5.20.2005

so tonight that i might see



i was fortunate that josh emailed me to let me know last thursday night was the first nyc photobloggers meetup. since getting ocular spectra started last year and then going to the photobloggers2 event at the apple store last september, i've been curious to put some faces and names to the urls and great pictures i've come to know.

this took place at a bar called the magician. the first person i met was keith of overshadowed. until recently when things have been a bit busier for me, i've hit his site with awestruck regularity since his presentation at the apple store. he does a lot of photoshop work on a lot of his shots, but this enhances rather than diminishes his art. most of his photos make new york city into the beautifully dark sci-fi nightmare it must look like to tourists. we had a great discussion about letting the medium of the camera be a part of the picture.

next i met rion, who was jokingly referred to as "the ringleader" (she was the main organizer and mc at the photobloggers event). i was flattered she actually remembered my site. like keith, her work is very crisp and clear, though she seems to shoot a wider variety of subjects and has a more naturalistic approach. of course my favorite shots are the ones that aren't set up but look like they could have been, but her pictures also show a level of professionalism that belies the supposed "amateur" nature of photoblogs.

as i was talking to rion, running out the door turned out to be another favorite of mine, mike of satan's laundromat. he has a great eye for urban decay, which is one of my favorite shooting subjects. his chief interest seems to be signage, often humorous and/or ironic. i also respect him for having been through a hellish ordeal of being one of those unfairly arrested at the RNC last summer. he was, to the best of my knowledge, wrongfully detained at pier 57 in horrible conditions for over 24 hours and has pictures to tell the tale.

i also breifly chatted with adam of tozzer.net, whose work i wasn't familiar with, but i like now i've had a chance to check it out.

in need of something to soak up the booze we'd been consuming, we passed on one of my ludlow st. favorites, rush hour, because there were too many of us. we ended up at katz' deli, where i caused a minor stir by temporarily losing my meal ticket.

i sat with gene (who took the lovely shot of the chairs at katz' above) and lil, briefly discussing our different focuses in our work, since they have very different styles from me. they were both highly intelligent and pleasant. liz also impressed me with her knowledge of things japanese, an interest of mine that's been bubbling under for the past few years.

there were more people there, like martin and nick rhodes (no relation), but i didn't get a chance to speak to them. it was a nice laid-back time that made me anticipate the next photobloggers event in june even more.


the title of this post comes from an album by mazzy star.