My first solo photography exhibited – Connecting People, Strengthening Communities: The Harlem River Bridges – opened last Monday, January 11th in the ArtViews Gallery at the Moses Campus of Montefiore Medical Center located at 111 East 210th Street in the Bronx.
27 photographs – some are old and others are new – are included in this exhibition.
The ArtViews Gallery is open daily from 8am – 5pm. The exhibition will continue until April 1st.
I’m trying to be better about updating my photo blog. Please forgive this and the previous post, which are a bit late, but I’m trying. . . . Consider this a renewed effort at sharing more about photographic work.
During a recent visit to the Bronx General Post Office at 555 Grand Concourse (at the corner of 149th Street), I snapped a few photos using my Sony DSC RX III of its well-known New Deal-era murals. They always make me pause when I’m in there.
Thankfully, despite the turnover of the historic building to commercial owners, the murals will be preserved.
.
Last Wednesday, I had a meeting with the fine arts curator at Montefiore Medical Center. Through a mutual friend, the curator learned about my work, liked it, and was interested in meeting me to discuss a potential collaborative project. Hence, my meeting at Montefiore last week.
Montefiore’s Fine Art Program recently launched a rotating exhibition space called the ArtViews Gallery, which will exhibit original work from artists in the New York City area. The gallery is a 60 feet-long heavily used corridor, which I examined during my visit there.
I have a lot of freedom with regard to the exhibit’s theme and the images I would like to include. I’m supposed to submit a proposal by mid-August with the intention of the exhibit opening in January.
Following my recent exhibit at the Poe Park Visitor Center, this would be another great opportunity. Stay tuned!
High Bridge: Rebirth of the Harlem River, a group exhibition in which I was a part, concluded yesterday with an artist panel discussion. Yesterday’s final day coincided with the High Bridge Festival, a public celebration of the recent reopening of the High Bridge.
The turnout was small for our panel discussion yesterday, which was in sharp contrast to our exhibition reception the week earlier in which about 70 people attended. Even the Deputy Commissioner of NYC Parks stopped by and posed with Wes, Nathan, and me.
The response to our exhibit has been very positive. Everyone has seemed impressed and happy. Throughout this journey, we made wonderful contacts at NYC Parks and elsewhere which are, of course, invaluable. We were even featured in a small piece by BBC World Service, which was broadcast on NPR this past Friday, July 24th.
Now that it’s over, we’re looking for new venue where we can possibly continue our exhibit if not in total than maybe in part.
Come see my exhibition! It just opened this past Wednesday, July 1st, at the Poe Park Visitor Center.
The past two weeks have been incredibly busy getting ready for the opening. Pretty much around the clock preparation, but in the end, it seems to look really good. I look forward to hearing people’s feedback.
I was fortunate to be interviewed about my Harlem River project by writer and photographer, Nathan Kensinger, for his most recent Curbed NY article: New York’s Once-Neglected Harlem River Experiences a Rebirth. I am so grateful to have gotten in contact with Mr. Kensinger, a gifted chronicler of New York City’s peripheral waterways and infrastructure, who was so generous of his time and knowledge with me.
In my interview with him, I learned that Bridge Park, the newest park to be constructed and the first Bronx waterfront park since Mill Pond Park between 149th and 153rd Streets was opened, is open though not officially. I’ve been busy photographing others locations, but I look forward to getting around to exploring this newest park just north of the Washington Bridge soon.
Yesterday I had the thrill of attending the opening reception of Basove/Bridges: Transporting the Metropolis at the Noble Maritime Collection at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island.
The beautiful exhibition focuses on her famous paintings and sketches of New York City’s bridges. Her style of art is mesmerizing and I’ve been a fan ever since I first learned about her work in her book, Stone and Steel: Paintings and Writings Celebrating the Bridges of New York City. Her images run the gambit of the city’s iconic spans, such as the Brooklyn and George Washington Bridges, as well as its lesser known ones, such as the Ward’s Island and Macombs Dam Bridge.
Macombs Dam Bridge
Bronx Whitestone Bridge
Triborough Bridge
Bayonne Bridge II
It was a delightful day to take the long trip to Staten Island via the ferry.
Definitely check out her show!
A few days ago, The New York Times published a fantastic short documentary – Living City: A Tale of Two Bridges – which looks at the history of the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. Definitely worth watching!
Noted painter and author, Antonio Masi, shares inspirational reflections on the beauty and significance of the bridges of New York City.
Last night was the opening exhibition reception for Bronx X Bronx at the Bronx Documentary Center.
All are welcomed to attend this wonderful show of Bronx photographers and see the wonderful gallery space that has brought so much inspiration to this area of the South Bronx. This free exhibition continues until October 12th.
Yours truly is also fortunate to have one photograph of the High Bridge in the exhibition.
Come and check it out!
I will return to work on Monday after a two-week long spring break during which I went on a number of largely successful photo shoots along the Harlem River. I tried as best I could to take advantage of the time that I had off to capture some of the subjects that had remained on my to-do-list. As is usually the case, variables such as poor weather, prevented me from checking all the subjects off my list but it was fun and successful break photographically, nonetheless.
I also made time to do a bit of pleasure reading. Cara A. Sutherland’s Bridges of New York City (2003) is a beautiful and richly informative book full of captivating black and white photographs of many of the city’s most significant spans. As expected, most of the book is devoted to the iconic bridges of the East River – Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, (Ed Koch) Queensboro Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge – and the Hudson River’s George Washington Bridge. To my surprise, however, she focuses on the history and significance of the Harlem River’s High Bridge as well as some of the city’s earliest spans, such as the King’s Bridge and Coles Bridge. Moreover, some impressive photographs that I had never seen before of these bridges are included. Attention is also given to the peripheral but vital Verrazano–Narrows Bridge in addition to the Bronx-Whitestone and Bayonne Bridges.
Sutherland’s book also has a selection of images taken by Berenice Abbott during the 1930s.
I must confess that before studying her photographs in this book, I had never given her iconic images much attention. That has all changed now! I was floored and hooked! Impressed and humbled, I purchased Bernice Abbott: Changing New York, which has these and many other of her acclaimed and recognizable 1930-era photographs of New York City.
In sum, Sutherland’s book is highly recommended for NYC bridge and history enthusiasts!
Duane Bailey-Castro | Photo Blog 