Food, Neon, Life, Death and Wallpaper

For reasons I am unable to properly articulate I have been mostly thinking about food, neon, life, death and wallpaper today. After looking through some of my older photographs I came across these images which are not very typical of what I shoot but for some reason interest me now.

 View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

View this image on flickr by following this link © Anthony Dorman

The first image was taken with my old Canon 450D when I was in NYC in January 2010. The image was taken in Katz Deli which is famous for many things including the famous orgasm scene in "Where Harry Met Sally". I am dieting at the moment now that age is catching up with me. This image reminded me of a place where people almost worship the food they eat. The second image was taken in my Gran and Grandad's house two days after the death of my Granda. I wanted to take some images of the house where I had spent many happy years and because I was scared I would forget how it looked. The crucifix was important for me to capture as my grandparent's faith had always played a big part in who they were. Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about the real basic elements of life from food, faith and mortality. I'm not a deep thinking intellectual person who can articulate in words how I feel. I am a visual person trying to express how I feel. My camera gives me an identity as well as a conduit to express myself more freely even if I am unsure of my message.

www.anthonydorman.com

New York I Love You

I have been to New York Twice - once without a camera and once with. I did not want to post a load of tourist style photographs here, I wanted to post a small selection of photos that express how I feel about the city. I find the city at times dark and brooding and also full of light and energy. I find the people to be endlessly entertaining and engaging. I love the way that every street reminds me of the films I grew up watching. What I did notice on my first day in New York was a feeling that I should shoot in black and white, I don't know why but it just made sense to me.

 

Cafe Life

© Anthony Dorman

The photo below may not be the greatest photo in the world but it really made me smile when I took it. I was crossing a street somewhere on the Upper West Side when I was aware of a dog wagging its tail like crazy ahead of me. What only became apparent as I raised the camera to my eye was that a great piece of street poetry was happening in front of me. The dog is actually licking the face of a disabled man in a wheelchair who was laughing really loud. The dogs owner is saying "hi" to a passing lady who could only be a New Yorker with her confident stride and carefully balanced coffee.

West Side Story

© Anthony Dorman

As most Englishmen I love a pint and I wanted to experience a great established New York bar. "Old Town Bar" was my favourite, when you walk through the door you expect to bump into a Hollywood legend being filmed next to your seat at the bar. The place is amazing and serves a great pint of Guinness. Esquire Magazine voted Old Town one of the great bars of America.

Old Town Bar

View "Old Town Bar" on flickr © Anthony Dorman

The image below was taken on the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The views are amazing whilst on the car and great when you get to Roosevelt Island itself. All though there is not much to the island its self the views back across to Manhattan are brilliant. At the time I believe a return ticket was only $2 - Amazing.

Roosevelt Tramway

View Roosevelt Tramway on flickr © Anthony Dorman

I have never wanted to live somewhere so badly in my life, I - like many others love New York and its people. I am seriously contemplating writing a blog called "1001 reasons some nice New Yorker should give me a job". Hopefully one day I will go back with my new camera and a greater set of photographic skills. I class these images as some of my first photographs.

These photos were taken in Jan/Feb 2010

New York by Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos

I have been lucky to have visited New York twice in my life. On the plane to New York on my first visit I was worried that the city would somehow disappoint me by failing to live up to my expectations. Having been told by family and friends that it was such a great city I was nervous about how I would react to the city. New York is simply the greatest city on earth and I would give my right arm to live there. I will be posting some photographs tomorrow that were taken on my last trip but until I have sorted through my collection here is a video about Elliot Erwitt and some of his amazing NYC photos. Here is a great character that epitomises the unique atmosphere of truly wonderful city.

New York by Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos



Check out Elliott Erwitt's website here