hong-an tran

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Everyone’s favorite economic historian and erstwhile political theorist take in the sights around the Gowanus Canal, in the fading Sunday light.  Our stroll found us around bus depots and emptied warehouses, with curious new condo developments nearby — I’m guessing the new Whole Foods site on the corner of 3rd street and 3rd Avenue has something to do with that.  Though the lot is completely empty with nary a bit of construction to be found, the signs posted on the plywood around the edge say that the store is slated to open April 2012.   A Whole Foods in the Gowanus!  Now I’ve seen everything.

I took the Leica and the Lomo with me, and I think the Lomo shots turned out quite well.  Can you tell which photo came from which camera?

Beforehand, we met up at Abilene, completely wrecked from the women’s World Cup final.  The only thing to do, it seemed, was to calm our frayed nerves with some Hendricks-based gin and tonics.  Largely did the trick, methinks. 
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* not unlike Gorillas in the Mist, I suppose.
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About a month ago, I got an email from Nick Solares with the subject line “Let’s Shoot!”  Turns out Nick had up and got himself a Leica M9, and soon afterwards a Summicron 50/1.4 lens (holy cow!), and thought it’d be fun to head out one afternoon, our respective Leicas in tow, to take in lower Manhattan in all its sunny Sunday glory. 

So yesterday we did just that.  After downing a pint at d.b.a., we headed south on Bowery, just past Canal and into Chinatown.  And then went west for a while, zigzagging in and out of Canal Street.  Turned right at West Broadway, then another left somewhere down there until we found ourselves on Seventh Avenue, where we slowly made our way up the West Village and down along the west side of Washington Square Park.  Our final destination: Minetta Tavern, which Nick knows perhaps much too intimately (I jest!), and where we refueled with cocktails, a great bottle of St. Emilion from 2006, and of course the Black Label burger.  (Photos of the food in a post to come.)  It was, all in all, a great afternoon.

Nick is a much more intrepid photographer than I — he’ll get much closer to strangers than I normally would — but I took the opportunity to be a bit bolder, at least for the day.  And Nick claims that my focusing skills were rubbing off on him, so I suppose it was a mutually beneficial walkabout.  I also got to swap out my standard Zeiss Biogon 35/2 lens for a Summicron 28/2 lens that Nick had on loan from a friend, so it was really great to try out a wide angle lens on the M6, especially a Summicron with the handy finger notch on the focus ring, which makes for much easier and faster focusing. 

So here are my photos of the journey, in chronological order.  (Update: Here is Nick’s set.) It was, all in all, a great afternoon: wonderful company, easygoing shoptalk, incredible food, and two Leicas strolling around town.  And I’ll say it again, for the umpteenth time: New York is such a mind-blowingly diverse city.   A three hour stroll only shows you the tip of the proverbial urban iceberg.  I love it so.
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Nick, below, would just wander into the street to get a shot.  It was really great to see him at work/play. 
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Above: Fresh mozzarella + arugula salad at Minetta Tavern. Only a hint of the gut busting pleasures to come.
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