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Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
It's been an active summer, and I've been neglecting my blog. Since leaving for Cape Town and South Africa, I have returned and left again, first to Philadelphia for the weekend, and then to Hawaii for a week. I have just returned from the latter. I went on the invitation of a friend, who asked me to shoot her wedding. It took some cajoling on her part, but I agreed. Prior to the wedding, I spent some time on the big island with friends. We swam with dolphins, walked over magma to watch lava flow into the ocean, and hiked into the Waipio valley to enjoy the black sand beach that marks the mouth of the valley. It was an incredible trip. Watching the lava flow was one of the most amazing things I have done in my life. We were literally witnessing creation.
No less incredible was South Africa, where I caught two matches in Cape Town: Spain vs Portugal in the final Round of 16 match, and the semifinal between the Netherlands and Uruguay (alas, it should have been against Ghana). After the games, I made my way north by north east to Pretoria, and then further north again towards the border with Botswana where I spent two glorious days on safari at Madikwe game reserve. The safari was one of the best things I have treated myself to in a long time.
In between I went to Philadelphia to visit the Barnes collection before it's moved from its original home. I had watched a documentary about the collection and it's imminent relocation; I determined there and then I would see the collection where it belonged. It was well worth the effort. On our way back, we stopped by the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the late Renoir show. I didn't think I was that into Renoir, but the show was stunning, and I felt a newfound appreciation take root. It helped that the show was beautifully hung and lit; the art shone like a beacon.
I still need time to sort through the photos of South Africa and Hawaii before I post them (I just dropped off the Hawaii film, and I'm nervous about the wedding photos). I've been meaning to blog about South Africa on my text blog, but it's so vast that I wouldn't know where to begin (I didn't blog as I went along as internet was expensive; maybe it's time to get an iPad. Or something.). As it is, I have to update my personal journal with Hawaii. I had neglected to bring my Moleskin with me.
The above photo was one I took on my birthday, almost three months ago to the day. I picked up this set of contact sheets when I dropped off my film today. I spent the morning and afternoon by myself, as is my wont. I had a breakfast of noodles at Bo Ky before heading up to the Met. I went to see the bamboo installation on the roof and the American Women fashion design show. I then surprised myself by wandering through the European galleries. It had been some time since I had done so, and I found myself transfixed by the Dutch masters. I suddenly saw things I had never noticed before, the way the textiles draped and caught the light, the sheer volume of the figures themselves. It was a revelation.
That evening I treated around seventeen of my friends to dinner. A few more came for drinks afterwards. I had never thrown a party for myself; I was nervous about how it would go, but I needn't have worried. Everything went smoothly, thanks in no small part to the staff, and I found I enjoyed playing the part of the host.
Comments (6)
Glad to see you back.. it is always good to Live Life and then come back and share... another great image above!
Sounds like you've been quite busy this summer. Can't wait to see all those pictures.
Thanks Ken! It's nice to be back. I hope I have enough images to keep posting. :-)
me: Yeah, the summer has been surprisingly busy. But it's been nice, that. And I can't wait to see the pictures either! Well, I've seen the S Africa ones, just not the Hawaii ones. ;-) I just gotta get cracking on editing and posting . . .
very good legwork!
@grapf Ha! Thanks!
This is really great!
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