My other life long friend I met in NYC was John Osborne and his wonderful family. John worked for New York Telephone and had such wonderful budgets and was able to send me around New York state to cover conventions for him. He also was responsible for putting on charity event around the state and in the city. I was lucky enough to visit with some great kids that he was investing in programs for their schools. One such program was high school artists who were having their art shown it the lobby of his building in Manhattan. These kids were from disadvantaged schools in the Burroughs of New York.
When I walked in they were wide eyed at the attention they were getting for the art they had created. Of course as teenagers they were wary of showing how pleased they were, they didn’t want to seem uncool. I of course told them to act normal and to go about their art work as they normally would while I took their pictures. Then I set about capturing them and interacting with them and playing with some until they relaxed and I could shoot them without notice. This was one of the great joys of working with John, he gave me the opportunity of seeing real New Yorkers in their habitat. Going about their daily lives and to capture small vignettes it for shows we did in the lobby.
I also had the great opportunity to drive the back roads of New York state going about my business and I could stop if I saw something of interest. This image is a small churchyard on the way to Cooperstown for a convention at the Otesaga Hotel which is on landmark registry. I had shot a clown we used and we had life sized cutouts made to guide the convention guests to the various event. It was wonderful see my work being enjoyed in the venue it was created for.
I was also lucky enough to be considered a member of the family and was invited for all the holidays and some evenings of social fun and dinner. It was the closest I came to having a family while in New York. I got to know and enjoy their two kids very well and I loved talking with them and watching them grow up. They became part of my extended family and I grew to love them very much. The kids (a boy and a girl) were involved with the usual school plays and were getting voice lessons as well and took the work very seriously. They began to be concerned with what plays and singing competitions they were getting into and that gave me pause.
These children were getting involved at a young age in the rat-race that was New York. Involved with the same rat-race that I was in looking at with a growing dismay. I saw in them the same struggles and issues that had begun to dominate my life. New York is a very expensive city to live in, you need to know where your next paycheck is coming from and how soon. It consumes your every waking moment and you’re always’s on the hustle for new opportunities. I wasn’t sure it was worth the struggles anymore nor the toll it was taking in my personal life.
When John mentioned he was taking a buy-out offered by the company I saw my time in New York at an end. I went about making plans to return home and to use all the skill I had learned over the past five years. John and I have remained close friends and still work together on different shoots that crop up and he still has wonderful budgets.
When I walked in they were wide eyed at the attention they were getting for the art they had created. Of course as teenagers they were wary of showing how pleased they were, they didn’t want to seem uncool. I of course told them to act normal and to go about their art work as they normally would while I took their pictures. Then I set about capturing them and interacting with them and playing with some until they relaxed and I could shoot them without notice. This was one of the great joys of working with John, he gave me the opportunity of seeing real New Yorkers in their habitat. Going about their daily lives and to capture small vignettes it for shows we did in the lobby.
I also had the great opportunity to drive the back roads of New York state going about my business and I could stop if I saw something of interest. This image is a small churchyard on the way to Cooperstown for a convention at the Otesaga Hotel which is on landmark registry. I had shot a clown we used and we had life sized cutouts made to guide the convention guests to the various event. It was wonderful see my work being enjoyed in the venue it was created for.
I was also lucky enough to be considered a member of the family and was invited for all the holidays and some evenings of social fun and dinner. It was the closest I came to having a family while in New York. I got to know and enjoy their two kids very well and I loved talking with them and watching them grow up. They became part of my extended family and I grew to love them very much. The kids (a boy and a girl) were involved with the usual school plays and were getting voice lessons as well and took the work very seriously. They began to be concerned with what plays and singing competitions they were getting into and that gave me pause.
These children were getting involved at a young age in the rat-race that was New York. Involved with the same rat-race that I was in looking at with a growing dismay. I saw in them the same struggles and issues that had begun to dominate my life. New York is a very expensive city to live in, you need to know where your next paycheck is coming from and how soon. It consumes your every waking moment and you’re always’s on the hustle for new opportunities. I wasn’t sure it was worth the struggles anymore nor the toll it was taking in my personal life.
When John mentioned he was taking a buy-out offered by the company I saw my time in New York at an end. I went about making plans to return home and to use all the skill I had learned over the past five years. John and I have remained close friends and still work together on different shoots that crop up and he still has wonderful budgets.
3 comments:
A beautiful picture Michael!
I deeply relate to this post. I get to see some tremendously talented young artists at my son's school. I find it fascinating watching them growing into young adults, with opinions, hopes and dreams of their own. I can't help but realise that they are wiser than us so-called "grown-ups." May it always be that way.
It was really fun playing with the teens while they worked on their art. We forget how important art is to kids and how we can interact with them while their working. These kids were only too willing to show a perfect stranger a side of themselves that few other value, their creative selves. We tend to think of kids this age to be all mouth and to be kind of punky in groups. But though my photography we bridged that gap between an old man and them and we both were better for it.
What an incredible cemetery gate and what a great capture of it. Such atmosphere, and such a story to give with this. I've seen so much of this disturbing consciousness of what's vogue at the college. Over the years they taught me some fashion sense and were so thrilled when I began to show it. I wish them well in the world they will inherit.
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