City Daily Photo Theme Day - Me

There is plenty more to come from New York but it's the first of the month and City Daily Photo theme day. There aren't a lot of photos with me in front of the lens. Most of them are for an online class or some exercise I set for myself. These pix are a few years old. The top one is full lawyer battle dress. The second is quiet and shows what RA has done to my hands. Then there is the double arch joke picture on my Facebook page. 

The theme makes me think of one of my favorite photographers, Cindy Sherman, who photographs herself over and over in a myriad of different personas. You can be whoever you want in an image.

To see other City Daily Photo bloggers portray themselves, click here.

Inside The Whitney

           

The Whitney Museum of American Art isn't real big compared to, say, New York's gargantuan Metropolitan Museum, but it's big enough that there's always something interesting. The current main show is a retrospective of Grant Wood's work. His iconic painting is American Gothic, below, which made him an instant star. You can look at this link to the museum's website while it's still up. Wood, who spent most of his life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had a distinct style and a definite dark side.

The other main show was about the photographer and sculptor Zoe Leonard. Frankly, it didn't do a lot for me except for the witty sculpture (for want of a better word) seen farther down - a long line with stacks of old Kodak manuals for the general public.

And if nothing else appeals to you, you can stare at the wall - or read a placard describing a work - or walk your kids around while looking at your phone.

STL DPB In New York - We Always Go To The Whitney

Just about as much for what's outside as what's inside. We often make it the end of a walk down The Highline (which I may get to but which was bloody packed on Sunday). The Whitney Museum of American Art, in the Meatpacking District of southwest Manhattan, has such interesting architecture with its many terraces and overlooks that the views around the building are about as engaging as the art displayed inside.

Non-stop cameras around the place. The fourth picture is the museum's cutely named restaurant, Untitled, on the ground level.          

Ceremony

College graduations all have some degree of ceremony and tradition. The United States Military Academy has plenty. Above, the graduating cadets stand at attention while faculty and staff march in with precision. 

I'm not sure what's going on in the second picture. The younger cadets sit in the end zone of the football stadium. An officer stands among them with two fingers raised in the air and appears to be shouting. My nephew could probably tell me why.

The bottom image is a severe crop of a shot taken at the end of my telephoto's range. It wasn't very clear so I edited it to look like a 1960s news photo, B&W, a little blurry and showing action. Gen. Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff enters the stadium through a tent marked Antiterrorism-Force Protection. Here? I guess so.       

Lieutenent Joshua Kruse

Some time after the main graduation ceremony, each graduate participates in an unusual event. It's known as pinning. The young officers have changed from their cadet gray and whites to an officer's full dress uniform. He or she selects a favorite teacher who delivers the officer's commission and oath of office. Then the parents pin the strips on the shoulders that indicate rank.

This is done in a part of campus of the graduate's choice. Josh's sister and brother hold a flag that is given to him.    

West Point Graduation

Our nephew from Kansas City, Joshua Kruse, graduated from West Point yesterday. Here, General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking military officer in the United States, delivers the commencement address. I have a zillion other pictures but it's late and I'm exhausted. More over the following days. 

The Little Island Where I Was Born

14 miles long. Two and a half miles wide at most. Manhattan  where all the world comes and where I came into it. Taken during final approach into LaGuardia Airport.

We're going a ways up the Hudson today for something special.