My Work: Washington Square Park Swings

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved. 1/125 sec f2.8 iso 160 Elmarit 28mm

With the weather improving, NYC's Washington Square Park is starting to swing...and is an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon...apart from lurking "peddlers" who may ask you, as they asked me, if you're "shopping" today (is the NYPD off on Sunday?).

The musicians and buskers are entertaining the tourists and locals alike. A band that many enjoy a lot is the Baby Soda Band who play great old-time swing and New Orleans jazz numbers...and proud to tell you they're from Brooklyn.

NYU students came to watch the band, and joined in the dancing. These two were quite good, and might have been dancing school students.

While the Leica M9 is a great tool...it sure ain't an action camera though!

Thomas Jeppesen: Vietnam

Thomas Jeppesen is originally from Denmark, and currently working in Vietnam as the director of an advertising agency in its capital, Hanoi. This gives him ample opportunity to photograph its streets and its vicinity.

He bought his first DSLR a couple of years ago, and developed the photography bug. He enjoys the post-processing phase of digital photography, and this shows in his gallery of Vietnamese portraits, which are mostly in black & white. Some would say they're somewhat overly contrasty, but that's a look that many B&W photographers seek.

Thomas also has a set of galleries of Hanoi street scenes and Vietnamese fashion models.

Ed Kashi At The World Financial Center

Photo © Ed Kashi-All Rights Reserved

Purely by happenstance, I stumbled on Ed Kashi's two exhibitions at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery. Ed's large photographs of his work Madagascar (in color) and Aging In America (black & white) were hung in two connected galleries on the second floor of the magnificent building in NYC's Battery Park. The exhibits are free to the public, and are sponsored by American Express and a bunch of the financial institutions.

Leaving aside Aging In America (a social issue not within this blog's purview), I liked a number of photographs in the Madagascar exhibit which "delves into environmental concerns, documenting the delicate balance between economic development and ecological preservation in the lush island nation."

The one photograph that appealed to me the most is the one illustrating this post. Its many layers and shadow are framed just perfectly. It's of a water collection point on the island. Another one (I couldn't find it on Ed's website) is of a banana stand; the fruit protected by an umbrella, and a woman vendor in a flowery dress.

Ed Kashi is a well known photojournalist, who's represented by VII. He's been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition.