At Home via Instagram

These are the photos from my At Home project after running them through Instagram. 

~Ebube 

The Russians are comming (NY Times Lens Blog)

I saw this Image on the NY Times Lens Blog and found it rather interesting. Interesting because Russian troops are every where including US soil. The website tea party.org covering the story. This image is something we need to get familiar with. The US plans to utilize the Russian troops in assisting FEMA for Up and coming Disaster. This was signed by President Obama. Its Great to know that the government is preparing themselves for Disaster since June 25, 2013, but they rather tell you about Justin Bieber. Prepare for the worst. Get your Disaster kit here at http://www.ready.gov/ Its important that they have Russian troops here to help with Disaster Relief because the Robots are not ready. The robots created by Boston Dynamics (Recently Bought by Google)

Missed Opportunity

Here's My Missed Opportunity story. In 2009 Plaxico Buress of the Super Bowl Winning NY Giants was sentenced to 2 years in prison by shooting himself in the leg at a NY Club called the Latin Quarter aka LQ. I was asked to go to LQ that night to take pictures, I declined to cover this event for some reason I do not know. I believe that I would have prevented Plaxico Buress from shooting himself in the leg that night. That year I had seen him at many clubs that year chillin in VIP not doing much because he saw photographers. Not Going to the club that night was a Missed Opportunity because he would have been chilling the same way he was at all the other clubs I have seen him at. That probably wasnt the first time he brought a gun into the club. Who knows; if he played that year, the NY Giants could have won 2 superbowl's in a row. Its okay. We got one 5 years later in 2012 ;D ************************* Another Missed Opportunity from a technical stand point 2009 I was taking pictures in a Club and Kayne West, Amber Rose, and Drake were in the building after shooting the song "Best I ever had" all day. I was able to take the picture of all 3 of them. But Kayne West wanted me to delete the picture and re shoot it in a Artistic way or in a Documentary manner. Respecting the wishes of Mr. West I deleted the picture and put my sister on the phone so She could speak to Drake for a little bit. I told the promoter that I had the pictures on my memory card which I was able to recover. The only drawback was I would lose the pictures if I shot over the deleted pictures. By the promoters request. He said to forget the picture and shoot the rest of the event. At least I remember the event it was fun. But its Fair to say I dont miss Much!!! ;D Great times ;D

Hipster's Sandbox

It was in Far Rockaway that I missed a great photo, or even a great shoot. I don’t remember the time, but it was summer but pleasantly warm. I went to visit my friends who lived by the beach, and as we decided to walk the rebuilt Boardwalk, we came upon some fun adventure.

Needless to say, at this point, the Rockaways attracted a certain kind of people: hipsters. With their beards and self-righteous indignation to better the community, they moved in and called it home. It was “retro”, “cool”, and “indie” to live in the shattered remains of this place but build it up and then take that renovation away.

Getting back to point, this “activity” was surely their doing: sand castle contest. Oh, and the competitors were lovely. Some bearded, some not, some looked like they were ready to make a political statement through the sand they molded, and some…were dressed as mimes.

I hate mimes. Maybe it is the silent frown or smile they carry on white faces with a splash of black to accent what little soul they hold into their pinstripe bodies that sets me off. Or maybe it is just the fact that they act like fools but somehow their invisible control of the space around them freaks me out--- because I know there is nothing there, yet…they keep…acting as if there is. Whatever it may be, I literally said, “Oh my goodness, mimes. If he comes near me, I will shank him.” ---or something along those lines--- and then, the little jester notices my friend, and like a rodent, scampered towards us and motioned with his silent action that he was asking her out on a date.

Story of my life. Yet, the pictures I wish I captured would have been the shark-shaped sand car a team piled into, the pancake creation machine another time made real by literally flipping pancakes into the crowd with a sand seesaw mechanism, the political statement of a false human head protruding out the sand as crows ate his flesh, and of course the outrageous mimes in their outfits.

The mimes were probably my favorite, because they decided to make the “Tower of Babel”…yet being mimes, they literally made an invisible sand castle. AKA…they made nothing, but, it was there, they were there, I was there…camera-less.

In the realm of documentary photography, I couldn’t imagine a more interesting story. From the weird sculptures to the weirder people, there was so much to tell…so much to capture. I would want to capture the people and their work. I mean, you don’t dress like a mime every day and go to a sandcastle-building contest. And if you do, that is an even more intriguing tale!

The entire event was new to me, not just the people, but also the place and the things. It would have certainly been a learning experience, but then I wonder if I would have been as bold as to enter into these personal lives and document it. Either way, I would have at least gotten some cool pictures! I could image the black and white photos of gray sand against the starch contrast between the people, the characters in some funny skit. The mimes, I’d think, would certainly be quite the photogenic actors. At least, I’d hope they would be, because I could put a good word in it for him to my friend and her dating situation.

Thinking back, it would have been an adventure to take my Canon out into the sand, butt into personal team conversations, explore the lives of these silly and very dedicated sand artists…but then I remember why I laughed at the scene: for every person there, there were at least two gaudy teenage-esque looking people carrying a mammoth size photographing mechanism around their necks as they stroked their beards and ate gluten-free pancakes.

Nonetheless, I missed some great shots, an ability to record these interesting interactions. I guess I’ll just have my memories…and God know how flawed those can be. A photo however is what it captures…how a person sees it is what makes it different. I could have captured everything…differently. I wish I did.

Found the event link: CreativeTime's Sand Castle Competition

Missed Opportunity

The missed opportunity that I've come across did not come from a lack of space on a memory card or a changing of film or from letting the camera down at the wrong time. It comes from the complete reluctance to pick the camera up from the beginning.

Over the course of 6 months last year, from March to August, my grandmother had come from Puerto Rico to stay with me and my family due to a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Over time, I witnessed her slowly begin to deteriorate and weaken due to seeking out chemotherapy. One week she'd be lying in bed or up and about at home, the next she'd be bed-ridden at the hospital. On occassion I would sleep in a recliner next to her to keep eye in case she needed assistance with anything during the night.

Aside from seeing her slowly get worse, I witnessed the dynamic of my family change with her. I saw my mother become a matriarch of the house, running the household and keeping everyone else on track with their regime, as well as becoming overwhelmed with the situation at hand. I saw my grandfather slow down and turn into a stagnant, almost ghostly body within the house, moving from chair to chair and never breaking from his routine. I saw my younger brother work for the family, running errands to help with the circumstance at hand. My aunt visiting with her newborn son, her and my mother bonding after years of aggression towards each other. My grandparents renewing their vows in the living room. Being present the last few hours before my grandmother passed away in late August.

During these months, a mix of hope and fear, content and frustration, good days and bad, filled my house, moving in and out as each day progressed. My one huge mistake and my one regret was not being more active during these times. Taking a personal conservative approach to the matter at hand, I stayed out of the situation for as long as I could muster. A feeling of inadequacy and self-preservation held me back from actively capturing these moments as they played out, for the opportunity to look back and hold close to those times are now gone and they cannot be recovered.

That is not to say there is nothing to take away from the summer my family became shattered and whole all at once. Recently, we reconvened at my baby cousin's christening. My first instinct was to grab my camera, load it, and take as many photos as I could of him. I caught him with his mother, with his father, his godmother (my mother), in his curiosity as he reached out towards the very camera in my hands. In my eyes, he became the adhesive that kept us from falling apart that summer. And years from now, when he is older and curious, I'll have those pictures to show him, as a reminder of how vital a role he plays in our unconventional family dynamic.

My one regret is that I'll never be able to show the happiness he brought to a woman on her last days.

Sergey Ponomarev by Alvia Urdaneta

 

Sergey Ponomarev for the New York Times, 2014.

The first protest that gained a mass amount of following and support thanks to the Internet was the protest in Egypt in 2012, and now in 2014, the Internet is serving as a platform for spreading the mission of protestors in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukrainians have realized that to gain support for their cause, it is vital to show what is happening in their country. Sergey Ponomarev has created an image that is impactful, and successfully makes viewers want to reach out and support. 

Riots began in the Ukraine because of the corrupt government’s last minute decision to create closer ties to Russia instead of joining the European Union (which would have made for new opportunities for modernization and economic growth). This protest in Keiv had quickly become one of the most violent in history, with more than 100 protestors dead. Ponomarev’s photograph is a powerful image because she puts her subject (the protestor) in context with what they are doing. In the foreground of her image there is a man using the typical riot police gear to protect himself from billowing clouds of smoke lit up with fire, midway rubble can be seen, and in the background (just sharp enough to distinguish) we see more protestors gathering behind the smoke. These elements, paired with the diagonal composition which is made up by the protestors taking up 30 percent of the image, and the smoke taking up 70 percent of the image, shows the protestor for who they really are, simply people.

The greatest element in this photograph is the expression of the protestor in the riot police gear. He is not showing the traditional soldier grit that is commonly photographed, instead the protestor looks to be more scared, or stunned by the violence. His expression reveals that he is not a trained soldier or police officer, but a Ukrainian citizen who took up arms to fight for the good of his country, even though that means fighting a trained riot police. 

Ponomarev’s photograph can stand alone to make a point for what is happening in the Ukraine, but would also benefit from being in a series that showed the other aspects of the protest. The photographer does successfully make viewers want to learn more about the protest, and portrays the protestors with justice. Personally, the photograph has made and impact on me in reference to the riots, and Ponomarev’s skills as a photographer have also impacted my views on composition.

Tod Papageorge's Untitled, Studio 54, by Cheryl Parisi

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/this-aint-no-disco-its-a-photograph/

Untitled. Studio 54, New York 1978-1980

This is an untitled photograph from a series of photographs taken in Studio 54, New York, by Tod Papageorge. I remember hearing stories about Studio 54 from my mother. A place where people danced till they dropped and partied till they couldn’t party anymore. Of the photographs from this series, this is the one that captured my attention. A simple image of a women resting against the bar, having a smoke while taking a break from the dance floor. This is an amazing photograph which captures what it was like to be at Studio 54 back in the day when it was the spot to be at.

The flash used in the photograph helps emphasize the women’s outfit, drawing your attention up to her face. The light, emphasizing her sheer exhaustion, illuminates her posture, body language, and facial expressions. The attention is all on her and she is telling the story of a young woman exhausted from dancing. The cigarette in her hand shows how different times where then and now, how it was ok to smoke freely in a club.

This is an exquisite photograph which shows what it was like inside the famous Studio 51. This photograph is a great image alone, but I feel works better in the series. I don’t feel that this image would effect my work. The image though does give me an insight about what it was like partying in New York City when my mother was my age. What I love most about this photograph though, is that this is actually a photograph of my mother, at my age, at Studio 54!