday” photo situations out on the street. Since I’m typically photographing ordinary, mundane events, even the one or two “optimal” shots that the camera-phone retains might not be worth showing anyone else … so there is still a lot of pruning and editing to be done, and I’m lucky if 10% of those “optimal” shots are good enough to justify uploading to Flickr and sharing with the rest of the world. Still, it’s an enormous benefit to know that my editing work can begin with photos that are more-or-less “technically” adequate, and that I don’t have to waste even a second reviewing dozens of technically-mediocre shots that are fuzzy, or blurred.
"Oh, yeah, one other minor benefit of the iPhone5s (and presumably most other current brands of smartphone): it automatically geotags every photo and video, without any special effort on the photographer’s part. Only one of my other big, fat cameras (the Sony Alpha SLT A65) has that feature, and I’ve noticed that almost none of the “new” mirrorless cameras have got a built-in GPS thingy that will perform the geotagging...
"I’ve had my iPhone5s for a couple of months now, but I’ve only been using the “burst-mode” photography feature aggressively for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the initial batch of photos that I’m uploading are all taken in the greater-NYC area. But as time goes on, and as my normal travel routine takes me to other parts of the world, I hope to add more and more “everyday” scenes in cities that I might not have the opportunity to photograph in a “serious” way.
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Okay, so now it’s September of 2014, and I’ve got the iPhone 6. They say that the camera is better, and that the internal camera-related hardware/firmware/software is better, too. Obviously, I’ve got the newer iOS, too, and even on the “old” phones, it now supports time-lapse videos along with everything else.
I’ve still got my pocket camera (an amazing little Sony ERX-100 Mark III), and two larger cameras (Sony RX-10, and Sony A7), but I have a feeling that I won’t even be taking them out of the camera bag when I’m out on the street for ordinary day-to-day walking around.
That will depend, obviously, on what kind of photos and videos the iPhone6 is actually capable of taking … so I’m going to try to use it every day, and see what the results look like …
Like I said last year, “stay tuned…"
Notice
A Permit Has Been Issued
within
Forest Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
to A.L. Singletary of LaTouche, Alaska
Authorizing the Exclusive use of the Following Described Land with the Chugach National Forest for the purpose of Propagating Fur-Bearing Animals.
Danger. I,
May 3, 1822
W. J. McDonald, Forest Manager
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In response to the Congressional budget debacle which proved that DC is but a colony -- prone to being singled out unlike any other city in the country -- a number of activists, elected officials, and general citizens came out in force upon the grounds of Capitol Hill.
The crowd first formed on the sidewalk, but after some opening remarks by elected officials and activists: they quickly spilled into the street. The Capitol Police had been on hand & I'd thought it amusing that a couple were taking photos & videos... it wasn't until I saw the wristbands come out when I realised these weren't officers enjoying the moment; they were recording evidence.
With many minutes of warning, large portions of the group shifted over the sidewalk; whilst a core of dedicated supporters -- including our Mayor, a number of councilmembers, and members of DC Vote -- remained behind to block the roadway. The officers began to surround the group & repeated their warnings to get back on the sidewalk or face arrest.
Now in all fairness to the Capitol Police: they were doing their job. They were quite courteous about it & the protest was similarly jubilant right back. One woman was first to be bound, soon followed by several other activists. Then came Muriel Bowser: first councilmember to be arrested.
In general, I tend to dislike political grandstanding... but this was different. If our council was being arrested by our own police, I'd think it a cheesy photo op... but now our locally-elected officials were being arrested by the very forces we were out to protest: the Feds. This wasn't a mere photo op arrest; this was actually a legitimate arrest... the kind of thing that goes on your record; the kind of thing you spent a night in jail for.
Now granted, I don't expect anyone will be in jail longer than tomorrow; I'd be surprised if any were still locked up by midnight tonight. But it was Councilmember Bowser's arrest which really hit a moment... you could see the look on her face was of some worried concern: someone who had never been arrested before & didn't show up here today expecting to be arrested. As she was placed into the police van: her look of concern changed to a bit more worry. I mean this as no knock against Councilmember Bowser's committment; rather I felt it really help to humanise the entire event. It made me respect her all the more.
Yvette Alexander stood right beside us for quite some time, complicated in that she didn't have her ID on her. While it was entertaining to see our top officials being frisked, it was also quite entertaining that our easily-recognisable councilmember needed her ID... prompting a standerby to call one of her staffers with the best introduction I've ever heard over a phone: "Hi, your councilmember has been arrested." Also, kudos to Councilmember Alexander for going to jail in high heels!
There is a lot I can complain about with the council in general; and certainly with individual councilmembers & even the mayor. Heck, that's what politicians are for: you're not supposed to always like them. But this was an opportunity to set aside some of those issues (frankly, I'd say DC was glad to have a unifying moment after the past couple weeks) and cheer on our own brothers & sisters as they stood up in support of our rights.
It was certainly a proud moment to be a DC resident and a fine boost to our collective esteem after several weeks of turmoil within our local & federal levels of government. It's aggravating that my support for small & local government is inhibited by those in Congress whom advocate small & local government. If I wanted to live in a colony, I'd have moved to Williamsburg.
(more details later, as time permits)
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This is the continuation of a photo-project that I began in the summer of 2008 (which you can see in this Flickr set), and continued throughout 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 (as shown in this Flickr set, this Flickr set, this Flickr set, this Flickr set, and this Flickr set)
): a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. These are the people in my neighborhood, aka "peeps in the 'hood."
As I indicated when I first started this project six years ago, I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a zoom telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me. Sometimes I find an empty bench on a busy street corner, and just sit quietly for an hour, watching people hustling past on the other side of the street; they're almost always so busy listening to their iPod, or talking on their cellphone, or daydreaming about something, that they never look up and see me aiming my camera in their direction.
I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep my camera switched on, and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject. Indeed, some of my most interesting photos have been so-called "hip shots," where I don't even bother to raise the camera up to my eye; I just keep the zoom lens set to the maximum wide-angle aperture, point in the general direction of the subject, and take several shots. As long as I can keep the shutter speed fairly high (which sometimes requires a fairly high ISO setting), I can usually get some fairly crisp shots -- even if the subject is walking in one direction, and I'm walking in the other direction, while I'm snapping the photos.
With only a few exceptions, I've generally avoided photographing bums, drunks, crazies, and homeless people. There are plenty of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. There have been a few opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. This is one example, and here is another example.
The other thing I've noticed, while carrying on this project for the past six years, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... unfortunately, there was just nothing memorable about them. They're all part of this big, crowded city; but for better or worse, there are an awful lot that you won't see in these Flickr sets of mine...
(more details later, as time permits)
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In the spring of 2014, we came to Paris for a week of relaxed vacationing, mostly to wander around and see some old familiar places. It was a “return” trip for both of us, though in my case I think it’s probably been more than 15 years since I was even here on a business trip.
Business trips to any city don’t really count as a “visit” -- since they basically involve flying into a busy airport at night, taking a taxi to a generic business-traveler’s hotel (a Hilton in Paris looks just like a Hilton in Cairo), and then spending several days working in the hotel (if the purpose of the trip was a seminar or computer conference), or at a client’s office (also “generic” in most cases — you can’t even tell what floor you’re on when you get off the elevator, because every floor of “open office” layouts is the same). The trip usually ends in the late afternoon or evening of the final day, with a mad dash back to the airport to catch the last plane home to NYC. Thus, a business trip to Paris is almost indistinguishable from a business trip to Omaha. Or Albany. Or Tokyo.
But I did make a few “personal” visits to Paris in the 1970s and 1980s, so I looked forward to having the chance to walk through some familiar places along the Left Bank. I’m not so interested in museums, monuments, cathedrals, or other “official” tourist spots (but yes, I have been to the Eiffel Tower, just as I’ve been to the Empire State Building in NYC), so you won’t see any photos of those places in this Flickr set.
As a photographer, I now concentrate mostly on people and street scenes. The details of the location don’t matter much to me, though I do try to geotag my photos whenever I can. But for the most part, what you’ll see here are scenes of people and local things in Paris that made me smile as I walked around …
Photographer:- Tim Large
purpleport.com/portfolio/timlarge/
Location: Lake grounds, Portishead, England, UK.
NO big badge comments, please.
Photography training courses available, please email for details.
The full portfolio avilable from Stock photography by Tim Large at Alamy
©Timothy Large - TA Craft Photography
(more details later, as time permits)
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In 1996 and 1997, I spent two full summers in the tiny little town of Polson, on the southern shore of Flathead Lake (the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River), and grew quite attached to the town and its surrounding mountains, rivers, and lake -- photos of which you can see here and here. You might also be interested in some of my observations about life in Polson and Montana, which I wrote about in blogs titled The Polson Parade, and Leaving Montana. But then life changed, other things intervened, and I drifted away from Montana altogether.
In the summer of 2010, I had a chance to re-visit Polson, and spend three short days driving around to re-acquaint myself with the area. It had been over a dozen years since I was last there (not counting a brief drive-through with my younger son in 2006), so I was expecting some changes ... but in general, the town of about 5,000 people was pretty much the same. My favorite restaurant had closed down, a Mailboxes Etc outlet had been replaced by a video-rental outlet, and the local McDonald's outlet was no longer posting all of the bounced checks from desperate customers on its wall. It looked like some of the local ranchers and farmers had sold off some of their acreage, for there were a few new "vacation communities" filling up what had been open meadows and pasture just outside of town.
But the lake had not changed at all, and the Mission Mountains along the eastern shore of the lake were as pretty as ever. Just for the heck of it, I got up at 5 AM one morning, and photographed the pre-dawn stillness on the lake, and then the changing colors of clouds above the lake as the sun slowly rose up to peek over the top of the mountains. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to drive down to the Kerr Dam, and I didn't drive all the way around the north end of the lake: I only made it up to Big Fork on the eastern side, and LakeSide on the western side of the lake. I was going to take the half-day white-water rafting trip down the Flathead River, south of the dam, but there wasn't time for that, either ... Nor was there any time for fishing, or even to rent a jet-ski and zoom around on the broad expanse of water in Polson Bay, at the south end of the lake.
I took a bunch of photos throughout the visit, and you can view them here) on Flickr. And after my return from that 2010 trip, I happened to chat with a business colleague about Polson and heard some great things from him about a “dude ranch” located just outside Big Fork, right on the shore of the lake. It was the Flathead Lake Lodge, and after a few more years of distractions and delays, I managed to get most (but not all) of my family together for a weeklong vacation at the lodge. The weather was great, the food was delicious, the horses were cooperative, the lake was beautiful … and that’s pretty much what you’ll see in the photos that I’ve put into this album.
Enjoy … and, if you get the chance, gather your own family together and take them out to the Flathead Lake Lodge for a week. You won’t regret it!
Permit To Travel machines were originally a Network Southeast innovation at locations where proper ticket machines may not have been cost effective or where machines or ticket offices were only open at certain times of the day. Rendered generally obsolete in the mid-2000's by chip and pin credit card ticket machines they may still be used when these machines may be out of order. These machines have sometimes caused controversy as they will issue a permit to travel for as little as 5p and if travelling from one unbarriered station to another holders of the permit who are not challenged and choose not to pay their fare at a working ticket machine or office can in theory travel 'legally' for only a fraction of the actual fare.
Ruggedly built by Almex and similar in design to 1980's style parking ticket machines this surviving machine is seen here on the Hertford Loop outside the station at Watton-at-Stone, on 2nd August 2016.
(more details later, as time permits)
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I’m writing these notes about halfway through the 2014 World Cup, and I can’t help wondering if anyone will have the slightest interest in seeing photos about a bunch of guys running around the streets of New York as they hit a small pink rubber ball with what looks like a broomstick. Indeed, the Wikipedia article on stickball (which you can find at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickball ) tells us that
"Stickball is a street game related to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensy pinky, high bouncer or tennis ball. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation, for example, a manhole cover may be used as a base, or buildings for foul lines. The game is a variation of stick and ball games dating back to at least the 1750s. This game was widely popular among youths growing up from the 20th century until the 1980s."
So, what I was photographing here was definitely not soccer; nor was it the more “traditional” American sport of baseball … and definitely not (American-style) football either. It’s a game of its own, though the particular game that I happened to watch and photograph was a variation typically referred to as “fungo” — where the batter tosses the ball into the air and hits it on the way down, or after one or more bounces.
Like many of the other really, really good days on my 1+ years of photo-walking in NYC, today’s experience was completely unexpected. I was trudging along 109th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side — and shortly after walking through a tunnel that supports the overhead train tracks carrying MetroNorth trains (and Amtrak/Acela, too, I guess) up and down Park Avenue to the final stopping point in Grand Central — I found myself at a corner that has come to be known as the “Stickball Hall of Fame Place,” at 109th Street and Third Avenue. Two different stickball games were underway, but I was reasonably safe as long as I stayed on the sidewalks. (If you’re interested in the Stickball Hall of Fame, check out this web site: northattan.com/2013/10/07/keeping-a-tradition-alive-in-ea... )
As I’ve learned, you can never tell when unexpected occasions like this will happen — and they may indeed happen only once a year. Most days out on the street with my camera are relatively blah; and many (like most of Manhattan's west side, especially the area from 57th Street down to 14th Street) are frustratingly unproductive. There are a few good days, and a few good shots — but a concentrated burst like today happens only on rare occasions …
Thus, when such occasions do occur, it's important to exploit them for every bit they’re worth. Thankfully I realized that today — and decided that I’d be happy to stay on that one street (109th, between 2nd and 3rd Avenue) for the entire afternoon. In particular, I made no effort whatsoever to leave quickly in order to walk 108th Street, too; after all, it will be there tomorrow (and the next day, and the day after that), whereas the photo opportunity may never come back again.
Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to meet some of the stickball players, chat with them, learn about their friends and relatives (several told me of starting to play the game with their own fathers, many years earlier) and offer to send them some photos (which, thus far, nobody has done). Maybe one of the reasons that I have not gotten involved with many NYC people on the street before is that I really wasn’t particularly interested in what they were doing, and there was no obvious way they could continue doing what they were doing without my being an obvious intrusion. Not so today …
In addition to the still photos, I took about a dozen video clips, though I didn’t actually think of doing so until roughly halfway through the photo episode. But in retrospect, it should have been obvious: it’s a sports-game, so it depend on motion; and the yelling, shouting, and overall noise is a very important part of the experience, too. So I finally started shooting short 10-20 second clips when each of the batters was about to wallop the ball, and then run on to first base …
I was tempted to go back to watch the game again next weekend, weather permitting; but I already had other commitments for those days, so it didn’t happen. Maybe 2 weeks from now, or 2 months … or whenever.
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This set of photos is based on a very simple concept: walk every block of Manhattan with a camera, and see what happens. To avoid missing anything, walk both sides of the street.
That's all there is to it …
Of course, if you wanted to be more ambitious, you could also walk the streets of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. But that's more than I'm willing to commit to at this point, and I'll leave the remaining boroughs of New York City to other, more adventurous photographers.
Oh, actually, there's one more small detail: leave the photos alone for a month -- unedited, untouched, and unviewed. By the time I actually focus on the first of these "every-block" photos, I will have taken more than 8,000 images on the nearby streets of the Upper West Side -- plus another several thousand in Rome, Coney Island, and the various spots in NYC where I traditionally take photos. So I don't expect to be emotionally attached to any of the "every-block" photos, and hope that I'll be able to make an objective selection of the ones worth looking at.
As for the criteria that I've used to select the small subset of every-block photos that get uploaded to Flickr: there are three. First, I'll upload any photo that I think is "great," and where I hope the reaction of my Flickr-friends will be, "I have no idea when or where that photo was taken, but it's really a terrific picture!"
A second criterion has to do with place, and the third involves time. I'm hoping that I'll take some photos that clearly say, "This is New York!" to anyone who looks at it. Obviously, certain landscape icons like the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty would satisfy that criterion; but I'm hoping that I'll find other, more unexpected examples. I hope that I'll be able to take some shots that will make a "local" viewer say, "Well, even if that's not recognizable to someone from another part of the country, or another part of the world, I know that that's New York!" And there might be some photos where a "non-local" viewer might say, "I had no idea that there was anyplace in New York City that was so interesting/beautiful/ugly/spectacular."
As for the sense of time: I remember wandering around my neighborhood in 2005, photographing various shops, stores, restaurants, and business establishments -- and then casually looking at the photos about five years later, and being stunned by how much had changed. Little by little, store by store, day by day, things change … and when you've been around as long as I have, it's even more amazing to go back and look at the photos you took thirty or forty years ago, and ask yourself, "Was it really like that back then? Seriously, did people really wear bell-bottom jeans?"
So, with the expectation that I'll be looking at these every-block photos five or ten years from now (and maybe you will be, too), I'm going to be doing my best to capture scenes that convey the sense that they were taken in the year 2013 … or at least sometime in the decade of the 2010's (I have no idea what we're calling this decade yet). Or maybe they'll just say to us, "This is what it was like a dozen years after 9-11".
Movie posters are a trivial example of such a time-specific image; I've already taken a bunch, and I don't know if I'll ultimately decide that they're worth uploading. Women's fashion/styles are another obvious example of a time-specific phenomenon; and even though I'm definitely not a fashion expert, I suspected that I'll be able to look at some images ten years from now and mutter to myself, "Did we really wear shirts like that? Did women really wear those weird skirts that are short in the front, and long in the back? Did everyone in New York have a tattoo?"
Another example: I'm fascinated by the interactions that people have with their cellphones out on the street. It seems that everyone has one, which certainly wasn't true a decade ago; and it seems that everyone walks down the street with their eyes and their entire conscious attention riveted on this little box-like gadget, utterly oblivious about anything else that might be going on (among other things, that makes it very easy for me to photograph them without their even noticing, particularly if they've also got earphones so they can listen to music or carry on a phone conversation). But I can't help wondering whether this kind of social behavior will seem bizarre a decade from now … especially if our cellphones have become so miniaturized that they're incorporated into the glasses we wear, or implanted directly into our eyeballs.
Oh, one last thing: I've created a customized Google Map to show the precise details of each day's photo-walk. I'll be updating it each day, and the most recent part of my every-block journey will be marked in red, to differentiate it from all of the older segments of the journey, which will be shown in blue. You can see the map, and peek at it each day to see where I've been, by clicking on this link
URL link to Ed's every-block progress through Manhattan
If you have any suggestions about places that I should definitely visit to get some good photos, or if you'd like me to photograph you in your little corner of New York City, please let me know. You can send me a Flickr-mail message, or you can email me directly at ed-at-yourdon-dot-com
Stay tuned as the photo-walk continues, block by block ...
(more details later, as time permits)
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In late May of 2014, my wife mentioned that she had seen a New York Times article indicating that some interesting sculptures were being installed in Riverside Park South — the stretch of Riverside Park (along the Hudson River, on the western edge of Manhattan) between 70th Street and 59th Street. If you’re interested in checking it out, the article is titled "Sculptors to bring works to city parks,” from the May 29, 2014 issue of the paper.
Of course, I thought that the sculptures might be really interesting, and thus worthy of some photographs; alas, they turned out to be rather mundane (at least from a photographer’s perspective), but there was no way I could know that until I saw them first-hand.
I had been down to this section of Riverside Park once before to photograph — but I was shocked to see that it had been four years earlier, in May 2010. If you’re curious, you can see those photos here on Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/sets/72157624207637080
Here’s an excerpt/summary of what I wrote after that initial May 2010 photo-stroll:
"After lunch [at an outdoor cafe at the base of the pier that extends out into the Hudson River at 70th Street], I was planning to walk north and check out the new pathway [connecting Riverside Park to Riverside Park North] ... but first, there was an old abandoned freight elevator at the edge of the water, which I decided I should photograph. It was just to the south of the 70th-Street cafe, and after taking the photos, I looked a little further south, and saw that there was a broad pathway, carefully mowed grass, and lots of people strolling ... where? further south!
"So I followed the path, and found that it expanded into a complex web of sidewalks, mini-gardens, mini-piers jutting out into the river, wooden-slat chairs, picnic benches, and boardwalks leading through wild grass and flowers that had been carefully planted. All of this continued, block after block after block, down below the elevated West Side Highway, all the way down to 59th Street. And it turns out that that is where "Riverside Park South" actually starts.
"So that's where most of the photos in this set were actually taken. There are some strange sights along the way, because the whole area used to be occupied by working piers that loaded and unloaded ships filled with freight and cargo, on and off railroads that snaked their way along the west side of Manhattan. But as ship-borne cargo was gradually replaced by truck, rail, and air cargo, the piers and docks gradually fell into disuse; and when the Penn Central Railroad went bankrupt, they really fell into disuse.
"It turns out that there was a massive fire along this area back in June of 1971 (a time when I lived in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, and was more-or-less oblivious to what was going on in Manhattan), and the fire was so hot that it melted and warped the steel girders of many of the docks, cranes, and loading structures. When the whole area was renovated recently (apparently part of a required "civic contribution" by Donald Trump when he acquired the rights to build condos and apartment buildings along the stretch of the far West Side of Manhattan, from 72nd Street to the mid-60s), the city planners initially intended to remove all of the old twisted metal and rotting wooden piers. But local civic groups prevailed upon the city to leave some of it intact, as a reminder of what was there before... I could go on with more details, but you can check it out for yourself here on Wikipedia…”
So, now — in early June of 2014 — I took only a few photos, including two out on the pier that extends into the river at 70th Street. You’ll get a sense of the grass and the trees and the spring season that lent a magical air to everything in the park at that point. But as for the sculptures: yawn. Maybe if I was a “real” artist, I would be better equipped to understand and appreciate them. Maybe the problem is that I really only know how to do “street photography.” Anyway, I’ll leave the sculptures to someone else to capture...
Donemana, Donemanagh, Doneymana, Donnemanagh, Dunamanagh, Dunemanagh, Dunimana, Dunnamanagh or Dunnymana (historically spelled in numerous different ways) named after the townland of Dunnamanagh, from Irish Dún na Manach, meaning 'stronghold of the monks' is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
It is 7 miles (11 kilometres) North-East of Strabane, on the banks of the Burn Dennett (River Dennett) and at the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains. It is the largest of the thirteen villages in the Strabane District Council area and had a population of 593 in the 2001 Census.
The townland is situated in the historic barony of Strabane Lower and the civil parish of Donaghedy and covers an area of 130 acres in the province of Ulster.
The village, is situated in a deed and retired glen amidst the Mounterloney mountains [now better known as the Sperrin’s] and was established in the early 17th century as part of the Plantation of Ulster, instigated by James I in 1609.
A total of 59 Scottish landowners (or undertakers as they were known) received lands in the Plantation of Ulster. Most were minor lairds, though others, such as Ludovic Stewart, Duke of Lennox (b.1574 d.1624), and James Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn (b.1575 d.1618), were aristocrats and held important positions in the Scottish government. Many of the original grantees sold out early on. Some never even made it as far as Ireland. Others took their responsibilities seriously and built fortifications and introduced the required number of settlers to their estates.
According to the rules of his settlement, the whole county, which was estimated to contain 1571 balliboes, or 98,187 acres, being at the rate of 1000 acres to 16 balliboes, was divided into 78 portions, which, after deducting a portion for the church and some lands for Trinity College, Dublin, were granted to English and Irish undertakers, that is, settlers, who engaged to build, fortify, and stock the lands with British tenantry. Five borough towns, Dungannon, Clogher, Omagh, Strabane, and Mountjoy, were allowed a certain portion of the surrounding grounds; and another portion was assigned to some of the members of the O'Nial family [Irish: Ó Néill]. The Irish were distributed as tenants among the undertakers, the swordsmen were removed to the waste parts of Connaught or Munster, where they were to be dispersed and not permitted to settle together in one place.
Pynnar Survey 1689-19
On 28th November 1618 Captain Nicolas Pynnar (b.? d.1644) under King James I direction was issued with a commission to carry a new survey into the progress of the Plantation, he was engaged on this work from 1 December 1618 to 28 March 1619, 119 days in all. It appeared that the county was divided into the five precincts of Strabane, Omy [Omagh], Clogher, Mountjoy, and Dungannon, the first of these, Strabane, was allotted to Scotch undertakers, of whom those then in possession of the lands granted to the original patentees were Sir George Hamilton 3rd Earl of Abercorn (b. c.1636 d.1683), Sir William Stewart of Fort Stewart (b. abt. 1582 d.1646), Sir Robert Newcomen, 4th Baron Newcomen (b.1596 d.1672), and Sir John Drummond 5th of Boreland (d.1630)
Those granted land were required to build a fortification on their lands. The simplest type of fortress was known as a ‘bawn’ (from the Irish for ‘cow fort’). A bawn was a courtyard surrounded by strong walls and was usually square or rectangular designed as a place of refuge for settlers in case of attack. The most important of the new landlords were expected to build a strong castle as well as a bawn.
The publisher Samuel Lewis in “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland” wrote in 1837,
“Donaheady, a parish, in the barony of Strabane, County of Tyrone, and province of Ulster, on the road from Strabane to Cookstown; containing, with the post-town of Dunamanagh, 10,480 inhabitants. The greater part of this parish was granted by James 1st to Sir John Drummond, who founded the town of Dunamanagh, and built a bawn 109 feet square, no part of which remains, as the bawn was removed some years since, and the modern building called the Castle was erected on its site.
It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 39,3983 statute acres, of which 28,728 are applotted under the Tithe Act, and valued at £10,271 per annum. There are about 154 acres of water, and 250 of bog; the remainder is arable and pasture land. There is abundance of excellent limestone, both for building and agricultural purposes, but the mountains are chiefly clay-slate”.
Earls Gift Historical Information
Earls Gift Castle has the appearance of a Georgian gothic dwelling or folly and as far as can be determined from the remaining structure, probably dates from the late eighteenth century.
Castle and Bawn ruin, consisting of a "double pile with a five-bay, 3 storey, South front with arched windows to the top floor & a fore standing round tower in the central bay". The North Western perimeter is still bounded by what seems to be the remains of foundations of a bawn wall.
According to the Natural Stone Database, the stone used is local Dalradian schist and Tyrone carboniferous sandstone.
Sir John Drummond 5th of Boreland (d.1630) was the man responsible of the establishment of Donemana town and Earls Gift Castle. His father was John Drummond, Fiar of Bordland (d.15 Dec 1582) who married Barbara Cunningham (d.?) on 12th December 1540, she was the daughter of Sir John Cuninghame [Cunningham], 15th of Glengarnock, [Ayrshire] who died in Dec 1595.
Sir John does not appear to have been a popular landlord, for Nicholas Pynnar’s Survey of 1619 reports that, “although there are many tenants on his lands, they have no estates [tenures] at all; insomuch that they, knowing I was in the country, came and complained unto me, and said that for these many years they could never get anything from him but promises; and, therefore, the most part of them are leaving the land. I desired the lady to show me their counterpaines, but her answer was that her Knight was in Scotland, and that she could not come unto them. but upon examination, I found there were 90 men of firittone [from Scotland] on the land." Sir John Drummond was styled as of the Rosses, in the parish of Oapprey [?], where he died in May, 1625 [alt.1630].
Sir John Drummond, 5th of Boreland, married Marjory (Marion) Hamilton on the 6 Nov 1601 in Edinburgh, she was the daughter to the John Hamilton, Laird of Blair (d. abt. 1630) and Grisel Sempill (d. Oct 1575)
Sir John sold the estate to John Drummond, Earl of Perth, and having purchased Kesh Castle in Co. Tyrone in Ireland and died childless in 1630. His only sibling, brother Malcolm (d.22 May 1650) 7th of Bordland (or Boreland) succeeded to the estate when he got a re-grant of the premises, which were created into a manor, to be called the manor of Castle Dormand.
Earls Gift Folklore?
Local folklore provides the following romantic and tragic story of events that surround the unfinished building of Earls Gift Castle. Sir John Drummond decided to build a castle near his home at Earls Gift and like most landlords of the time he also had a house in London. It was there that he met and fell in love with a beautiful French girl and they planned to marry and retire to the castle in Donemana when it was complete.
However, tragically the ship that was bringing Sir John’s betrothed to England was wrecked in a storm in the English Channel of the coast of Dover on 2nd November 1650 and all onboard perished.
I’ve not been able to find any on-line records of a ship wreck in the English Channel on or about the date stated. I’d also expect that a record would have existed if a ship had sunk especially one where all on board had died. So, it’s quite likely this story has been handed down through the generations and now forms part of local folklore?
Historic Maps & Surveys
It is shown on McCrea and Knox’s map of Tyrone dated 1813 as a castle in ruins, although the later Ordnance Survey map of 1832 does not so designate it, and in fact it is not described as a ruin on OS maps until the third edition of 1905. The first edition OS map appears to caption it, ‘Earls Gift’, but by the second edition it is ‘Dunnamanagh Castle’. No earlier maps were found to show the castle. The Townland Valuation (1828-40) lists ‘an old castle’ and tower giving dimensions and describing it as ‘not habitable’ although a valuation is given to it of £3.6s.
In a “Book of Survey and Distribution” dating from 1666 to 78, ‘Downemanagh’ is listed as the property of Sir William Hamilton (b. abt.1604 d.1662) Esquire of Elieston, Knight and Protestant. His descendant Sir John, Stuart Hamilton (b. c1740 d.1802) is mentioned several times in late-eighteenth-century correspondence between John James Hamilton Marquess of Abercorn (b.1756 d.1818) and his agent James Hamilton (b.? d.1806) as being in residence at ‘Donemanagh’ or occasionally ‘Earls Gift’ and it may be that the residence referred to is the current building.
On 19 March 1793, Hamilton writes, “Sir John [Stuart] Hamilton’s brother died last week at ‘Donemanagh’, his weight 42 stones. It took 16 planks to make his coffin…” and on 19 March 1798, “Your Lordship will be astonished when I tell you that Sir John Hamilton has subscribed his entire pension £300 a year towards the war [possibly, the Irish Rebellion of 1798?] and is living the life of a hermit at Donemanagh”.
James Hamilton’s letters also report Sir John’s (Stuart) Hamilton’s death in 1802 and speculate that his son the ‘Young Sir John’ [Sir John Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet] will be the last of the line. [Note: Sir John Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet was in fact the last Baronet, he died in 1818]. “If I can credit his surgeon and housekeeper, he will never leave an heir”. His agent proposes that Abercorn try to obtain the reversion of young Sir John’s estates. As far as can be determined from the correspondence, the son does not appear to have lived at Dunnamanagh, and it may be that the building began to fall into disrepair shortly after Sir John (Stuart’s) death.
It is thought that the following statement alludes to the 1st Baronet, Sir John Stuart Hamilton:
"When he was but nineteen, he was unanimously elected one of the representatives in Parliament for Strabane, in which high and honourable station he behaved for upwards of thirty years with a conduct suitable to the great confidence reposed in him. To his immortal honour he was one of those heroic patriots of fabrician fortitude, who signalized themselves in so conspicuous a manner in the successful defence of the pass, which in 1753 was strenuously attempted to be forced, in order to overthrow the parliamentary constitution of this country; for which they were distinguished from their opponents by their wearing gold medals in memory of that glorious epoch. And so sensible were his constituents of his singular merit and invariable principles in favour of his country, that at the late general election they unanimously re-elected him "to represent them in parliament; the goodness and benevolence of his heart endeared him to all, and render his death universally lamented. He is succeeded in his estate by John [Charles] Hamilton, Esq. (b.1745 to 1805 d.1818), his eldest son and heir."
The Hamilton’s
In the early 1600s Sir Claud Hamilton (b. abt 1579 d.1614) of Shawfield in Scotland, second son of Lord Claud Hamilton (b.1546 d.1621) Commendator of the Abbey of Paisley and a friend of the Earl of Abercorn. Claud, as an undertaker in the plantation of the county of Longford, he had 400 acres of land granted to him there, together with the small proportion of Eden [the estate and remains of the castle at Mount Castle] or Teadane and Killeny which occupied most of the eastern half of the barony and which were largely mountainous. They contained about 2000 acres in the barony of Strabane, Co. Tyrone, on which he built a strong and beautiful castle [possibly, Mount Castle, Donemana, a short distance from Earls Gift Castle], which, with other lands mentioned in the patent.
Sir Claud firstly married Janet Hamilton (b1583 d.1623) a daughter of Robert Hamilton of Leckprevick, she and Claud had no issue. Claud secondly Janet Hamilton (d.1613) Heiress of Leckprevick and Easter Greenlees she was the daughter of Sir Robert Hamilton of Manor Elieston (b. 1448 to 1568) in the County of Tyrone, and had six sons and two daughters.
1.Sir William (b.1604 d.1664), his heir
2.Alexander died 21 Nov 1587, aged 8 moths
3.Robert died before 1657
4.George died unmarried
5.Claud
6.James (died unmarried)
7.Grizzel Hamilton (m. Sir William Nisbit, Baillie of Lamington)
8.Margaret Hamilton (m. Sir John Stuart [Stewart] of Gorgonoch-Stewart of Methven)
After Sir Claud Hamilton death in 1614 the land was given to his eldest son Sir William Hamilton.
William, is buried in Bodoney parish church, Killeter, Castlederg, County Tyrone and was succeeded by his third son, Claud Hamilton (b. c1648 d. c1695)
Claud Hamilton (b.c1648 d.c1695), of Monterloney (near, County Tyrone, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1671 and 1683, who married Isabella Wingfield and had issue, with five daughters, Beatrix, Mary, Agnes, Margaret, and Rebecca and two sons, William, his successor and Claud of Strabane, ancestor of Hamilton Baronets of Woodbrook.
A castle, surrounded by a square bawn (fortified enclosure) was built by the Hamilton’s in Donemana around 1618-19, and was described at the time as ‘both strong and beautiful’. No trace of the castle survives, but it is believed to have been where the ruined eighteenth-century building known locally as 'Earls Gift Castle' now stands. The castle occupied a commanding position on the edge of a steep bank high above the Burn Dennett River.
In 1629 Sir William Hamilton renamed the estate ‘Manor Elliston’ after his mother’s home in Renfrewshire, Scotland.
In the course of the 1600s families from Britain, primarily from Scotland, settled in the district and their descendants are still numerous in the area today. Other Scottish surnames names found in this area over the past 400 years include Buchanan, Campbell, Colhoun, Galbraith, Henderson, Leslie, Lindsay, McCrea and McFarland.
The Hamilton family remained in possession of Dunnamanagh until the early 1800s. The last but one member of the family, Sir John Stuart Hamilton (b. c1740 d.1802) 1st Baronet of Dunamana, High Sheriff of County Tyrone 1764, MP for Strabane from 1763-97 and son of William Hamilton (d. est. between 1675 and 1735) of Dunamanagh, County Tyrone, MP for Strabane, 1733-62, and Catherine Leslie daughter of the Rev Dr George Leslie, of Ballyconnell House, County Cavan,
www.geni.com/people/Catherine-Hamilton/6000000005062062760
The demise of the estate is suggested as the result of the reckless expenditure of Sir John Stuart Hamilton. He was the rather ineffective MP for Strabane who was once described as a ‘man of small fortune and large stature, possessing a most liberal appetite for both solids and fluids.
The development of the village that we see today probably dates from the middle of the eighteenth century and is likely to have been associated with the rise of the linen industry in the area.
Sir John Stuart Hamilton 1st Baronet of Dunamana (b. c1740 d.1802), High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1764, MP for Strabane from 1763 to 1797.
Sir John Stuart was the son of Sir William Hamilton of Manor Elliston (b.1604 d.1662) and Elizabeth (Johnston) Hamilton (b.1605)
Sir John Stuart Hamilton who married Sarah Hamilton (b. c1740 d.1770) on 20 November 1770 was the illegitimate daughter of Frederick Hamilton, 3rd Viscount Boyne (b.1718 d.1772 who is buried St. Paul's Church, Dublin, County Dublin) and his second wife Bridget Mooney (d.1771) and was the daughter of Lt.-Col. unknown Mooney who he married on July 1746 (This marriage was during the lifetime of his first wife, Elizabeth Hadley who he had married on 25 August 1737 at Chapelizod, County Dublin).
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After her marriage to Fredrick, Bridget Mooney was styled as Viscountess Boyne in July 1746. She died 1771, without surviving issue.
19th–Century Earls Gift Map and the Douglas Family
An early 19th–century map of the ‘Earl’s Gift’ Demesne showing lands near the town of Donemana, Co. Tyrone, in the parish of Donagheady and diocese of Derry.
The map had suffered the ravages of time, and was in need of urgent repair, but thanks to the expert intervention of Liz D’Arcy at the Paperworks Studio for Paper Conservation, and the availability of the Representative Church Body (RCB) Library’s Conservation Fund which allows for the urgent repair of historical items, this beautiful work of art has been brought back to life.
Clearly of significant independent means the Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas, and also benefiting from the grant funds available to him, he was able to commission a professional surveyor Robert Craig in 1830 to measure out his property, and draw the colourful survey map of the lands where he had laid out a house and planned demesne on the former ‘Earls Gift Castle’ estate, which had been associated in the 17th century with Sir John Drummond who laid out the original ‘Earls Gift Castle’ and town of Donemana.
The map depicts various field boundaries, and the location of townlands, including Tullyard, Black Park, Glebe and Benown where the original parish church of St Michael’s was located. As well as Earls Gift Castle, farmyards with stables and other outbuildings, landscaped garden, pleasure grounds and the association of over 95 acres of these lands.
Immediately to the North–East of these and connected by a road is the original parish church now known as St. Michael’s cemetery. Today this building is a ruin, having been replaced by St James Church (150m South West on the B49) after disestablishment when the original church had fallen into disrepair in 1879.
There has been an Anglican Church in the parish of Donagheady since the early 17th century, when a church at Church Hill, St. Caidinus (where the Old Donagheady Graveyard is located) was built during the plantation of Ulster. All that remains of this church is a few gable walls and a small graveyard.
Around 1788 a new church, St. Michael’s, Church of Ireland in the townland of Benowen, was constructed in what is now known as St. Michael’s cemetery and again a portion of the gable wall remains standing to this day. The church was consecrated 1838.
The final service held in St Michael’s was on 23 November 1879 and the preacher was the Rector, Rev. F J Clarke.
In 1870, Canon Clarke and church warden Henry Danton JP arranged repairs to the original parish church of St. Michael’s at Benowen, now known as St. Michael's Cemetery, the ruins of which lies nearby St James Church which is located about 150m on the right-hand side further on, NE from St. James Church, Donagheady on the B49 road from Donemana to Claudy.
An approach was made to Mr. Claud Ogliby (b.1851 d.1894) of Altinaghree Castle (Liscloon House) Donemanagh to request financial assistance, however Mr. Ogiliby refused this request but instead offered £500.00 towards the building of a new church, that of St James.
Mr. Claude Ogilby laid the foundation stone on St James Day, 25th July 1877 and the Church was consecrated on 28th November 1879 by Bishop of Derry and Raphoe the Rt. Rev. Bishop Nathaniel Alexander (b.760 d.1840).
Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas
The Revd. Charles Douglas (b.1791 d.1857) was Ordained in the Church of England; he came to Ireland as rector of Donagheady in 1825 and continued to serve there until retirement in 1857. He was the second son of Hon. John Douglas (b.1756 d.1818), who married on 4 Oct 1784 Lady Frances Lascelles (b 1762 d. 1817). John was the son of James Douglas (b.1702 d.1768), 14th Earl of Morton.
The Revd. Charles firstly married Isabella (Gore) Douglas (b.1786 and 1799 -d.1838) on the 2nd March 1816 she was the daughter of Arthur Saunders Gore (b.1734-d.1809 ), 2nd Earl of Arran (the Arran Islands) and Elizabeth Underwood (d.1829) who was the daughter of Richard Underwood and Christiana Goold.
Charles and Isabella had 11 children:
1. Anne Jane Douglas b.? d.10 Jan 1868 (m. 3 Jan 1843 Frederick Richard Surtees).
2. Augusta Frederica Douglas b. 22 Nov 1819 d.? (m. 15 Dec 1842 Henry Poore Cox).
3. Julia Mary Douglas b.? d.? (m. 20 July 1848 George James Montgomery).
4. Caroline Douglas b.? d.9 April 1908 (m. 17 Dec 1844 Edward Prothero).
5. Georgiana Frances Douglas b.? d.20 June 1844 aged 15.
6. Adelaide Charlotte Douglas b.? d.1903 (m. 30 Jan 1851 William Ogilby).
7. Louisa Emma Douglas b.? d.? (m. 29 Sep 1857 Charles Fox).
8. Captain William Grant Douglas b.1824 d.1898 aged 74 (Royal Navy).
9. Charles Edward Douglas b.1825 d.1842 aged 16 years.
10. Gordon James Douglas b.1835 d.1905 aged 69 (m. 12 Aug 1858 Louisa Turbett).
11. Claudine Douglas (b.? d.1842) aged 8
Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas, secondly married Agnes Julia (Rich) Gason on 28 Dec 1852 to 1857 without issue. Agnes was daughter of Captain J. S. Rich of Woodlands, Limerick. She died on 4 Nov 1916.
Interned at St Michael’s Church & Graveyard, Bunowen, Donagheady.
1. Hon. Revd. Charles Douglas (b.1791 d.1857) aged 65.
2. his wife Isabella (b.1786 and 1799 d.1838) aged 43.
3. son Charles Edward (b.1825 d.1842) aged 16.
4. youngest daughter Claudine (b.? d.29 Apr 1842) aged 8.
5. daughter Georgina Frances (b.abt 1829 d.20 June 1844) aged 15.
Captain William Grant Douglas married, firstly on the 16th December 1851, Elizabeth Inglis, daughter of William Inglis (d.1865), Elizabeth died in 1965 leaving 6 children.
1.Bessie Henriette Douglas d. 12 Oct 1938 who married Claud William Leslie Ogilby (1851-94) of Altinaghree Castle (Liscloon House).
2.Ada Charlotte Douglas b.1862 d.?
3.Mary Louisa Douglas d.1940
4.Margaret Caroline Douglas b.9 July 1859 d.25 Apr 1921
5.Maud Isabel Gore Douglas d.2 Feb 1934
6.Sholto Douglas d.?
Captain William married, secondly, on 6 June 1867, Elizabeth Frances Vesey (b. abt.1844 d.1919), daughter of Thomas Agmondisham Vesey (b.1812 d.1895) and Jemima Belford Gregg (b.1820 d. 1898), They had 3 children, a son: Sholto Osborne Gordon Douglas (b.1873 d.1937) B.A. (Oxon) Author of 'A theory of Civilisation' and two daughters, Maude Isabel Gore Douglas (b.1869 d.1934) and Margaret Caroline Douglas (b.1883 d. unknown)
Gordon James Douglas, married, 12th August 1858, Louisa Turbett (b.1837 d.1923) daughter of James Turbett of Owenstown, Dublin, and had one daughter, Isabelle Sophia Frances Douglas (b.1860 d.1914), she married Bedford Randolph Wilson
Connection with the Ogilby Family of Altinaghree Castle
William Ogilby JP (1808-73), of Altinaghree Castle (Liscloon House), Donemana, County Tyrone, married, in 1851, Adelaide Charlotte Douglas, daughter of the Hon. Rev. Charles Douglas of Earls Gift.
See my video and associated transcript “Altnachree Ogilby's Castle Liscloon House, Donemana Co. Tyrone 8 March 2020 v1”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7zEW6GHH3Q&t=3s&ab_chann...
Donagheady is a parish, in the barony of STRABANE, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, on the road from Strabane to Cookstown; containing, with the post-town of Dunamanagh, 10,480 inhabitants. The greater part of this parish was granted by James I. to Sir John Drummond, who founded the town of Dunamanagh, and built a bawn 109 feet square, no part of which remains, as the bawn was removed some years since, and the modern building called the Castle was erected on its site. It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 39,3983 statute acres, of which 28,728 are applotted under the tithe act, and valued at £10,271 per annum. There are about 154 acres of water, and 250 of bog; the remainder is arable and pasture land. There is abundance of excellent limestone, both for building and agricultural purposes, but the mountains are chiefly clay-slate.
Many of the glens and banks of the rivers are covered with underwood, the remains of the extensive forests of Mounterlony. Formerly there were several bleach-greens in the parish, and a paper-mill near Dunamanagh, all of which are now unemployed; but the inhabitants unite linen-weaving at home with agricultural pursuits. The upper half of the parish, with the exception of the church lands, is in the manor of Elliston, the court for which is held at Gortin; and the lower half is in the manor of Donolonge [probably, Dunnalong], which was granted by James I. to the Earl of Abercorn. A court is held at Donolonge monthly, for the recovery of debts under 40s. There are several handsome houses, the principal of which are Earl's Gift, the residence of the Hon. Rev. Charles Douglas; Loughash, Lieutenant-Colonel John Pitt Kennedy (1796-1879); Tullarton House, of R. Bond Esq.; Glenville, of R. McRae, Esq.; Silver Brook, of J. Carey, Esq.; Black Park, of R. Ogilbye Esq.; Thorn Hill, of A. C. D. L. Edie, Esq. and the Grange, of T. Hutton, Esq.
The Board of First Fruits was an institution of the Church of Ireland that was established in 1711 by Anne, Queen of Great Britain to build and improve churches and glebe houses in Ireland. This was funded from taxes collected on clerical incomes which were in turn funded by tithes. The board was replaced in 1833 by the Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
Glebe (also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church.
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques whereas, historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural produce.
Living is a rectory, in the diocese of Derry, and in the patronage of the Marquess of Abercorn: the tithes amount to £1350. The Glebe-House was erected in 1792, by aid of a gift of £100 from the late Board of First Fruits: the glebe comprises 1192 acres. The church is a small neat edifice, half a mile west from the ruins of the old church; it is in the Grecian style, with a small cupola and a bell at the western end; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £202 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions this parish is the head of a union or district, comprising Donagheady and Leckpatrick, and containing one chapel in the former and two in the latter: it is in the benefice of the dean of Derry. There are four Presbyterian meeting-houses, three of which are in connection with the Synod of Ulster, two being of the second class, and one with the Seceding Synod, also of the second class.
The male and female parochial schools adjoin the church, and are supported by the Marquess of Abercorn and the incumbent. At Loughash is a large and handsome school-house, erected at an expense of £200: the school is under the National Board, as is another at Lisnarrow [near Dunamanagh]. There are also schools at Killeany, Rusky [Rousky near Gortin), Tamnaghbrady, Tyboe [Donemana], Grange [Civil Parish of Ardstraw], and Ballyneuse; and an agricultural school at Loughash [near Donemana], supported by Capt. Kennedy. At Mount Castle [Civil Parish of Donaghedy], which gives the title of baron in the Irish peerage to the Marquess of Abercorn, are some fragments of a castle, built in 1619, by Sir Claude Hamilton, on an estate of 2000 acres, called Eden, which was granted to him by James I. It was the birth-place of Sir George Hamilton, who distinguished himself in the parliamentary war, and of his son, Gen. James Hamilton (b.c.1661 d.1734), afterwards 6th Earl of Abercorn, who commanded the Protestant Irish army against James II at Londonderry. Extensive ruins of the ancient church of Grange, which belonged to the abbey of Derry, exist on the banks of the Foyle. At Kildollagh [Coleraine] are some large artificial caves, formed of loose stones, with flagstones over them covered with earth; they are about a quarter of a mile long, and contain several apartments; there is a less perfect one at Gortmaglen.
Hurricane Debbie
Earls Gift or Donemana Castle was reportedly damaged during hurricane Debbie which was a moderate tropical cyclone which had significant impact when it hit Ireland on the morning of Saturday 16th September 1961, with gusts of 113 miles per hour, almost 182km/h, being recorded at Malin Head, Northern Ireland. On Monday September 18th, 1961, The Irish Times reported the storm had killed 15 people on the island of Ireland.
Davy Crockett's Da
A popular local song celebrates the claim that ' Davy Crockett's da (or father), John Crockett (b. c.1753 d. after 1802) came from Donemana'.
www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2799150686822749
An historical curiosity is the fact that the Crockett family are known to have fought on the Williamite side during the Siege of Derry (1689) before emigrating to North America. Davy Crockett (b.786 d.836) later fought at the Battle of the Alamo (23 February – 6 March 1836) during the Texas Revolution. As with most aspects of the Alamo battle, the exact details of the deaths of both James Bowie’s (b. c.1796 d. 6 March 1836) and Davy Crockett may never really be known? William Barret Travis (b.1 August 1809 d. 6 March 1836) died early in the battle from a single bullet in the head.
Earls Gift Castle Access
Sadly, public access to the Earls Gift site has not been provided therefore the site is only accessible by permission of the private house owners situated along the B49, Longland Road fronting the castle site.
Many thanks to Mr & Mrs Derick Gamble who provide me with access to the Earls Gift castle and Derick took me to Church Hill Graveyard.
(more details later, as time permits)
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It's been a little over a year since the afternoon in March 2013 when I last photographed the tango dancers in New York City -- even though I know they come together every Sunday afternoon, down at the end of Pier 45 (where Christopher Street runs into the Hudson River in the West Village) through spring, summer, and fall seasons. But I’ve been busy with other projects, and also photographing other events and gatherings … so I eventually forgot all about the dancers and the pier, and drifted an entire summer, fall and winter before there was a combination of free time and clear skies in mid-April that reminded me that I should see what Pier 45 looked like, once again.
It occurred to me that tango (and any other form of dance) is all about movement and sound; you can’t very well stand silently, in one place, and tell people that you’ve been dancing the tango. So I spent much of my time, on this excursion, taking video-recordings of the dancers. These aren’t Hollywood movies, but they’ll give you much more a visual and audio sense of what goes on than you might have gotten from a collection of “still” photos.
As for the still photos included in this album: they’re mostly of the people who were sitting and talking, or walking and strolling, on the periphery of the dance area. So they don’t really have anything to do with tango dancing per se; but in my own head, I always associate them with the dance “scene.”
I’ve created Flickr albums of roughly a dozen different tango dances, which you can see here on Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/collections/72157624855980784/
And if you don’t know what any of this is about, it might be useful to see the notes that I attached to my first tango album, taken in Washington, DC in the summer of 2009:
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Let me begin with a disclaimer: I do not dance the tango, and I know little or nothing about its history, its folklore, or even its steps and rhythms. I'm vaguely aware that it originated in Argentina (and Uruguay) in the 1890s, that a new style known as "tango nuevo" began to emerge in the late 1990s, and that various actors and actresses -- including Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Antonio Banderas, Madonna, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger(!), among others -- have performed the tango in various movies. But beyond that, it never really occurred to me that it played any significant role here in the U.S.
That is, not until the summer of 2009, when I happened to return to my hotel, on a business trip to Washington, DC, just as a local gathering of tango aficionados was dancing to their music in a nearby square known as Freedom Plaza. I photographed the event (see my Flickr set Last tango in Washington) and learned from one of the participants that there were similar informal events in New York City, at the South Street seaport, during the summer and fall weekends. When I got back to New York, I searched on the Internet, and found a schedule of upcoming tango events just as my Washington acquaintance had indicated; but travel schedules, inclement weather, and other distractions prevented me from actually attending any of them; by the end of the autumn season, I had forgotten all about it.
For some reason, something reminded me of the tango again this spring -- perhaps some music that I overheard, perhaps a scene on some otherwise forgettable television show. In any case, I searched again on the Internet, and discovered that a tango "event" would be taking place on a Sunday afternoon -- but not at the South Street Seaport (on the east side of Manhattan, near the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges), but rather at Pier 45, where Christopher Street runs into the Hudson River in Greenwich Village. The event was scheduled to take place between 3:30 and 7:30 PM, and another quick search on the Internet informed me that sunset would occur at 7:30 PM. So I arrived a little before 6 PM, as the sun was beginning to drop down in the western sky, and photographed for a little more than an hour.
I captured some 522 images, of which 75 have survived in this Flickr set. For the majority of the photos, I stood at the end of the pier, with my back to the Hudson River and the sinking sun; the sun broken in and out of clouds on the horizon -- and because I was wearing sunglasses, I didn't fully appreciate the extent of sun-glare that was often striking the faces of the dancers, as well as the shadows where the sun wasn't hitting at all. But I think I recovered most of the inadvertent over-exposure and under-exposure with some post-processing on the computer... I was also able to get some shots facing westward and southward, so that you could see the New Jersey skyline behind the dancers; indeed, there are a couple of shots with the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Bridge in the background. (Note to self: come back here at twilight, on a Sunday evening in mid-summer; it could well be even more spectacular.)
Since I have no personal expertise (or even competence) at the dance, there's not much that I can say about what's going on; I have to let the pictures speak for themselves. Though it wasn't universally true, I noticed several occasions where the women were taller than their partners; I gather that that's an advantage when the dancers are twirling and twisting around. Also, I had the distinct impression -- just as was the case in Washington last summer -- that few (if any) of the dancers were "couples" in the traditional sense. Indeed, many of them seemed to be strangers who had met for the first time at this tango event, but who seemed to enjoy the experience of the dance together. And others, from what little I could tell, might have encountered one another at previous tango events -- but had no other interactions or relationship with one another.
In any case, I had photographed everything I could imagine photographing by a little after 7 PM. I put away my camera equipment, walked a few blocks east to Hudson Street to enjoy a delicious dinner at a local restaurant with my wife, and made a note to check the Internet again for future tango events in Central Park and the South Street Seaport. If you'd like to pursue this on your own, check out Richard Lipkin's Guide to Argentine Tango in New York City.
Enjoy...
(more details later, as time permits)
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What a difference a year makes: on the first day of spring in 2010, I noted (in this Flickr set that "all 8 million New Yorkers were ready to take advantage of [spring]. The sun was out, the temperature was in the 70s, the sky was blue, and the clouds had disappeared to some other part of the country. There was no way a sane person could stay indoors..."
This year, spring arrived about 6 hours earlier (1:32 PM, as compared to last year's 7:21 PM), and while the sun was out, the temperature was in the low 40s rather than the 70s. Like last year, I decided to celebrate the arrival of spring by walking in Riverside Park, and began my usual stroll at the entrance on 72nd Street. I walked a couple blocks south, to the newly-constructed pier that juts halfway out into the Hudson River (or so it seems, anyway), and saw that the outdoor cafe at the base of the pier, where one can usually find a tasty hamburger and a cold beer, was still completely shut down. So I began walking north -- eventually past the 79th Street boat basin, where the Boat Basin Cafe (which you can see more about in this Flickr set ) was open, though protected by gas heaters and wind baffles.
Like last year, there was bright sunshine, blue skies, and no wind -- so people were indeed outside. But because the temperature was about 30 degrees colder, there weren't any picnics and there wasn't any sunbathing. Instead of finding people sprawled out on park benches, enjoying the Sunday newspaper in the sunshine, about the only activities I noticed were bicycling, jogging, brisk walking, and skating.
I was frustrated by the lack of the usual springtime "photo-ops," but then remembered the old adage: if life hands you lemons, then make lemonade. Since there was a steady stream of joggers, cyclists, and skaters, I decided that I might as well photograph them. So I situated myself on a bench near a spot where the walkway along the river splits in two directions: you can turn east and pass under the West Side Highway, up some stone steps and into a playground and elevated section of the park at 82nd Street; or you can continue straight along the river, and follow a newly-constructed narrow two-bike-lane path that connects the "lower" section of Riverside Park (i.e., below 82nd Street) with the "upper" section (starting at roughly 94th Street).
People were coming and going in all directions, so I situated myself with the sun behind me, facing north towards the George Washington Bridge in the far background, and basically ignored everyone coming up the walkway from behind me. There were plenty of people heading south, with the bright springtime sun shining directly on them, and I sat there for about an hour, until I had collected some 500 images with my new Sony SLT a55 camera ...
At that point, I decided I had gotten enough, so I strolled over to Broadway, and took a bus uptown to my own neighborhood. Only a few of the images that I uploaded to my computer were complete disasters -- e.g., out of focus, or missing a head, arm or leg because the subjects were moving so quickly past me. But I had to reject quite a few because they were a little too ordinary ... i.e., your reaction would have been something like, "Oh. There's a guy on a bike. Just like the last guy on a bike, and the one before that." So I ended up with about 70 "keepers" that I felt were sufficiently interesting to warrant uploading to Flickr.
And so that's it for Riverside Park in March, at least this year. Indeed, I may well wait until May before returning -- by which time I hope it will be warm enough that I'll see the sights and scenes that I more commonly associate with springtime in New York City.
(more details later, as time permits)
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I first visited Coney Island back in the late 1950s, after what seemed like an endless bus ride from our little town on Long Island, with a few dozen high school classmates. We wandered up and down the boardwalk, munched on a few hot dogs, and rode a few of the ferris wheels. But we knew almost nothing about the history of the raucous amusement park, and didn't even know that the term "ferris wheel" became popular because George Washington Ferris, Jr. built such a contraption (the general nature of which had been known as "pleasure wheels," originating in Bulgaria in the 17th century) for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (but I'll bet you didn't know any of that, either. And you probably didn't know that Coney Island is actually a peninsula now, having been partially connected to mainland Brooklyn by landfill.)
In the half-century(!) since then, I don't think I've been back to Coney Island at all. I've learned a little about the island's history; the original Dutch name was "Conyne Eylandt," where "conyne" morphed into the old English word "coney," which translates roughly into "rabbit." So it was originally Rabbit Island, and rabbit hunting was apparently quite popular until resort development began in the 19th century. (There are other theories, too, including the one that the island was named after Henry Hudson's assistant, John Coleman, who was supposedly slain by one of the tribes of Native Americans.)
Anyway, the original Coney Island Hotel was constructed in 1829, and the first carousel was built in 1876. And from 1885 to 1896, the Coney Island Elephant was the first sight to greet immigrants arriving by ship from Europe, for they would see it before the Statue of Liberty became visible. Railroad lines, steamboat docks, and subway lines gradually made it easier and faster for New York City residents to visit, and what had once been a fairly remote resort requiring half a day to reach, gradually became a popular recreational site for day-trippers.
"Nathan's Famous" hot dog stand opened in 1916, and it's still there (some photos in this Flickr set will confirm it). Since its opening, Nathan's has sponsored an annual "Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest" on July 4th, and it now gets fairly broad attention and TV coverage. But aside from that, the popularity of other famous parts of Coney Island began to fade after World War II. Luna Park (which was first opened in 1903) closed in 1944 after a series of fires; a new Luna Park was eventually opened in May 2010. And Steeplechase Park (which I'm sure I must have seen on my first visit) closed in 1964. And then there was Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012, which severely damaged the boardwalk and various parts of the overall amusement park; but Nathan's continued running its annual hot-dog eating contest, and Luna Park reopened in March 2013.
Notwithstanding all of this historical background, I really wasn't sure what to expect when my wife and I decided to make a day-trip excursion on a sunny weekend in May, riding the subway all the way from the Upper West Side to the Coney Island - Stillwell Avenue terminal. I expected the boardwalk would still be there, and indeed it was (partially rebuilt). I expected Nathan's hot-dog emporium to still be prominently visible, and indeed it was. But my old childhood memory was one of dozens, maybe hundreds, of ferris wheels and roller-coaster rides; now there seem to be only a few, and they're not nearly as impressive as they once were (at least to me).
I guess I expected the crowds, especially as it was a warm, sunny, blue-skied weekend day. But I didn't expect so many dogs; it seemed like almost every one of the people strolling the boardwalk was dragging along a dog of some kind. Big ones, little ones, noisy ones, silent ones … but why on earth would a dog want to visit Coney Island?
Anyway, now I can at least say that I've been here twice in my lifetime. And twice may be enough … except that Coney Island is now the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the New York Mets. So maybe I'll come back out here sometime and watch a baseball game. It might be more interesting than watching the Yankees or the Mets ...
(More details later, as time permits)
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It's been several months since I last photographed the tango dancers in New York City, even though I know they've been gathering each Sunday down at the end of Pier 45, where Christopher Street runs into the Hudson River in the West Village. But the weather was rainy on several occasions, and I was out of town on various other occasions ... so, half of the summer drifted away before there was a combination of free time and clear skies that enabled me to find a quiet perch out at the end of the pier, to watch the dancers once again.
As I've pointed out in some previous Flickr albums (here, for example), I do not dance the tango (or any other civilized form of dance), and even after watching the dancers for over a year, I know almost nothing about the history, the folklore, or even the steps and rhythms of the tango. But after accidentally stumbling upon a local gathering of tango aficionados on a business trip to Washington in August 2009 (see my Flickr set Last tango in Washington), I discovered that there were similar informal events throughout New York City. When I got home, I searched on the Internet and found a schedule of upcoming tango events at several different NYC locations -- including Pier 45, where I made my first visit in mid-April of 2010, which led to this set of photos.
I returned in mid-July of last year, even though I knew it would be much hotter ... and indeed, it was so hot that the music did not even begin until 6 PM. But then the dancers began to appear, one after another, until there were a couple dozen pairs of dancers filling a large space under a sheltering canopy, as the sun went down. And since it was the end of a hot summer evening, tango wasn't the only thing going on: there were people sunbathing, watching the boats on the river, playing frisbee, or simply enjoying themselves. I photographed a little of everything; you can see it in this Flickr set.
After that, I came back in August to watch the tango dancers in Riverside Park (also on the Hudson River, but up near 68th Street, which you can see here), and then back to Pier 45 in September (here) and October (here). There was even a tango party on Valentine's Day of 2011, at the Winter Garden building down near the site of the 9-11 tragedy; you can see that (here).
But the winter chill of Valentine's Day is now only a distant memory; and springtime has come and gone. Summer is now upon us, and I suspect it will be hot and sultry until sometime after Labor Day. But I also suspect the tango dancers will be here every Sunday, come rain or shine, in hot weather and the occasional cool respite. In case I don't manage to return with my camera in the next few weeks, you should come down and watch for yourself.
And if you'd like to watch some other examples NYC tango dancing, check out Richard Lipkin's Guide to Argentine Tango in New York City.
(more details later, as time permits)
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About a year ago, I created Flickr album for photos that I had started taking with my iPhone5s; and now I’m creating a new Flickr album for photos that I’ve begun taking with myiPhone6, which just arrived from T-Mobile this morning.
In last year’s album, I wrote, "Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s hard to walk around with a modern smartphone in your pocket, and not be tempted to use the built-in camera from time-to-time. Veteran photographers typically sneer at such behavior, and most will tell you that they can instantly recognize an iPhone photo, which they mentally reject as being unworthy of any serious attention.
"After using many earlier models of smartphones over the past several years, I was inclined to agree; after all, I always (well, almost always) had a “real” camera in my pocket (or backpack or camera-bag), and it was always capable of taking a much better photographic image than the mediocre, grainy images shot with a camera-phone.
"But still … there were a few occasions when I desperately wanted to capture some photo-worthy event taking place right in front of me, and inevitably it turned out to be the times when I did not have the “real” camera with me. Or I did have it, but it was buried somewhere in a bag, and I knew that the “event” would have disappeared by the time I found the “real" camera and turned it on. By contrast, the smart-phone was always in my pocket (along with my keys and my wallet, it’s one of the three things I consciously grab every time I walk out the door). And I often found that I could turn it on, point it at the photographic scene, and take the picture much faster than I could do the same thing with a “traditional” camera.
"Meanwhile, smartphone cameras have gotten substantially better in the past few years, from a mechanical/hardware perspective; and the software “intelligence” controlling the camera has become amazingly sophisticated. It’s still not on the same level as a “professional” DSLR camera, but for a large majority of the “average” photographic situations we’re likely to encounter in the unplanned moments of our lives, it’s more and more likely to be “good enough.” The old adage of “the best camera is the one you have with you” is more and more relevant these days. For me, 90% of the success in taking a good photo is simply being in the right place at the right time, being aware that the “photo opportunity” is there, and having a camera — any camera — to take advantage of that opportunity. Only 10% of the time does it matter which camera I’m using, or what technical features I’ve managed to use.
"And now, with the recent advent of the iPhone5s, there is one more improvement — which, as far as I can tell, simply does not exist in any of the “professional” cameras. You can take an unlimited number of “burst-mode” shots with the new iPhone, simply by keeping your finger on the shutter button; instead of being limited to just six (as a few of the DSLR cameras currently offer), you can take 10, 20, or even a hundred shots. And then — almost magically — the iPhone will show you which one or two of the large burst of photos was optimally sharp and clear. With a couple of clicks, you can then delete everything else, and retain only the very best one or two from the entire burst.
"With that in mind, I’ve begun using my iPhone5s for more and more “everyday” photo situations out on the street. Since I’m typically photographing ordinary, mundane events, even the one or two “optimal” shots that the camera-phone retains might not be worth showing anyone else … so there is still a lot of pruning and editing to be done, and I’m lucky if 10% of those “optimal” shots are good enough to justify uploading to Flickr and sharing with the rest of the world. Still, it’s an enormous benefit to know that my editing work can begin with photos that are more-or-less “technically” adequate, and that I don’t have to waste even a second reviewing dozens of technically-mediocre shots that are fuzzy, or blurred.
"Oh, yeah, one other minor benefit of the iPhone5s (and presumably most other current brands of smartphone): it automatically geotags every photo and video, without any special effort on the photographer’s part. Only one of my other big, fat cameras (the Sony Alpha SLT A65) has that feature, and I’ve noticed that almost none of the “new” mirrorless cameras have got a built-in GPS thingy that will perform the geotagging...
"I’ve had my iPhone5s for a couple of months now, but I’ve only been using the “burst-mode” photography feature aggressively for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the initial batch of photos that I’m uploading are all taken in the greater-NYC area. But as time goes on, and as my normal travel routine takes me to other parts of the world, I hope to add more and more “everyday” scenes in cities that I might not have the opportunity to photograph in a “serious” way.
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Okay, so now it’s September of 2014, and I’ve got the iPhone 6. They say that the camera is better, and that the internal camera-related hardware/firmware/software is better, too. Obviously, I’ve got the newer iOS, too, and even on the “old” phones, it now supports time-lapse videos along with everything else.
I’ve still got my pocket camera (an amazing little Sony ERX-100 Mark III), and two larger cameras (Sony RX-10, and Sony A7), but I have a feeling that I won’t even be taking them out of the camera bag when I’m out on the street for ordinary day-to-day walking around.
That will depend, obviously, on what kind of photos and videos the iPhone6 is actually capable of taking … so I’m going to try to use it every day, and see what the results look like …
Like I said last year, “stay tuned…"
(more details later, as time permits)
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I’ve been to Venice once or twice for brief business trips during my life, which had the same characteristics as the business trips I described in a separate Flickr album about Paris — i.e., they basically involve flying into a busy airport at night, taking a taxi to a generic business-traveler’s hotel (a Hilton in Venice looks just like a Hilton in Cairo,except perhaps for the canal outside the main entrance), and then spending several days working in the hotel (if the purpose of the trip was a seminar or computer conference), or at a client’s office (also “generic” in most cases — you can’t even tell what floor you’re on when you get off the elevator, because every floor of “open office” layouts is the same). The trip usually ends in the late afternoon or evening of the final day, with a mad dash back to the airport to catch the last plane home to NYC. Thus, a business trip to Venice is almost indistinguishable from a business trip to Omaha. Or Albany. Or Tokyo.
But Venice is different from almost any other place in the world, and I’ve had a couple of vacation trips to experience that side of the city. But it’s been a long, long time: the first such visit was back in 1976 (which you can see here on Flickr), and the second visit was in 1983 (pictures of which do exist on Flickr, but have been restricted to family-only access, since they consist mostly of boring pictures of drooling babies and kids sticking their collective tongues out at me).
Thirty years is a long time between visits … but for a city like Venice, I doubt that very much has changed. Well, perhaps there wasn’t a McDonald’s outlet in Venice when I first came here (and I did photograph one such outlet on this current visit, which you’ll find in this album), and you can certainly guarantee that people weren’t walking around with cellphones and smartphones the way they are today. And while the tourists typically did have cameras back in the good-old-days, they were typically modest little “Instamatic” film-based gadgets, rather than the big, garish, DSLR cameras that everyone now seems to carry around with them, complete with advertising logos all over the camera-straps and bodies to remind you that they, too, can afford to buy an expensive Canon or Nikon gadget that they really don’t know how to use properly. (Sorry, I got carried away there …)
But the buildings, and the people, and the canals, and the gondolas … all of that is the same. And that’s what I’ve tried to capture in this set of photos. The tourist crowds are now so thick (even in May!) that I didn’t even bother going to the square at San Marco, and I didn’t bother taking any photos from the Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal; but you will see some photos of tourists in this album, along with photos of the local people who are still here …
I don’t expect to come back to Venice again in the next year or two … but if it turns out to be 20 or 30 years before my next return, I suspect it will all look pretty much exactly the same as it did on this trip, and in 1983, and when I first saw it in 1976.
[Parque Sucre]
El cantón Chone, ubicado en la provincia de Manabí, es un hermoso lugar del Ecuador que posee las condiciones ideales para el desarrollo del agroturismo. Tiene una superficie de 3.570 kilómetros cuadrados, ocupando un vasto territorio en el centro norte de la provincia manabita.
Es uno de los principales motores económicos de la provincia a través de actividades como la agricultura, el comercio y la ganadería, este último rubro convierte al cantón en el primer centro ganadero provincial, con cerca de 300 mil cabezas de ganado vacuno, adaptadas a las duras condiciones de la montaña tropical.
En el cantón también se cultiva cacao fino de aroma, cuya producción es exportada, en su mayoría hacia países de Europa, como Alemania y Francia, donde su grano es muy apetecido.
Sus grandes montañas permiten la realización de excursiones y paseos de aventura, donde los turistas descubren exuberantes bosques y caídas de agua; son sitios ideales para la observación de flora y fauna, y de especial interés para ornitólogos y naturalistas.
El río Chone es el principal de la región, junto a sus afluentes Garrapata, San Lorenzo y Tosagua, que nacen en las partes altas de los cantones Bolívar y Junín, que a su paso, permiten el desarrollo agrícola y ganadero del cantón. A su desembocadura en la Bahía de Caráquez, da lugar a la formación de un estuario de espectacular belleza y diversidad.
La ciudad de Chone, que es la capital del cantón, conocida también como La Ciudad de los Naranjos en Flor, es una ciudad dinámica y hospitalaria. Fue fundada el 7 de agosto de 1735 por el religioso portovejense Fray José Antonio Cedeño, y bautizada como Villa de San Cayetano de Chone, habiendo ganado un gran prestigio a nivel nacional por ser cuna de bellas mujeres y hombres bravíos.
En los alrededores de Chone se puede encontrar interesantes sitios para descubrir y disfrutar de la naturaleza.
Hacia el norte de la ciudad, en la vía a El Carmen, se encuentra el sitio La Dibujada, Consta de unas grandes cuevas con inscripciones sobre piedra o petroglifos representando hombres y animales, cuya antigüedad y procedencia están por determinarse a pesar de que los vestigios arqueológicos encontrados en el sito, indican que pudieron haber sido realizados por las tribus Ñauzas y Chunos.
Festividades:
Festividad de la Tonga Familiar, segunda semana de marzo.
Semana Santa: Festival Gastronómico
Fiestas por la cantonización de Chone: 24 de julio
Verbena Chonera primera semana de julio
Fiestas por la fundación de la Villa de San Cayetano de Chone: 7 de agosto
Santa Rosa de Canuto: 30 de agosto
Feria del Chame y Festival de la Mandarina: Segundo domingo de septiembre
Fiesta de la Virgen de la O 30 de octubre
Feria del Cacao: segunda semana de octubre
Feria de la producción ganadera y agrícola: última semana de octubre
Feria de cabalo de paso fino: octubre
Feria del camarón: 18 de octubre
Festival de la Natilla en la Cabaña de Toto: segunda semana de noviembre
Atractivos del cantón:
Los principales atractivos naturales que posee el cantón Chone, son:
Humedal La Segua
Cantiles El Jobo
Piedra y Cueva La dibujada
Bosque de transición
San Ignacio
Cabañas El Toto
Centro Recreacinal Café Color Tierra
Balnearios de agua dulce: El Tecal en Río Santo, Puerto El Bejuco, Dos bocas
Cabañas ecológicas
La Comuna de Convento
Cascada la Guabina
Cascada El Caracol
Balneario La Poza
Cascada de Palalache
Los atractivos culturales que llaman la atención de los turistas, son:
Pelea de gallos
Artesanías
El Chuno escultural en raíces
Mirador Cerro Guayas
Monumento a los Raidistas
Casa Antigua La Providencia
Artesanías y talabarterías en Boyacá
Gastronomía y dulces
Ganadería
Iglesia Santa Rosa de Canuto
Geografía:
La ciudad está rodeada de cerros y lomas que forman pequeños sistemas de elevaciones litorales con alturas que sobrepasan los 100 metros sobre el nivel del mar. En una de las llanuras costeras más bajas de la zona Norte de Manabí es donde se encuentra ubicada la Ciudad de Chone siendo fundada geográficamente entre los territorios pantanosos, semisecos, subtropicales y húmedos que derivan de la Cordillera Occidental de los Andes adyacente directamente al Océano Pacífico y a los pueblos relacionados directamente con la geografía costeña. El relieve más alto está concentrado en la parte sur-este, siendo su mayor altitud en el Cerro Blanco con 560 metros.
La cadena montañosa se asemeja a una pequeña corriente o micro ascendencia de la Cordillera Occidental de los Andes. Por el lado Oeste y Noroeste de la ciudad se encuentra rodeada por tres elevaciones terráqueas que se definen como tres cerros, y el mayor de estos se ubica en el medio conformando el conocido mirador turístico Cerro Guayas, donde se encuentra edificada la estatua del Cristo Redentor de Chone.
Límites
Chone limita:
Al norte con la provincia de Esmeraldas y el cantón Pedernales;
Al sur con los cantones de Pichincha, Bolívar y Tosagua;
Al este con El Carmen, Flavio Alfaro y la provincia de Los Ríos y,
Al oeste con los cantones Sucre, Junín, Jama y Pedernales.
Clima
Chone es por excelencia una urbe subtropical de abundante y rica flora y fauna por lo que la ciudad se edificó en un territorio muy parecido a la selva ecuatoriana. El clima predominante es el cálido seco en verano, que va desde junio hasta noviembre, en épocas normales; y el cálido lluvioso en época de invierno, que va de diciembre a mayo. En verano los vientos modifican el clima y su temperatura oscila entre los 23 y 28 grados centígrados, mientras que en invierno alcanza los 34 grados centígrados, considerándose uno de los climas más inestables y desequilibrados de las regiones costeras del Pacífico sudamericano.
A lo largo de su historia la ciudad ha sido afectada por una serie de inundaciones masivas y continuas que en su espacio geográfico (Provocadas por el Fenómeno de El Niño 1998-1999 en la estación inverna ecuatoriana) perjudican su rica y productiva economía basada en la agricultura y ganadería. Las incontrolables inundaciones han acarreado un sinnúmero de pestes y epidemias tropicales que han afectado a la población considerándolas incluso como normales y comunes por hoy. Entre las citadas están el dengue, paludismo, etc.
Hidrografía
En Chone está la cuenca hídrica más grande de la provincia, que la forma el Río Chone y sus afluentes. En el norte del cantón nacen las microcuencas del Peripa y del Daule. La red hidrográfica está constituida por ríos, terrenos sujetos a inundación, lagos y charcos intermitentes, y esteros, entre los principales se encuentran: Chone, con sus afluentes Garrapata, Mosquito, Grande, Santo, Sánchez, La Pulga, Cañitas, Zapallo, Monito, Cucuy, Palalache, Convento, Manta Blanca, Plátano, La Iguana, Yahuila y Quiebra Cabeza.
Alojamiento
Hotel Atahualpa de Oro
Teléfono: 2696-627.
Dirección: Atahualpa y Páez.
Hotel Colón
Teléfono: 2360-984
Dirección: Vargas Torres y Alajuela.
Hotel Manabí
Teléfono: 0993923207
Dirección: Vargas Torres y Washington
Hotel Los Chonanas
Teléfono: 2695-253 / 2695-230 / 0980410642
Dirección: Washington, entre Atahualpa y Pichincha.
Hotel Amash
Teléfono: 2696-283.
Dirección: Av. Sixto Durán Ballén.
Hotel Los Naranjos
Teléfono: 2695-541 / 09681237
Dirección: Pichincha y Washington esquina.
Hotel Chuno
Teléfono: 2690-383
Dirección: Av. Sixto Durán Ballén.
DATOS DE INTERÉS TURÍSTICO
Monumento a los Raidistas.
En la ciudad de Chone existe un monumento denominado ?Los Raidistas?, obra que llama mucho la atención de quienes no conocen las historia que motivó su construcción.
Este monumento fue erigido en recordación a una gesta heroica desarrollada por cinco intrépidos jóvenes de Chone, quienes, en el mes de enero de 1940, a bordo de un automotor, culminaron una travesía por tierra que unió a la ciudad de Chone con Quito, cuando aún no existía una carretera, demostrando con ello la factibilidad y la necesidad de esta obra.
Ellos iniciaron su odisea el 6 de diciembre de 1939 y, ?haciendo camino al andar?, como se interpreta en la poesía de Antonio Machado, fueron trazando una ruta que los llevó a través de montañas, ríos y terrenos llenos de dificultades, hasta que al fin, el 28 de enero de 1940, llegaron a Quito, demostrando con su osadía que sí era posible la construcción de un camino que uniera a la capital del Ecuador con este sector de la provincia de Manabí.
La gesta se realizó durante la presidencia del Dr. Andrés F. Córdova, quien ante la resonancia que se dio en los medios de comunicación de la época y comprendiendo la importancia de la construcción de la vía, dispuso que se iniciaran os trabajos para hacerla realidad, ordenando para ello una asignación de 1'200.000 sucres.
Los integrantes de aquel osado grupo de jóvenes, denominados los raidistas, que permanecerán para siempre en el recuerdo de los habitantes de Chone, fueron: Carlos Alberto Aray, Artemio Aray, Juan de Dios Zambrano, Emilio Hidalgo y Plutarco Moreira.
Quito y Manabí y de inmediato el presidente de la República, Andrés F. Córdova, anunció que asignaría para empezar los trabajos de la carretera.
Heladería Mora.
Esta heladería es una tradición en Chone, iniciada por Armando Mora hace 66 años y continuada por su hijo Dennis, quien aprendió el arte de elaborar los deliciosos helados tradicionales de diferentes sabores, de la mano de su progenitor.
En sus inicios, don Armando empezó a elaborar el producto con leche y piña y poco a poco debido a la demanda y a pedido de su clientela que cada día iba en aumento, fue incrementando más sabores como frutilla, mora, naranjilla, chicle, chocolate, etc.
El promedio de venta de los helados es de 40 a 50 litros diarios y el que más salida tiene es el tradicional de piña con leche.
Prácticamente no hay un ciudadano de Chone que no haya degustado estos deliciosos helados a lo largo de su vida. Es tanta la acogida de helados Mora, que sus propietarios están analizando la posibilidad de ampliar el negocio fuera de Chone y de Manabí, aspirando, incluso, llegar a Guayaquil, un mercado en el cual, de acuerdo a pruebas que ya han realizado, el producto ha tenido una buena demanda.
TURISMO CANTONAL
En los alrededores de la ciudad de Chone se encuentran varios atractivos turísticos que llenan de adrenalina a los aventureros y turistas que los visitan. Las actividades que se desarrollan en esos lugares dan grandes satisfacciones a quienes disfrutan de la gastronomía típica, de un baño en pequeñas cascadas, de caminatas por el campo o son observadores de aves, esta última resulta muy interesante en el humedal La Segua, debido a la gran cantidad de pájaros que se encuentran en el lugar.
Rancho La Misión.
Uno de estos atractivos los constituye el rancho La Misión, ubicado en la parroquia San Antonio, aproximadamente a diez minutos de la ciudad, en el cual propietarios tienen varias casas de madera que alquilan a los turistas, sean individuales, parejas o grupos familiares que deseen pasar un tiempo ameno lejos de la ciudad. Las cabañas cuentan con todos los servicios básicos para dar una buena atención a los visitantes.
En el rancho, además de ganado vacuno y caballar, existen sembríos de cacao, plátano y frutales. Como parte del entretenimiento en el lugar, los visitantes pueden pasear a caballo.
Durante la estadía de un grupo prensa, los comunicadores sociales tuvieron la oportunidad de conocer al alcalde de Chone, Dr. Deyton Alcívar Alcívar, quien acudió al lugar con su esposa Genny Macías de Alcívar y explicó a los visitantes su visión de querer establecer a Chone como un cantón de destino turístico.
Los visitantes del rancho pudieron disfrutar de los platos típicos del lugar, a más de sostener diálogos para conocer de boca del funcionario público sobre el trabajo que está realizando el GAD de Chone para incentivar la visita de turistas nacionales y extranjeros.
PARROQUIA CANUTO
Canuto es otra parroquia que pertenece al cantón Chone, en ella hay varios sitios de gran interés turístico que poco a poco se han ido desarrollando y ganando un espació entre los atractivos que ofrecen a los turistas espacios para el conocimiento, descanso y la aventura. El 13 de agosto de 1862 es la fecha histórica de su parroquialización.
Iglesia San Francisco y Santa Rosa de Canuto.
Según el guía Gutemberg Mendoza, que atendió a los periodistas durante el recorrido por Canuto, aunque no hay una fecha exacta, se estima que la iglesia fue erigida en 1880. Originalmente fue elaborada con tres tipos de madera propios de la zona: Guayacán, Moral y Guayabo.
También explicó que una tradición que existía hace ya muchos años pero que ahora está en desuso era que las parejas de enamorados, para oficializar su unión, caminaban alrededor de la iglesia y así consideraban que ya se habían convertido en marido y mujer, sin mayor trámite.
Su costo fue de 500 pesos. Tuvo una primera restauración en 1942, luego del terremoto del 13 de mayo del mismo año. Su última renovación fue en el 2013. En la actualidad, aún se conservan en buen estado las columnas que llegan hasta el campanario.
Tiempo atrás existían personas dedicadas a hacer sonar las campanas en diferentes tonalidades, difiriendo cada una del evento realizado en la iglesia (bautizos, misas, matrimonios, entre otros). Es considerado un arte que ya no existe en estos días. La iglesia es considerada Patrimonio Cultural del Ecuador.
Mausoleo.
Otro atractivo de gran interés para los visitantes, es un mausoleo que se encuentra a la derecha de la entrada de la iglesia San Francisco y Santa Rosa de Canuto. Está hecho de mármol.
El mausoleo fue elaborado en honor a Don Mariano Dueñas Loor, primer jefe político de Chone, por disposición de su esposa Ana Mendoza de Dueñas, quien de esta manera quiso erigir un monumento que recordara la memoria de su amado esposo.
Fue afectado durante el terremoto de 1942 pero se decidió no restaurarlo como rememoración de la tragedia. La mayor afectación se observa en la falta de la cabeza de la imagen, la cual está siendo restaurada para volverla a colocar.
Parque Los Pericos.
Frente a la iglesia se encuentra el denominado "Parque de los Pericos", y su nombre se debe a la presencia de los pericos Escobedo, aves de plumaje de color verde que en gran número viven en las copas de los árboles de dicho sector.
El parque cuenta con una sección infantil, vegetación (como las palmas que fueron introducidas con la creencia de que las aves se posarían más allí, sin embargo ellas prefieren los otros árboles), y una glorieta de la cual se dice era considerada como sitio de reunión de gente de linaje.
De 18:00 a 19:00 sucede un fenómeno conocido como la Sinfonía de los Pericos, la cual es el sonido que estas aves realizan durante esa hora en la que regresan para pasar la noche luego de sus correrías diarias en busca de alimento. Se estima una presencia de entre 3.000 y 5.000 pericos en el parque en todo el día.
La Cabaña El Toto.
Su dueño es Raúl Rodríguez Marcillo, quien, en honor a su hijo menor, llamado Totto, decidió darle su nombre al lugar.
Rodríguez está especializado en la preparación de dulces con ingredientes del lugar, siendo el principal el maíz. El prepara la muy conocida Natilla de Canuto, aparte de alfajores (su relleno es la natilla) y chocolatines (preparados con canela, panela, leche y chocolate).
Según Rodríguez, para realizar la elaboración de la natilla, se deben seguir los siguientes pasos:
Dejar secar el maíz.
Se lo sancocha, es decir que se le cocina con ceniza.
Se muele y lava luego con agua.
Se le da consistencia y para ello se lo mezcla con leche, raspadura (panela), clavo dulce, anís estrellado, etc.
Se cocina por media hora, moviéndolo entre ratos.
Se deja enfriar en el molde.
Se hornea.
Se envuelve en hoja de plátano y la natilla ya está lista para ser consumida.
Conforme a lo indicado por Rodríguez, en la Cabaña del Totto venden entre 250 y 300 unidades a la semana, a un costo de un dólar. Generalmente se expenden envueltas en hojas de plátano, pero si el cliente lo pide se le puede entregar en tarrinas plásticas.
Sin refrigeración, la natilla dura un día, mientras que en la nevera puede durar hasta 3 meses.
Cabe anotar que en la Cabaña del Toto está programada la realización del Festival de la Natilla, evento que se desarrollará en segunda semana de noviembre.