Summer in Manhattan

The summer months in Manhattan – humid, yes, but still offering an attractive photographic melding of old and new sights.

My buddy Gent and I drove around the city this year on several photographic jaunts during
July and August. We started out on Fifth Avenue in the 80’s, approaching one of New York’s long-time treasures, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Here’s a good view of the Met’s façade, rising above the multiple steps leading up to its main entrance.

Those small circular objects atop the Met’s façade turn out to
contain sculpted human faces. The tasty treats available out front
are less mysterious.

This fountain is located north of the Met’s main façade.

This and the next photo offer two perspectives on the handsome trees standing in rows between the Met and Fifth Avenue.

The Olympics were taking place in Paris this summer, and Ralph Lauren wanted customers of his establishment at 79th and Madison Avenue to know he supported our athletes.

Two more Olympics-keyed displays on the Lauren façade and
store window.

At Ralph’s other location directly across Madison Avenue, he had a neat idea. Instead of those shapeless wraps around buildings when construction is going on, Lauren hung an intriguing wrap containing photographs of the building surface being hidden.

As a detail-oriented photographer, I also took note of Lauren’s other surroundings that day – a handsome church and a fetching bystander.

Next we headed over to the West Side in the 40’s, in order to view one of my favorite stirring sights adorning our metropolis – the naval aircraft carrier USS Intrepid at its Hudson River pier.

Here’s the bridge area of the Intrepid; and floating in the Hudson on the other side of Intrepid’s pier, a submarine.

It happened that on this day a large cruise ship, the Carnival Venezia, had docked at a pier adjacent to the Intrepid. I yearned to juxtapose the two ships together in a war-and-peace montage – but, as you can see, this wasn’t easy to accomplish.

So I reluctantly settled for a few solo pix of the Venizia.

Then I hit on a substitute juxtaposition for the one I’d been looking for.
In the foreground stands an Intrepid propeller from its wartime service,
with the Venezia in the background – war and peace, old and new,
neatly arranged.

Be that as it may, let’s close this section with a dramatic solo shot of the Intrepid – long may she survive.

Heading downtown on the West Side, we passed an illuminated sign for a tavern seemingly named “Ear”. An odd name, I thought, but when I snapped this close-up I could see that the “e” had originally been a “b’ (spelling “bar”), but now with part of it no longer illuminated. To my chagrin, I then spied the name “Ear” on the tavern’s window – so much for logic . . . .

I almost never get down into the area of Manhattan north of
Greenwich Village, so this unusual building really caught my eye.

Here’s a closer-up view of the structure.

Well, this is a nice old-fashioned church . . . . And not far away, there’s a Lucid dealership, with one of their slick electric cars parked outside.

Now we’re in the heart of what’s known as the Meatpacking District, which in recent years has belied its historic name and become quite fashionable.

Hey, there’s Gent lounging at a nearby table.

Here’s another shot of that remarkable-looking building that earlier appeared on the album cover of this collection.

This is the best I could do at pairing that new building with a bit of old NYC – a pre-war subway station entrance.

Hey, it looks like at least somebody was getting ready to make the most of the scene.

This summer along Park Avenue in the 30’s (that’s the Empire State Building peeking out on the left) are a series of sculptures titled “Travelers” by famed French sculptor, Bruno Catalano.
(My July blog contained photos of the previous exhibit in this area titled “Swimmers”.)

These sculptures represent men in the middle of their journey (from and to where we don’t know). Catalano has constructed each figure with a portion of their body missing, creating a floating-like appearance.
This figure, an accompanying sign tells us, is of Vincent Van Gogh.

As you can see here, passersby come very close to the art.

According to a handout of the POPA (Patrons of Park Avenue) art installation, Catalano means the figures to represent the “great emptiness that evokes the scars of departures and separations, identifies fragmented by trials and tribulations, and shadowy areas in their self-image.”

The collection of bronze and marble sculptures is a project Catalano has been working on since 1995. It is his first major U.S. exhibit, and some pieces of “Travelers” have never been seen publicly until now.

Again according to POPA, “Catalano also plays upon the human experience of travel, exile and flight. With packed luggage in hand, the artist expertly balances the juxtaposition of moving on to a new destination while being tied to one’s previous life and belongings.”

POPA also says that “Travelers” can be viewed as a reflection of Catalano’s own life, being born into an Italian family in Morocco before moving to France, and later sailing around the world.

I like the way the foliage intersects the body on this one.

This exhibit will be up until May 2025 – it’s definitely worth checking out.

Hey, folks, Gent has his own traveling bag, but his body (thank the Lord!)
is still intact . . . .

. . . unlike this guy . . .

. . . or this one.